School Open Day Season: Is Your Website Ready?
School open days are one of the few moments a school or nursery gets a parent's full attention. They've clicked the link, they're curious, and they're deciding whether to book a visit or move on to the next school on their list.
Which makes it the worst possible time for your website to let you down.
What Parents Are Checking Before They Book
In the days before an open day, most parents aren't reading your prospectus cover to cover. They're doing a quick check to see whether it's worth the visit at all:
Is the open day actually easy to find? Buried in a news feed from three months ago doesn't count.
Can I book a slot without emailing someone and waiting? A simple form or booking link removes the biggest barrier.
What actually happens on the day? Times, what to expect, whether children are welcome to come along.
Does this feel like a place I'd want my child to be? Real photos, not stock images, do a lot of quiet work here.
What happens after I visit? Parents want to know there's a clear next step, not silence.
If any of these take more than a few seconds to answer, some parents won't bother finding out the rest.
A Quick Pre-Open-Day Checklist
Before your next open day, it's worth checking:
The open day is on your homepage, not just buried in a news post
There's a clear way to register or book, ideally without needing to phone
Date, time, and what to bring or expect are all in one place
Directions and parking information are easy to find
Photos are recent and real, not generic stock imagery
There's a next step listed for parents who can't make it to that specific date
None of this is complicated, but it's exactly the kind of thing that gets missed when everyone is busy preparing for the day itself.
Yarrells School & Nursery: A Live Example
Yarrells School & Nursery has an open day this Friday - and it's now fully booked. I ran the Facebook and Instagram posts and adverts promoting it, and this is exactly the result you want to see: enough interest that spaces filled up ahead of the day itself.
You can see on their website and the original Facebook post here. It's a good example of clear booking details, what to expect on the visit, and information sitting right where a parent would look for it first - which is a large part of why it filled up.
If your own open day page isn't set up to handle that kind of response, it's worth checking now rather than after the spaces have already gone.
Timing It Right
Open day pages are only useful if they go up early enough to be seen. Aim to have the page live and shareable on social media at least two to three weeks before the date, then keep it visible on the homepage right up until the day itself.
If your school or nursery has an open day coming up and your website isn't quite pulling its weight yet, it's worth a second look before the next one is on the calendar.
Shore Design Dorset
