Marketing Your Day Care Online
I’m a huge advocate of having a website and blog to support your day care business. I have connected with a lot of clients that otherwise might not have found me or might have overlooked my service in favor of one of the above. They might have overlooked my service in favor of a bigger, better, faster, shinier, more centrally located day care.
People were impressed with my website; with the pictures, information and ‘glimpse inside’ that it offered. The Montessori curriculum, the beautiful, country setting and the fact that we are a family run business appealed to them. They felt like they knew us already thanks to the ‘personal touch’ effect of the
website.
Communication with potential and existing clients is so much easier, as is marketing your day care when you have an online presence. It is not difficult to maintain or create a website and a professional look can be easily achieved. Your business can be marketed better by a regularly updated, vibrant website and blog than by other methods at less cost. Include lots of information about you and your day care ensure your site is easily navigated.
Granted it took a few months of work submitting my site to online business directories and ensuring I had all my meta tags and keywords up to speed but ultimately it was worth it. My day care almost always shows up in the first few listings for any search for child care in my area (oftentimes for nationwide searches).
Pictures of your day care should abound, both interior and exterior – nice bright shots of your playrooms and playgrounds. Help parents understand what your day care offers by incorporating details of important policies, your educational curriculum and what you charge. You can include downloads of your day care contract and parent handbook – the more information you provide the less questions they’re going to have.
Having a blog associated with your site is a lovely idea and keeps both present and future clients updated and involved. I just recently revamped my site adding a blog (I use wordpress and highly recommend it) and am already reaping the rewards and hearing lots of nice feedback. Consider having a staff page with pictures and mini biographies of your carers (even it it’s just you). People love that personal touch and feel that you are less of a stranger to them.
Article by Fiona Lohrenz
Fiona Lohrenz drew on her 10 years experience of running a day care to found ChildCareOnly.com and produce a ‘How to Start a Day Care Business’ DVD guide: www.startchildcare.com Fiona can be reached at her website: http://www.childcareonly.com
