In 2014, 38 million adults (76%) in Great Britain accessed the Internet every day. You can be sure that if parents are looking for a childcare provider, having your own nursery website is the single most effective way of making your presence known. But, did you know there are many ways your website can make even more money?
1. Set up an online shop
Many nurseries and pre-schools have polo shirts, sweatshirts, bags and other items which are branded with their setting logo. If there is a page on your website where parents can browse and buy these items for their child, you can generate much more money for your setting. Conveniently, when parents come to collect their child, you could have the items they ordered waiting for them.
2. Offer parent training and workshops
Whilst it’s important to make sure that your practitioners are up-to-date with best practice, training for parents is an area which is often overlooked. Introducing workshops for parents around interesting topics like “Introduction to First Aid” and “Preparing healthy meals with your child” are two possible workshops you could look to offer to parents for a small donation or fee. Your website is the perfect place to advertise these exciting workshops to parents and other family members.
3. Ask people to donate to a project
If you have an upcoming project -such as transforming your setting’s garden or creating a sensory play area - you should consider putting a link on your website for visitors to donate money. The more information you can give about your special project and the benefits it will bring for your children, the likelier you are to generate interest. Setting up a link to a Paypal account on this page would make it quick and simple for visitors to donate.
4. Make your website mobile and tablet compatible
Last year, 68% of adults used the internet whilst “on the go”. This means that if your website isn’t mobile and tablet friendly, you could potentially be losing many new parents who don’t have the patience to sit around waiting for your website to load. With the average website lead generating £10,800 a year in revenue for your setting, you can drastically increase the earning potential of your website simply by making sure it is mobile device compatible.
5. Blog about what you’re up to
Writing a regular blog (like a diary) about your setting’s weekly activities will not only strengthen your connection with parents, it will actually help new parents find out about you. The more often you update your blog and related content on your website, the higher up your website will appear on Google search results. The result is that parents will quickly be able to find your setting when they use the internet to search for a childcare provider. Another major benefit is that blogging doesn’t cost you any money!
For ideas on what to blog about, download our FREE guide.
6. Link your website to social media pages
With over 30 million people in the UK using Facebook alone, having a social media page which links to your website will help ensure you have a steady stream of new parents wanting to book showrounds. You could even have a feed on your website which shows the latest thing you have posted on social media. If you’re not familiar with how to set up a social media page for your business, ask about our packages!
As we’ve shown here, there are many different ways that you can make your childcare website do so much more than give visitors information about your setting. Through making simple changes, you can increase your setting’s revenue and start generating income 365 days a year.