Why schools should blog

Most schools don’t have time to blog. There are many reasons why schools don’t create and maintain a blog.

The blogging world is full of untapped potential, whether it’s for brand awareness, community engagement or that all-important admissions funnel.

As an example, brands who posted on average 15 blogs per month generated about 1,200 leads. As a school, you’d be overwhelmed with 1,200 new applications. Imagine the possibilities of blogging to reach your various audiences, including parents, donors, students, alumni and more. For advice on Websites for schools, visit fsedesign.co.uk/websites-for-schools/

Decide on a focus for your school’s blog

Find a focus for your school.

It may not be a good idea to rely on the head of your school when using your blog as a tool for traffic generation. Instead, focus on your school’s culture where you have resources. You can include teachers, coaches, marketing directors, admissions and advancement directors, and even students in your efforts when you broaden the scope of your focus.

Get a group of writers who are dedicated

To make blogging count, you need to be consistent. While it might seem simple to delegate “blogging”, to maintain a consistent voice and tone, the more contributors, the easier it is to produce consistent content.

Asking for ideas is a great way to start assembling your team of writers. Ask department members if they have any ideas for posts or topics they would like to write.

Reach out to your students once you’ve reached out to the department heads. People who are interested in English or Journalism can be valuable bloggers for two main reasons.

• They’ll blog more often if they see their work on your site.
• Students love hearing from other students. They’ll find it a great opportunity.

Create a content calendar

Work with your writers to create a calendar of content. Decide which days to publish blogs, what topics to post, and when.

A content calendar will hold your bloggers accountable and give you the time you need to plan out posts weeks in advance.

If you can only blog twice per week, focus your efforts on Mondays and on Thursdays .

Editing a document is a good way to start.

Decide on an editing process that suits you. You will want to have your contributors send you blog posts at least one or two days before posting to give your director of marketing, or whoever is your primary contact, time to edit, format and post.