Does a school really need a website?

Yes, a school needs a website. Not to look modern. Because parents check before they call, and a school they cannot find online does not get the call.

That's the short answer. Here's the longer one.

How do parents actually choose a school now?

The same way you choose anything that matters. Someone recommends it. Then you look it up.

Word of mouth still starts the conversation. It does not finish it. A mother hears your school is good, takes out her phone and searches the name. What she finds in the next thirty seconds decides whether she rings you or the school down the road.

If she finds nothing, or a Facebook page last updated in spring, you've lost her and you will never know she existed.

Isn't a Facebook page or WhatsApp enough?

It's enough to talk to the parents you already have. It is not enough to win the ones you don't.

A Facebook page shows your latest post, not your answers. Fees, admissions, the school day, who to call. A new parent wants those in one place, and social media buries them under photos of sports day.

And you don't own it. The platform decides who sees your posts. Your website is the one place online that is yours.

What does a school lose without one?

Three things, quietly.

Enquiries. The parents who looked, found nothing and moved on.

Time. Your office answers the same ten questions on the phone all day. Term dates. Fees. Uniform. How to apply. A website answers them at midnight when nobody is in.

Trust. A school asks parents to hand over their child and often a lot of money. A school with no proper presence online looks smaller and less organised than it is.

I have watched this with every kind of small business we build websites for. People read before they ring. Parents are no different, and they are choosing something that matters a lot more than a plumber.

In the UK it is not optional

If you are a state school in England, there is a list of things the law says you must publish online. Admissions, your latest inspection report, results, the curriculum, your behaviour policy, how you spend pupil premium, your complaints procedure and more. Academies have similar duties through their funding agreement.

So for those schools the question is not whether to have a website. It is whether the one you have would pass a check.

Private schools, nurseries, tutoring centres and training providers have no such list. They have something harsher. Competitors.

What about places where almost no school has a website?

In a lot of countries most schools still have nothing online. People tell me that proves you don't need one.

It proves the opposite. Where nobody has one, the first school that does looks like the serious one. It shows up when parents search. It is the one families abroad can find when they are moving back. Being first is cheap. Being tenth is expensive.

What does a school website need to do?

• Say who you are and who you are for, in one screen.
• Answer the questions parents ask: ages, fees or how fees work, term dates, how to apply.
• Make it easy to enquire or book a visit from a phone.
• Load fast on a cheap phone and a weak connection.
• Be easy for your own office to update.

That's it. You do not need a virtual tour or a mascot.

So is it worth it?

If your school is full, with a waiting list, and you are happy with who is on it, a website is tidying up. If you want more enquiries, better ones, or fewer phone calls about term dates, it is the cheapest member of staff you will ever hire.

We build websites that do this job. If you want an honest look at yours, or you don't have one yet, tell me about the school.