Marketing Your Day Care Online

Marketing Your Day Care Online

I’m a huge advocate of having a website and blog to support your day care business. My website was born at the same time as my day care and I have benefited from a lot of business that otherwise might not have found me. 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.

Having an online presence has many advantages in terms of marketing and simply communicating with current and potential clients. A professional website is worth considering and is not difficult to create or maintain. A vibrant, regularly updated site and blog can sell your business better than anything else. Make sure it is easily navigable and well stocked with information about you and your business.

The early stages involved quite a bit of work ensuring all my keywords and tags were effective, submitting to online child care and business directories but the work paid off. Most google and other search engine queries for day care in my area will have my business listed in the first few results.

Pictures of your day care should abound, both interior and exterior - nice bright shots of your playrooms and playgrounds. Parents love to see concise details of essential policies, fees and curriculum - so they know what to expect. 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.

You can find more childcare articles at Fiona Lohrenz’s website where you’ll also find her ‘Start a Daycare Business’ DVD guide: Start A Day Care Business DVD She has a lot of knowledge to impart having run her own daycare for 10 years. You can find her at her website: ChildCareOnly.com

- Rene Sandan