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Here are some tips to get the best website for your school without having to pay extra:

 

• A "splash" or "entry" page is bad for search engine rankings. This is a page that contains just your school logo and then a "click here to enter" or something similar.
  
  
• All pages on your website should be at your domain name. For example, if you have the domain name www.school.nsw.edu.au, then your contact us page should be at: www.school.nsw.edu.au/page
  Some solutions do not do this which is bad for search engines and bookmarks. For example, they put the contact us page at: www.schoolwebsite.net.au/page, which really just helps them and NOT you.
  
  
• Is the design of your website standards compliant? This means whether or not your website has been coded correctly. Websites display differently from web browser to web browser (eg. Internet Explorer to Firefox, to Safari). A standard compliant website will display correctly on each browser and is far less likely to need updating / fixing when a new browser released.
  
  
• Not all Content Management Systems are the same - so you should get a demo (even just over the phone) before you buy. The design of your website is important, but not as important as the software or Content Management System (CMS) that you use to update and edit your website. Some important questions you should ask a potential provider include:
  • Can I drag-and-drop content (text, images etc) around on the page without the page having to reload?
  • Does the CMS automatically scale and re-compress images so that they load as quickly as possible on the internet?
  • Can I insert new pages and does the menu automatically update?
  • How much storage space do you offer? Some only offer 100MB and others 1000MB all for the same price. Storage space allows you to post more photos, text, PDFs etc on your website.
  • Do you offer email accounts? Perhaps your P&C would like an email address like pandc@schoolname.nsw.edu.au
    
    
• Some Content Management Systems allow you to bulk email home your school newsletter to parents. This is becoming more and more popular because it saves your school money in printing and paper costs (a P3 size school over $1000 per year) and it has many other benefits.