Marketing our Catholic Schools

[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]

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[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]

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[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]

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[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]

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[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.