How to Set up a Facebook Page

Eric Downing — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:35:42 GMT

[I](As you probably know, the Archdiocese continues to work on updating their policies related to social media. Upon approval, these policies will allow certain Archdiocesan employees and entities to have a presence on Social Media sites -- such as Facebook -- after completing a brief training. At a Chancery level, the new policies are before the Curia, and should be approved soon. A similar policy/training at the Archdiocesan level (including schools and parishes) is expected to be implemented in 2012. My goal in this and future posts related to Social Media is to share resources and best practices whether you're just at the planning stage or already have incorporated Social Media into your marketing strategy.)[/I]

[URL="http://www.mashable.com"]Mashable[/URL] has just posted an [URL="http://mashable.com/2011/05/22/how-to-facebook-page/"]article on creating a Facebook page[/URL]. This is a great "how-to" that is more up-to-date than the one I shared last year. I hope it helps!

Interesting Stats on Your Website's Visitors and a New Tool for a Faster Site

Eric Downing — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:51:32 GMT

[URL="http://www.mashable.com"]Mashable.com[/URL] just posted an [URL="http://mashable.com/2011/04/06/site-speed/#"]article[/URL] on the latest statistics regarding website visitors. To add some context, five years ago the majority of online consumers abandoned a webpage if it did not load in about 12 seconds. Today that time has dropped to 3 seconds.

The article also mentions a [URL="http://pagespeed.googlelabs.com/"]new tool from Google [/URL]that analyzes the loading speed of the pages within your website.

I hope everyone is having a meaningful Lent.

God bless,
Eric

A follow up to our principals meeting

Eric Downing — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:53:56 GMT

[SIZE=2]Thanks to all of you for your participation and sharing of your best marketing practices at our last meeting. It's always challenging to fit everything into an hour's time, especially since we had so much great discussion! Not surprisingly, there were many other school websites I had queued up but didn't have time to show. Hence this blogpost. I'm including the sites we discussed in the meeting for your reference, and am listing several others with links/notes on why I feel they're successful.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2]As was the case in the meeting, there are too many examples of great web practices to show here. Please continue to share your marketing examples, experiences (good or bad), and resources with me as well as your fellow principals. There is a collection of [/SIZE][URL="http://www.seecelebrateandlive.org/site/forumdisplay.php?24-Marketing"][SIZE=2]forums[/SIZE][/URL][SIZE=2] on this website dedicated to marketing for this purpose.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2]A blessed Lent to each of you,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Eric[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B]Collaborative Schools:[/B] About half of you are combining resources with other schools in your deanery/region to have a unified marketing presence. [URL="http://www.catholicschoolsofpiercecounty.org/"]Pierce County Schools[/URL], [URL="http://www.northseattlecatholicschools.org/"]North Seattle Schools[/URL] and [URL="http://www.seattlecatholichighschools.org/"]Seattle High Schools[/URL] all have cobranded websites, and the Southwest Washington schools have run cobranded ads as well. Some benefits include:[/SIZE]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Save $ by pooling budget dollars[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Improve your online presence with less effort[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Helps to cast a wider net on prospective families[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.stbens.net/"]St. Benedict School[/URL]:[/B] An excellent website overall. The homepage cleanly and clearly speaks to prospective families, current families and Alumni. The quick facts and large photos are inviting and draw visitors into the site.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.allsaintspuyallup.org/"]All Saints[/URL]:[/B] Homepage is clearly aimed at prospective families, but also has a �What�s Going On?� ticker that provides timely information for current families.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://school.olfatima.org/"]Our Lady of Fatima[/URL]:[/B] A clean, uncluttered site, and a wonderful �About� page that conveys a strong bond with their parish, as well as a list of helpful resources. One of the best pieces of content on their site is their featured video near the bottom of their homepage.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.holynames-sea.org/"]Holy Names Academy[/URL]:[/B] A beautiful, �less-is-more� approach. It�s not easy paring down your message and still communicate everything you want to.[/SIZE]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Excellent way to display �Quick Stats�[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Student quote is an excellent choice[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]Nice arrangement of �above-the-fold� and �below-the-fold� content[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.icolphschool.org/"]Immaculate Conception/Our Lady of Perpetual Help[/URL]:[/B] Great use of imagery and darker colors to convey a tone (it�s not easy to successfully use darker colors on a website). Nice �Mission & Values� page with clever �Did You Know� sidebar.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.bellarmineprep.org/"]Bellarmine Prep[/URL]: [/B]Like St. Benedict, Bellarmine�s homepage has clear links for their different audiences. Their [URL="http://www.bellarmineprep.org/page.php?id=26"]Prospective Families[/URL] page has a wealth of information and links to help those discerning Catholic education for their child.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][URL="http://www.saintgeorgeseattle.org/"][B]St. George[/B][/URL]: Their homepage shares a wealth of information, but does a great job cleanly organizing it all. The top half is simple and focused on prospective families, and everything else falls below in three columns.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][B][URL="http://www.archbishopmurphyhs.org/"]Archbishop Murphy[/URL]:[/B] Their student-focused video tour of their school is terrific. Even though it's a beefy 10-minutes long, it is engaging throughout and is a great example of how to create an online tour that is as fun as it is informative.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][URL="http://www.saintbrendan.org/"][B]St. Brendan[/B][/URL][B]:[/B] I love their [URL="http://www.saintbrendan.org/"]main entry page[/URL] to the church and school. The school's site has a great [URL="http://school.saintbrendan.org/admissions/why_st_brendan.php"]"Why St. Brendan"[/URL] page w/ a nice video. Like some other schools, they have a [URL="http://school.saintbrendan.org/classrooms/classrooms.php"]Classrooms[/URL] section of their site in which each teacher personally gives information/expectations about his/her respective grade or class.[/SIZE]

