midleton preschool after school & summer camp
website case study

The school went from invisible online to top Google rankings and taking Preschool and After School enquiries plus Summer Camp payments on their new site.

This Case Study includes these sections.

Click on any icon to scroll…

the new website design...

Each section of the site serves a specific purpose to help convert parents to enquiries, applications, bookings and payments. This is the homepage…

- first impression

outdoor space

The top bar contains clickable contact information for the school, including phone number, email and address. This ensures that prospective customers can easily get in touch and find the school’s physical location.

The logo and navigation links are prominently displayed at the top of the page and remain visible as users scroll down. This allows easy navigation of the website’s pages and enhances user experience.

The play area image is a large and eye-catching display of the school’s best-selling point – its huge and secure outdoor play areas.

Service boxes are also prominently displayed on the top section of the page, providing clear information about the services the school offers, including age ranges and specific time availability.

- Manager intro

school overview

The opening section on the homepage of a school website is crucial to engage parents. The group image can conveys a heart warming feeling showcasing happy children r enjoying story time.

The introduction text conveys the ethos of the school and how it’s open to all, giving parents a sense of belongingness and inclusivity.

Another essential element in the opening section is showcasing services in brief, which informs parents of the school’s offerings and what they can expect from the school.

Finally, a clear and concise Enrolment Call to Action is necessary to encourage parents to enrol their children in the school. By directing them to the online enrolment application page, parents can quickly apply, which ensures a seamless experience.

- school services

information

The services section of a school website is an essential section that needs to be well-planned and executed.

It filters website visitors by providing a comprehensive summary of the school’s services, including age groups, duration, times, and fees.

This section is vital as it allows parents to easily navigate to the relevant service page with just a few clicks.

Moreover, the services section is designed to upsell awareness of other services that the school offers. This is done by providing information buttons that lead to the dedicated service page.

- book a visit

call to action

The Call To Action section of a school website is crucial, as it is the space where potential parents can take the first steps in enrolling their child.

In the case we encourage parents to visit the school to see the amazing facility. The button opens the applications page.

The application forms generate an email to both the school and parent. The form also auto-populates the details onto the relevant services Google Spreadsheet online.

- parent reviews

word of mouth

One essential element of a school website is a Parents Testimonials section, showcasing positive feedback from current or past parents.

This section offers an authentic and personal perspective on the school from the people who matter the most – parents.

Prospective parents may be swayed by the words of satisfied parents who have already trusted the school with their child’s education.

Testimonials help build trust and credibility while creating a positive brand image for the school.

- photo gallery

pictures

Visual Tour –

The photogenic outdoor play area of this school is a real selling point.

We understand that parents’ work commitments can make it difficult for them both to visit the school. Hence professional images and video can help you connect with them and showcase all that your school has to offer.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, you can inspire parents to make the best decision for their child’s education.

- benefits for children

positive outcomes

The website content highlights the various benefits of enrolling a child here, such as personalized attention, a safe and nurturing environment, and a curriculum designed to encourage social and cognitive development.

Also the inclusion of logos of government and industry organizations that the school has worked with. This graphic detail helps to establish the school’s credibility and assures parents that their child is in good hands.

- Website footer

Sitemap –
Clickable list of every page on the website

Contact Details –
School name, address, phone number, link to Google Maps and Facebook page

Services –
List of the services and their operating hours

the setting...

With it’s Ski Chalet style school building, and a huge outdoor playground to the rear. It is a purpose built facility ideal for Early Years Education.

school

Name
Midleton Preschool After School and Summer Camp
Owner
Midleton College
Founded
2005
Location
Midleton Co. Cork

profile

Classrooms
1
Ages
2-12 Years Old
Hours
8:30am to 5:30pm
Open
Full Year

services

– Sessional Preschool
– School Collection
– After School Care
– Summer Camp

Capacity – 22 Children

the project...

In 2022 the school was losing out on enrolments as it was invisible online and many local parents did not know it existed.

Despite a central location in a town with a high demand for early years care, there was spare capacity in After School and Summer Camp.

challenges

1 – School Name, the school was called “Singing In The Rain”. We felt this needed to be changed to something more relatable to it’s services.

2 – New parents who were referred to the school by existing parents could not find contact details online, or any listing on Google Maps to find the campus

3 – Parents searching online for early years services in Midleton were not finding Singing In The Rain but instead seeing other schools listed

4 – After School had a spare capacity, as many parents were not aware it was available here.

