Interiors

Our interiors are an insight into our brains. It is a collaboration of design, art, humor, irony, functionality, and the street.

Your Dance Studio Website – Doing Your Due Diligence

Ok - I admit it - it's tough for me to find time to regularly check our website for information that needs updating. Each time we change an offering or have a new studio website to add to our portfolio, these updates should be done promptly and without fail. They can fall by the wayside, though, especially during our busy season. Big mistake!

The same holds true for your dance studio website. If your site contains old, outdated information, your customers will cease to see it as relevant. They will question whether the information is up to date and/or accurate, and if nothing changes after another visit or two, they'll simply stop visiting the site.

As bad as that is, the outcome is potentially worse when the visitor is a potential customer. Say a parent is determining which studio to take their child to and is comparing studio websites. Which do you think they'll lean towards — the studio website with a schedule from the upcoming season, an updated studio calendar, and mentions of recent accomplishments, or the studio website with announcements of the date and time for their upcoming 'Recital 2019' (when it is currently 2021)? A studio website with outdated information reflects very poorly on the business, and can make visitors wonder whether the studio itself has its act together.

Sheesh, enough of that. We all know we should keep our sites fresh. To that end:

Here are 5 easy ways to keep your dance studio website up to date

Check for any and all dates on your website. Take down recital handbooks, rehearsal schedules, and calendar events that are in the past. If you don't have information yet for your next event, it's fine to put "Our new fall schedule will be up soon... please check back". But once it's ready, be sure to put it up!
Instead of having your website designer take down your Summer Dance page once summer is over, use that page to share the great experience your students just had and to prepare people for next year. You might post something like, "Check back in early spring for information on our next summer art camps. In the meanwhile, enjoy these photos from our Summer 2010!"
Avoid using dates in your slogan or in the studio history section of your website. Why? You're in danger of being out of date every new year, unless you have those items changed annually. So instead of "16 Years of Making Dancers", try "Making Dancers Since 1994". You'll be glad you did!
Likewise, do you have a main navigation bar heading with a date in it, such as Recital 2010? Consider changing it to 'Our Recital', and you won't have to remember to change it each year.
Periodically check all links on your website - especially outside links to .pdf files or other websites. Take down any with broken links or outdated information.

I'd recommend putting a monthly reminder in your calendar to ensure you regularly update your website. I will be doing the same thing!

Best wishes and a successful registration period to you all!

Stacey

Tips on Updating Your Studio Website

I received the following email from one of our customers yesterday. After replying, it occurred to me that she is likely not alone.

"Hi Stacey,
I am not keeping up with my studio's website, and I feel so out of touch with it. What can I do?"

- A studio owner in PA

To all those in a similar situation, here are my two cents:

Reminder - Update your dance studio website! First of all, you're smart to want to keep your dance studio website updated. When your site contains current information, your students and their parent will visit it more often, and you'll present your best, professional face to new prospects. Also important — search engines place a high value on fresh content, which means if you update regularly your site is likely to rank higher in Google and the other search engines.

But how to remember to do this regularly? It's a challenge, isn't it, with everything else in your life pulling focus. I would recommend using your Google calendar (or whichever calendar you use on your phone or computer). OR, if it works for you, there is nothing wrong with using a good, old fashioned wall calendar and putting a reminder on, say, the 15th of every month: "Update My Website!"

Depending on how your website is set up, you either a) update it yourself through a content management system, or b) send your changes to your website designer, who makes them for you. Either way, here are some ideas — aspects of your websites that are great candidates for frequent updates:

If you have a studio newsletter, you can post it on your website. If not, you can mention your upcoming events and calendar items on a Latest News page. When these are kept up-to-date, you give your existing customers reasons to keep visiting your site.
If you have new or changed classes, I'd mention them in your news area as well as change them on your online schedule.
Have you hired (or fired) a new teacher? Make that change on your Faculty page. This is also a good time to add recent accomplishments of you or your faculty to the page.

These are things that are good to do monthly, but the more updates, the merrier.

Your website is also an excellent place to put Weather Closings, but that works best if you're able to make your own changes. If you don't have this ability, a good alternative is to have your web designer put a notice on your site that you follow a certain school's closing schedule, and/or to call the studio for a recorded message if the weather is iffy.

Once a year, I'd recommend taking an hour or two and really looking through your website. Consider what meaty, content-filled information you could add to it. Perhaps a notice to your students on how to get the most out of dance classes? You can freshen up your mission statement, perhaps, or 'beef up' the information about your studio's history and facility. Are the photos on your website 4 years old? Now is a good time to spice up your website with new pics of your students, and delete the oldest ones.

Reviewing your full website once per year not only keeps your site fresh, but also renews your focus and reminds you of your studio's goals. Always make sure to proofread and spell check your work, so typos get caught by you, and not your website visitors. You may be able to entrust a staff member with the monthly updates, but do follow up with them regularly to make sure the task has been done!

Make it easy for visitors to find (and return to) your dance studio website!

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You’ve got a great looking studio website – full of content and constantly updated.* But do people know where to go so they can connect and interact with you? If not, they’ll need to look your dance studio up in a search engine. And as we all know, it’s super easy to get distracted when looking something up online.

