If a parent opens your school website after a deliberate search, scrolls for a minute or two, and then closes it without making any enquiries, you can assume it is disinterest. However, from the parent’s side, a question they needed answered might have been absent, or answered unconvincingly. Understanding how parents choose a school explains most of this.
I recently spent time researching schools in the Surulere area in Lagos for my kid. Through the process, I realised that more than just searching, choosing a school is a high-stakes decision that requires parents to consider their child’s safety, learning, and future. I discovered that I needed reasons to feel confident.
If your school website does not inspire confidence in your facility, you are losing potential patronage. Let’s look at what the data says
How Parents Choose a School
1. It Is a High-Stakes Decision Made Under Risk
Raymond Bauer’s perceived risk theory holds that buyers act to reduce uncertainty when a decision carries consequences they cannot easily reverse. Choosing a school fits that description closely. It is expensive, emotionally loaded, and hard to judge in advance.
A survey by the Centre for Independent Studies in Australia, reported by The Educator, found that around 40 percent of parents held regrets about the school they had chosen, saying they would not choose it again or were unsure. Parents are trying to avoid being in that group, so they look for proof and reassurance.
2. Most Parents Do Not Search Exhaustively
Research on school selection in New Zealand found that many parents are not particularly deliberate or wide-searching, and are swayed by practicalities such as proximity to home and work, zoning, and cost. For a school, this means the website often has one chance to clear the “good enough” bar. If the essentials are hard to find, the parent moves on without comparing further.
3. Word of Mouth Comes First, and Then Parents Check the Website
Word of mouth has the greatest influence on school choice. This is closely followed by school visits and the school’s digital presence (website and social media presence). In practice, a parent usually hears about a school from another parent, and then searches for it. Your website is the verification step. It has to confirm what the parent has already heard, and answer what they could not ask a friend.
4. Safety, Teaching Quality, and Evidence of Outcomes Matter
Cost matters, but it is rarely the only question. BusinessDay’s reporting on private education quotes parents and educators saying that safety is now a major factor in school choice, alongside teaching quality, proper accreditation, and whether children will do well afterward. Earlier research on private primary schools in Abeokuta found that private schools were highly patronized despite high fees, suggesting parents will pay more if they perceive clear value.
Best Practices When Designing a School Website
Parents move through a predictable sequence of questions. A school website that answers them in that order feels reassuring, and one that skips ahead or hides answers feels evasive.
1. Is My Child Safe Here?
Make safety visible on your school website. Show your safeguarding approach, how staff are vetted, how drop-off and pick-up work, how visitors are managed, and what the environment is like. Use real photographs of your actual premises. Specific, calm detail builds more trust than adjectives such as “secure” or “caring”.
2. Will My Child Learn Well Here?
Explain your curriculum and teaching approach in plain language. A Montessori school, for example, should explain what a typical day looks like and why the method works, since many parents will not know. Include teacher qualifications, class sizes, and the results or progress you are proud of, where appropriate. This answers the “quality of teaching” concern directly.
3. Is It the Right Fit for Our Family?
Parents want to know the school’s culture, values, and expectations, including approach to discipline, faith or ethos, language, and support for children with additional needs. A clear statement of who the school is for helps the right families enquire and helps others self-select out, which saves everyone time.
4. Who Are the People?
People are the strongest trust signal a school has. Show the head teacher’s message, staff profiles, and real faces. Source credibility research, beginning with Hovland and Weiss, shows that people judge a message by the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of those delivering it. Anonymous stock photography does the opposite.
5. What Does It Cost, and How Do I Apply?
Hidden fees are a common reason for distrust. State tuition, additional charges, payment options, and the admissions process clearly: steps, dates, documents, and any assessment. If fees truly cannot be published, explain why and what a parent will learn after enquiring. Ambiguity here reads as risk.
6. What Do Other Parents Say?
Because word of mouth carries so much weight, make it visible. Feature genuine testimonials, parent stories, and alumni outcomes, with permission, and link to independent reviews where they exist. A satisfied parent’s voice does what no brochure can.
7. Can I See It for Myself?
School visits and open days strongly influence decisions, so make booking effortless. A visible booking option, a phone number, a WhatsApp link, and a fast reply. A short virtual tour helps parents who cannot visit immediately. The aim is to move from website to visit while interest is high.
8. Is It Easy to Use on My Phone?
Many parents will read your site on a phone, often in the evening. Pages must load quickly, text must be readable, and key actions must be easy to tap. Design also shapes judgment. Stanford’s Web Credibility Project found that overall design look was the most frequently cited factor when people assessed a site’s credibility, appearing in 46.1 percent of comments. A dated or cluttered site raises doubts about the school before a parent reads a word.
Match the Website to the Parent’s Journey
Parents’ needs shift as they move through the decision, and the site should serve each stage:
- Search: early searches are broad, such as “schools near me”, while later ones name the school and ask about fees or results. Make sure your pages answer both. Our guide to local SEO for schools covers this.
- Compare: parents weigh a handful of options, so give them the facts they need to compare you fairly.
- Enquire: keep the enquiry form short and offer more than one route, such as a call, a form, or a message.
- Visit and decide: confirm details, follow up promptly, and make the next step obvious.
Timing matters too. Planning when to start campaigning for each intake is covered in our admissions marketing calendar.
A Ten-Minute Self-Audit for Your School Website
Ask a parent who does not know your school to find the following within a minute each, on a phone:
- What you teach and how
- How safety is handled
- The fees and payment options
- How to apply and by when
- Who the teachers and head are
- What other parents say
- How to book a visit
- How to contact you quickly
Wherever they struggle, your enquiries are probably leaking.
The Bottom Line
The schools that grow rarely have the most elaborate sites. They are the ones that make a worried parent feel informed and safe. At Edens Digital, we regularly design education websites and run registration campaigns. So if you run a school or training provider and want your website to turn visitors into enquiries, our web design team is happy to help you work it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do parents choose a school?
Parents weigh safety, quality of teaching, fit with their values, location, and cost. Most lean on word of mouth first, then check the school’s website and visit before deciding. Because the decision is high-stakes, they look for reassurance and proof.
2. What do parents look for on a school website?
They look for clear information on safety, curriculum and teaching approach, staff and leadership, fees, the admissions process, parent testimonials, and an easy way to book a visit or make contact.
3. How important is a school website in admissions?
Very. Research reviewed in Australia notes that the majority of parents use a school’s website to inform their choice, usually after hearing about the school through word of mouth. The site often decides whether a parent enquires.
4. Should a school publish its fees online?
Where possible, yes. Clear fees reduce perceived risk and filter for fit. If fees cannot be published, explain the reason and what parents will learn when they enquire.
5. How can a school build parent trust online?
There are several things you can incorporate into your educational website design so parents trust you. This includes showing real people and premises, explaining safety and teaching in plain language, publishing genuine testimonials, responding quickly to enquiries, and making the site fast and easy to use on a phone.
6. How do parents find schools online?
Many start with broad searches such as “schools near me” and move to specific searches naming a school, its fees, or its results. School websites and local listings answer both kinds of searches.