5 – Summer Camp in previous years had good numbers but after Covid had reduced significantly in 2022.

solutions

1 – Create a School Website
for all their services

2 – Get the school listed on Google Search, Google Maps, Bing Search, Apple Maps
for it’s school services

3 – Have all their school services
ranked on Google Page 1 search results

4 – Optimise the website
to capture School Enrolment enquiries and have them auto populate to Google Spreadsheets

5 – Take Summer Camp bookings and Payments online
on the website and automate the camp administration to Google Spreadsheets

6 – Create Social Media advertising campaigns to promote Summer Camp

project work

– Setting 3 Year Targets
– Local School Market Research
– New School Name
– Website Design & Build
– Website Copywriting
– New Facebook Page
– Enrolment Enquiry Automation
– Online Visit Bookings
– Summer Camp Bookings Online
– Summer Camp Payments Online
– Photography
– Videography
– New Youtube Channel
– Google Listing
– Google Rankings
– Bing Listing
– Apple Maps Listing
– Website Optimisation
– Website Reporting
– Website Hosting & Updates
– Email Setup
– Social Media Advertising
– New School Signage

the results for 2023...

As the launch was only in May 2023, we do not have significant results yet on website visitor stats, applications and summer camp bookings (which does not start until July 3rd).

As soon as we do we will complete this section.

1

school
applications

113 Child Applications on the website for Montessori, Full Day Care and After School

2

camp
applications

127 Child Applications for Summer Camp

3

camp
payments

200+ Full weeks Summer Camp 2022 Booked & Paid Online, eliminated no-shows

4

top google
rankings

Page one Google Rankings for school services driving applications on website

5

social media
advertising

Ad Campaigns on Facebook driving new parents to the website for conversions

the summer camp forms
for 2023...

In May 2023 the website launch included our Summer Camp Payment Booking Form.

The goals were to; Increase Bookings – Payments in Advance – Eliminate no shows – Automate all Camp Administration to Google Sheets

Once Camp is over (July 2023) we will come back and update this section

100+

child
payments

100+ children booked and paid for by parents through the camp booking/payment form

200+

camp
weeks

200+ Full 5 day week Summer Camp payments online

127

camp
Enquiries

105 Parent enquiries on website camp enquiry form for 127 children

2

2 problems
solved

Eliminated no-shows and outstanding unpaid fees
Automation of bookings, payments and reporting

Clicking the Orange “Add Child” button on the parent form opens the child booking part of the form in a pop up on screen.

We also added an enquiry form for any parents with questions before booking.

Camp Booking & Payments
Automated to Google Sheets

We set up an automated system where every Camp Booking automatically is added to a Google Sheet.

There is a Master summary sheet which totals the revenues, bookings by week, capacity, spaces left etc.

There is a children’s booking sheet by week. Using this you can filter the week and it gives you your sign in sheets data.

Finally there is a Parents List with all their contact details and which children they have booked.

(Google Sheets are Googles version of Spreadsheets, but better because they are accessed online and multiple staff can view and edit.)

the faceboook summer camp
ad campaigns

Facebook ads, rather than boosting posts, is the best way to target parents in your locality.

We are running multiple ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram for the school.

This gets parents from Social Media on to your website.

Bringing your school service to their phones.

the enquiry / application
forms

Before the project there was no formal online enquiry or application process for parents. There are now five forms on the website.

Summer Camp Booking & Payment Form
Summer Camp Enquiry Form
Preschool Enquiry Form
After School Enquiry Form
Contact Us Form

All the form submissions auto populate to individual Google Spreadsheets.
From launch (May 18th 2023) to the end of 2023 the website forms received 41 applications for After School and 28 applications for Preschool (69 in 7 months).

step by step
the process

So how do the website forms work for Schools and Parents?

Well we set up everything, and the following happens automatically…

1

Parent

- A parent fills out the enquiry/application form on the school website.

- On submission, it opens a page on the website detailing that a confirmation email has been sent to them.

2

Auto Emails

- Once submitted, the form generates two emails.

- A confirmation email with all the details to the parent, and one to the school.

3

Auto Reports

- The details of the enquiries are populated to the schools reporting system.

- This system is on Google Spreadsheets, and can combine class enrolment lists and enquiries by service and year.

4

Response

- The school admin can then review the website enquiries.

- In the reporting dashboard, by service, by school year, and reply to the enquiry as required.

School Applications &
Enquiries Management Automated to Google Sheets

We set up an automated system where every Enquiry automatically is added to a Google Sheet.

There is a Master summary sheet which totals the number of enquiries by service, by school year.