[URL="http://www.cabrinischool.org/"][B]St. Frances Cabrini[/B][/URL][B]:[/B] If you've ever visited this school, you know they strongly embrace their patron saint -- and their website is no different. Their [URL="http://www.cabrinischool.org/our_namesake.htm"]"Our Namesake"[/URL] page provides not only St. Cabrini's history, but also many thoughtful links to learn more. I love this because it clearly speaks to what is taught and upheld beyond academics (and I'm not playing favorites just because Cabrini also happens to be my daughter's name...)

[URL="http://www.kennedyhs.org/kennedyvirtual/site/default.asp"][B]Kennedy Catholic[/B][/URL][B]:[/B] More great [URL="http://www.kennedyhs.org/161610212171340330/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55096"]videos[/URL]. Kennedy has a series of them -- covering Faith, Academics, Family, etc. -- all featuring the same two students. It's a great way to quickly reach a point of familiarity with the viewer, which can increase interest/trust in what's being shown.

[URL="http://www.visitationschool.net/"][B]Visitation[/B][/URL][B] and [/B][URL="http://www.popejp2hs.org/"][B]Pope John Paul II[/B][/URL][B]:[/B] Both these schools use great language on their tuition pages, starting with a conversation rather than numbers/costs. Both schools use language that stresses accessibility for all.

Welcome to my new blog!

Eric Downing — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:22:46 GMT

[FONT=Georgia][SIZE=2][COLOR=black]This is the first post of an ongoing blog I hope will serve as a good marketing resource for all our Catholic schools. In addition to sharing my thoughts on good marketing practices, examples and resources, I hope to use this blog to share your resources and best practices as well. There's a lot we can learn from each other, and we should not be afraid to work together to improve marketing in all our schools (stay tuned for a future post for more on this!).[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia][SIZE=2][COLOR=black]I encourage you to comment on anything and everything I post. Your feedback, additional information, etc., will only make this blog better.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia][COLOR=black]Thanks![/COLOR][/FONT]

Catholic Schools Forums - Blogs - Marketing our Catholic Schools by Eric Downing

How to Set up a Facebook Page

Interesting Stats on Your Website's Visitors and a New Tool for a Faster Site

A follow up to our principals meeting

Welcome to my new blog!