Although a perfect homepage is a little different from one dance studio to the next, there are some common rules of thumb to increase your chances of making one that encourages visitors to explore further and enroll in your dance programs.
Download the free infographic at the bottom of this post! It includes best practices, tips and tricks for a user-friendly, appealing and effective dance studio homepage!
How to Make Your Homepage Shine (and Convert!)
1) Intuitive Navigation Bar
Helps users find what they’re looking for quickly and easily with a clean and intuitive navigation bar. Include a manageable number of top level navigation tabs and use dropdown menus to drill down to more specific topics/pages.
2) Clear and Concise Headlines
Being one of the first things a visitor will read, your homepage headlines should not confuse or bore, but compel a visitor to take a closer look.
Addressing a specific point that related to the most asked questions of prospects will catch a reader’s attention more than having a vague and uninteresting headline. For example, “Dance Classes for Students Age 3 – Adult” answers the question “how old does my daughter need to be before starting dance classes?”
3) Keep the Most Important Items Above the Fold
“Above the fold” refers to the space on your homepage that a visitor sees before needing to scroll down. It’s precious real estate on your website and is where the most important parts of the homepage should be.
What is considered most important is up to you, of course, but a worthy example would be to have an exciting photo of your dancers at the top, with an overlay of your dance studio’s name and location, a compelling subheading, and a call-to-action button leading people to more information about your dance programs.
4) Include a Quick Overview of Your Studio
Adding a short overview of what your studio is about and what it offers is smart for two reasons:
- it lets prospects know they’re in the right place, and
- it is awesome for your search engine optimization. Use your most important keywords and phrases in this section, while keeping the tone warm and welcoming.
5) Provide Shortcuts to Your Most Asked About Topics
Give dance parents and prospect a quick and easy route to the topics and pages they most want to visit. If summer is around the corner, for example, provide a prominent link to your Summer Programs page in this section.
6) Use Images and Videos That Relate to Your Page Copy
For example, if you’re highlighting the features of your studio facilities on your homepage, having a “Tour of the Studio” YouTube video embedded next to it would be an excellent complement.
7) Calls-to-Action Should Stand Out
After a prospect has visited your homepage, it is crucial that they know what to do next.
That’s where calls-to-action come in.
You can simply state what they should do and link to another page on your site, such as
“View our dance class schedule here” (make sure to use a contrasting color for your
linked text and underline it!).
Or, using action words/phrases such as “Register”, “Try Out”, and “Learn About”, create
buttons for your homepage that are big, bright, and “above the fold”.
8) Social Proof and Trust Indicators
Build trust in your dance studio by sharing reviews and testimonials from your happy dance families. Also include press mentions and any dance organizations that you belong to.
And there you have it, the anatomy of a perfect dance studio website homepage. I hope
these homepage tips and best practices help you to attract more new dancers and stay
ahead of your competition!
Best wishes to you and your studio,
Stacey