Linked to that we have separate sheets for each service, which can further be divided into school years.

You can then add your existing pupils to the sheets so your allocated places and waiting lists are all in the one place.

It can also display how many places are filled, and vacant by service, by year.

(Google Sheets are Googles version of Spreadsheets, but better because they are accessed online and multiple staff can view and edit.)

the school manager...

Marlene Thomas describes the project experience and outcomes.

“We had spare capacity in our after school and summer camp services. In a time of rising costs it is important to maximise our revenue.

Even though we are located in the middle of town, because we are on a secondary school campus, many parents did not know about our setting.

We needed help with marketing our school to parents in Midleton. And we wanted someone who specialised in getting schools more enquiries and enrolments.

We had no experience with Internet Marketing, and no staff internally with the expertise required to bring us online.

School Websites Ireland has proven to be the perfect solution, because they have a proven track record of increasing enrolments in Early Years Settings. So once you explain what the objective is, they know how to achieve it.

They set out clear goals from the beginning that we wanted to achieve together. And explained to us how each element would work towards filling our services.

As we had nothing more than a Facebook Page in the past, we were starting from zero online. We never had a website, a Google listing, an online process for applications, online camp payments, professional photography, nothing.

We went from being invisible, to reaching the phone screens of 20,000 parents locally. We renamed the school, new logo, new website, new Google and Bing listings, new Facebook page, new Youtube channel, new advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

We had new internal systems set up on Google Spreadsheets for managing school enrolment lists and enquiries, split by service and school year. They have advised us on how to change our enrolment selection process to maximise filling our capacity.

The results in the first five months have been 37 After School and 18 Preschool Enquiries through the website enquiry forms, 55 in total. With more by email and phone. As our capacity is 22 for each, it is a great start.

The best part is everything is done for you. You don’t need any technical knowledge. They take care of everything. And the relationship doesn’t stop at launch, that’s just the beginning. They are continuously working with us to grow awareness of the school.

Denis and his team are the most professional and dedicated partners you could wish for in growing your school numbers. The investment is certainly paying off for us.

Marlene Thomas

School Manager

Have some Questions?
Request a Free 30 minute Consultation...

the video tour...

Join the website designer Denis McCaul, as he takes you on a tour of the website, google listing and the project results.

on mobile...

Between 60 and 80% of traffic to a Preschool website comes from a mobile device

We have designed a platform that adapts and re-sizes perfectly

simple to navigate

Clean design built with busy parents in mind, easy to find service details

fast loading

Websites hosted on our servers are built to load in a flash

contact buttons

Call, Email, Directions and Contact buttons at the bottom of the screen

fully responsive

Designed to resize perfectly on smartphones and tablets

simple navigation

A mobile flyout menu and sticky header makes everything easy to find

google optimised

Each page and post targets phrases parents use on google

the google solution...

Parents will use Google to search for two things relating to a school.
1 – The school by name or
2 – Services in the area that the school provides.
The school had no listing on Google, Bing or Apple, or did not appear in search results for Preschools, After Schools or Summer Camps in Midleton before we began the project.

School Name
Search Listing on Google

The setting previously had no listing on Google when a parent was searching for their school.

Now just one month after the website launch, when local parents use the Internet to search for the below terms, the school is listed on page one of Google, Google Maps, Bing Places and Apple Maps

In the adjacent screenshot from Google you can see the result from someone searching for the school itself.

This is so important, that when someone refers your school to a friend, they go to Google and find a results page with every possible detail about your setting and services, linking to your website.

Google Search Results Page for the query “Full Day Care Templeogue”

Midleton Preschool
Google Rankings

The setting previously had no listing on Google when a parent was searching for their school.

Now just one month after the website launch, when local parents use the Internet to search for the below terms, the school is listed on page one of Google, Google Maps, Bing Places and Apple Maps

Common search terms…

– midleton preschool after school and summer camp
– singing in the rain midleton (Previous name)

– after school midleton
– after school care midleton
– after school club midleton

– summer camps midleton
– summer camps midleton 2023

– preschool midleton

– childcare midleton

Click any image to enlarge…

Google Search Results Page for the query “Full Day Care Templeogue”

Microsoft Bing
School Listing

Every Windows laptop and computer sold in Ireland has the default Internet Browser set to Microsoft Edge for accessing the Internet. And the default search engine on that browser is not Google, but Microsoft Bing.

Often on those laptops people think they are using Google to search, when in fact it is Bing.

That is why we also create a dedicated listing on Bing for schools.