Frequently Asked Questions

Website management is more than updating content on a school website. It involves using your school website as a means to achieve your communications goals.

Website management includes:

• Following a style guide to maintain consistency across your school brand.
• Maintaining website best practices with regard to navigation, visual layout, and content organization.
• Ensuring website accessibility and preserving ADA compliance.
• Verifying correct spelling, grammar, and tone.
• Checking for broken links, outdated documents, and accurate school and staff information.
• Worry-free website hosting and server management.

Instead of creating and monitoring a process in-house or hiring a full-time webmaster, our professional website management team can do it all for you. School Webmasters makes the website management process easy and affordable—watch the video below to find out how.

A Content Management System (CMS) is software or a platform that allows people who are unfamiliar with coding to create and manage digital website content. With a CMS, anyone can make changes and add content to your website.

Website management is a strategic system that involves website design and management, copywriting, public relations, website accessibility, quality control, and branding.

To learn more, read these 9 reasons why you should outsource your school website management.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to manage the content of your website while keeping things intuitive, organized, and attractive.

Your staff has their hands full with core responsibilities and expecting them to be designers, writers, and managers of the school website’s content is unrealistic. Keeping your website updated is time-consuming—but it doesn’t have to be!

School Webmasters handles all requested updates and changes. We send out reminders to designated staff members to gather information and content that will keep your site up-to-date.

Letting School Webmasters handle your school website management provides you with the skill sets you need without overburdening an already busy staff.

The best part of a School Webmasters website is there is no training! With no complicated system to learn, updating your website is easier than sending an email. Visit our welcome page to see how our clients send us updates.

We have helped clients design and build school websites using other content management systems, however, the School Webmasters system is not set up to allow schools to make their own updates.

Why?

While your school does control the content on your website, we prefer to manage things from the back end by posting those updates. Our system was created to give our clients more flexibility when needed. But with flexibility comes complexity. By completing updates for you, we keep your school website beautiful and functional. We also act as quality control by making sure your updates are grammatically correct and fit the tone of your school brand.

Watch the video below to learn how you maintain control of your School Webmasters’ website without a CMS.

In some cases, yes. Contact Jim for more information.

Our question for you is, why wouldn’t you want one of our beautiful, custom, ADA-compliant websites? Watch the video below to see if we are a match for your school.

Open enrollment and school choice have created a competitive educational environment. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a website. School Webmasters has created a variety of designs and packages to fit any budget.

Throughout your partnership with School Webmasters, you can make revisions to your existing content and layout. Updates are included as part of our service. You can have the best school website for a fraction of what other school website providers charge.

We offer affordable website development options: basic templates, customized templates, and fully custom website designs. You can even pay for your school district website design over three years if needed.

Watch the video below to learn more about our prices and packages.

Level I, or a Standard Design, is our simplest and most cost-conscious option. These templates involve basic customization to match your school colors and a personalized header to reflect your school’s name and mascot or logo.

Level II, or a Customized Design, is our most popular option. These designs allow for some layout changes, a background image, custom headers and footers, and more possibilities for colors and custom graphics.

Level III, or a Premier Website Design, is our fully-custom website option. These websites include all the perks from Level I and Level II along with more bells and whistles or about anything you can dream up.

Check out our portfolio for examples from each level. All of our templates, designs, and custom websites are responsive, intuitive, visually appealing, and ADA accessible. Our team of copywriters also create a recommended site map for organization and fill your pages with updated, friendly, professional content.

For pricing, request a quote.

Typically, a new website design will take between five and eight weeks.

Of course, it depends on the level of site complexity.

Level I template sites and the Level II customized template websites move quickly.

A Level III fully custom school website design involves working more closely with the school to gather just the right assets and information.

In our experience, we find that typical design and development length depends upon the school’s responsiveness. If your school provides us with quick responses to our questions, the sooner your new school website will go live! Watch the video below to learn more about our website development process.

Your school’s voice is heard through your website content, which includes: word choice, style, tone, and content, along with the design. Here are three important aspects to school website copywriting:

1. Tone. Be positive and conversational. Avoid educational jargon and terms that parents may not be familiar with. Avoid third person and passive voice. Be friendly and inviting.
2. Audience-focused. Each page’s content should focus on the needs of your audience. What are they looking for? What questions should you answer? How quickly can you provide the answers they seek? Nothing should be more than three clicks away.
3. Professional. Have your content proofed for grammar, punctuation, and readability. Create or adopt a style guide, and make sure all contributors consistently follow those guidelines.

To learn more, subscribe to our blog. We share lots of practical advice for improving school website content.

Our goal is to make the website design process easy for you.

Design. During the design phase, we will ask you to complete a development questionnaire and meet with your project coordinator. We take care of everything else from there.

Content. Our copywriters take your old website content and rework it to be current and welcoming. From you, we will need any updated information your old website didn’t have, and you’re also welcome to send us new images. We will get your approval for the new copy and the new site navigation.

Website management. The best school websites have a steady flow of content gracing their news pages and calendars that are updated with activities and events. You control the content of your website; we get it posted. We need your staff’s help sending us information to keep these pages dynamic and useful. From you, we’ll need a designated list of staff you have approved to submit content for your websites.

Watch the video below to learn more about our development process.

Yes. ADA compliant websites are not only inclusive to everyone in your community regardless of ability, but website accessibility is also the law for most schools.

Learn more about website accessibility and ADA compliance on our FAQ page.

Designing an ADA compliant website is included in School Webmaster’s service as part of web design and management. If you want to know more, give us a call at 888-750-4556.

If you have been contacted with a complaint by the Office of Civil Rights, we provide audit and remediation services as well.

Watch the video below to learn more about our website accessibility services.

Effective school marketing includes building a reputation that attracts the most qualified teachers and students who will exceed because of your school’s strengths.

Market your school in a strategic manner by implementing a plan throughout the year. School marketing strategies include keeping your website updated with news and stories, social media management, using school public relations to your advantage, and utilizing inbound and content marketing. You can do it all yourself, or you can take advantage of the services School Webmasters offers.

The best way to use your school website to reach your communication goals is to provide outstanding customer service. Use your website to include board agendas, links to school report cards, vendor information, contacts, important job announcements and openings, and much more. You’ll save your staff time and your school money, all while building excellent public relations.

For more help:

• Check out our Website Features page for ideas on how to use your site to its full potential.
• Tell us what your communication goals are, and we’ll send you a strategic communication plan to help you meet those goals with your website.
• Subscribe to our blog. We share lots of practical advice for improving school communication.

School and district websites serve different audiences. Here are just a few of the differences between school websites and district websites:

School Websites: The main audience for school websites includes parents, students, the community, and prospective parents. These publics are interested in daily school activities and events. That means school websites should cover a wide variety of interests—everything from athletics to arts to academics to social activities.

Parents and students expect to find what they need quickly. They are also likely to use mobile devices. That means your school websites should be fast-loading and mobile-friendly (responsive). They should have intuitive navigation and updated calendars. The best school websites are also accessible according to ADA guidelines.

District Websites: Visitors to the district sites usually include community members, the media, and, occasionally, prospective families. In our experience, parents of current students rarely access the district website unless they are looking for very specific information. Along with district news and events, the district site should contain information on programs, curriculum, and departments, along with details on policies and procedures and board of education agendas and minutes. Keep in mind, nothing should be buried more than three clicks away, or your site visitors will become frustrated. The navigational architecture of your district site should be the same structure as the main office or school websites to maintain consistency and avoid confusion.

To learn more, read “What is Your School Website ‘Hired’ to Do?”

It’s easy. Just go to portal.schoolwebmasters.com/tickets and send the information!