Google Your Dance Studio

Do your students/parents/prospects a favor, and save them the step of having to Google your studio name. Place your website address on everything… postcards and fliers, plus invoices, business cards, letterhead, stickers, phone mail messages and anything else you can think of, envelopes included. It doesn't cost a penny more to add your website address, and it will mean more traffic to your studio’s site.

This is especially important if your name is a fairly common one, like Center Stage Dance or the Dance Factory. You may be the only Impact Dance in your community, but nationwide? Not even close. There are studios with the same name in Arizona, Illinois, California, Colorado, Washington, and Georgia, and that’s just on the first page of Google. Of course people in your community will be able to search you out, but if they see your website address everywhere, they may not need to look it up in the first place.

Video Tutorials

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Twenty years ago, it was a dance studio’s name and phone number that needed to be listed everywhere. Today a studio's website address has become more important than the telephone number. Most people will visit your website to decide whether to call you regarding classes for their children.

You want your students, parents, and prospects to visit your website regularly. Make it easy for them to remember the address and keep coming back!

* You do have fresh content on your site, right? If not, schedule in time to make updates to your site… I know it’s tough to find the time, but you can do it!

ConvertKit Free Plan

$0 /month for up to 1,000 subscribers

The Free plan includes:

Unlimited landing pages & forms
Send email broadcasts
Sell digital products & subscriptions
Email support

ConvertKit Creator Plan

$29/month for up to 1,000 subscribers (paid monthly)
$25/month for up to 1,000 subscribers (paid annually)
Tiered pricing up to $2,299/month paid monthly (or $1,916/month paid annually) for up to 400,000 subscribers

(Just getting started with email marketing for your dance studio? For those studios with 300 subscribers or fewer, the Creator Plan is only $9/month if paid annually, or $15/month if paid monthly. An inexpensive way to get started!)
The Creator plan includes:

All the features of the Free plan
Free migration from another tool
Automated funnels & sequences

Convertkit Creator Pro Plan

$59/month for up to 1,000 subscribers
Tiered pricing up to $2,599/month paid monthly (or $2,166/month paid annually) for up to 400,000 subscribers

The Creator Pro plan includes:

All the features of the Creator plan
Facebook custom audiences
Newsletter referral system
Subscriber scoring
Advanced reporting

We’ll keep this post updated with the latest ConvertKit pricing, but you can also visit the pricing page on the ConvertKit website.

Six Tips for Creating a Dance Studio Newsletter that People Will Actually Read

There are so many things to be thankful for this holiday weekend. One thing I'm grateful for is to live in a city where we have numerous dance companies and the arts are thriving. Oregon Ballet Theatre is not only Portland’s pre-eminent ballet touring company and school, they also put out a heck of a newsletter, and it's one that dance studio owners can take a few good points from.

Here are 6 tips for creating a studio newsletter (that people will actually read):

Think about your audience -

Who is most likely to read your studio newsletter? Who would you like to read your newsletter? Are these the same people? If your newsletter is just for dance parents and adult students, your content should reflect that, but if you'd like to get the whole family involved, you can add a fun dance quiz or game for kids or interesting dance facts that would appeal to a younger set.
Decide on content -

Include several topics and sections to make your dance studio's newsletter more interesting for all readers. Besides notices regarding rehearsal schedules, the need for volunteers, and the date when costume deposits are due, congratulate those who have a birthday or have recently accomplished something. Let readers know about what's going on in the dance world on a national level (ie: "National Dance Day is this Saturday") and on the local level (ie. "renovations of a local performance hall are coming along nicely").
Make it a fun teaching tool -

Oregon Ballet Theatre's newsletter includes items to expand upon a dancer's knowledge of the history, techniques, and famous figures of the dance world. They'll include a biography of George Balanchine, for example, or explain “port de bras” and how dancers use their arm movements to convey emotion. They do it in a fun, breezy style that makes people want to read more. You can easily do this too in your studio's newsletter. A nice bonus is that you will be viewed as even more of a dance expert!
Research your information -

Chances are good that some of your dance knowledge was learned quite early (which is fantastic), but when sharing this knowledge with others in newsletter form, do make sure to double check the facts. When you do your research, you won't fall prey to common misconceptions passed down to you through dance instructors "back in the day", or dance term misspellings that may have slipped through the cracks. You can breathe easy knowing you've done your due diligence.
Make it readable!

Using short, clear, and easy-to-understand language will improve the readability of your studio's newsletter. Although newsletters can be a wonderful tool with which to teach students and parents about dance topics, do avoid overly technical language, as people will quickly lose interest. Keep sentences short and use bullets where appropriate. On the OBT newsletter, they use short, punchy 'teasers' on each topic they're writing about. When you click to read more, you are taken to their blog and the full article(s). Although having an accompanying blog would be overkill for most studios, the user friendly format is good to keep in mind.
Proofread before sending -

You've written a fantastic newsletter, and (if you're like me) it's taken longer than expected. You want to send it out immediately, but before you do — proof it! Already proofed it? Do it again! For good measure, have your office manager and/or front desk person proof it, too. Don't let spelling or grammatical errors mar an otherwise lovely newsletter.

Take a look at your studio's existing newsletter (if you already have one), and consider how it fares in each of the 6 points above. Get a sense for what is already working well and what could be improved. And then see if you can utilize one or more of the tips in your studio's own newsletter!