Greetings dance studio owners! If you’re looking to improve your dance studio’s online presence, here’s how to do it. This blogpost will walk you through three practical tips to ensure your website not only looks good, but also smoothly guides visitors towards registration.
First.....
Make sure your photos don’t slow down your website’s loading time. I’m talking about optimizing your photos, an important but often forgotten task!
One of the easiest ways to optimize images for your studio’s website is to resize them before you upload them to your webpages. This is especially true if you’re working with images taken straight from your phone or camera. Why? Well, default dimensions these days are normally much larger than you actually need, and larger dimensions mean a larger file size. And those large files can weigh down your website, making it load slower and slower.
For example, let’s say you’re adding an image to your Frequently Asked Questions page. You indicate when adding it that you’d like it to be 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels tall, because that’s what looks good for the spot you’re putting the photo in. What you may not realize is that the photo you’re using is actually 3000 pixels by 2250 pixels, FAR larger than you need. It’s the same aspect ratio, so it may look the same to the naked eye. Resizing the larger photo would help keep your website’s speed as low as possible.
These 2 images look just the same, yeah?
But the photo file on the right is actually 5x larger, which could slow down your website!
There are multiple ways to resize photos, but for me I rely on Canva, which I use for all graphics creation these days. After I upload a photo at its full size, I can use Canva’s resize feature to decrease it to a size more appropriate for use on a website.
The resize feature is only available for those who use the Pro level, which is $15 per month (save 33% if you pay annually).
Don’t want to pay for Canva Pro? No problem. You can use Gimp instead, a free-to-use, cross-platform image editor. It can feel a little tricky to get started with Gimp. I suggest typing in “how to resize photos using Gimp” in YouTube, and you’ll see a number of tutorials.
A quick loading website means visitors can sail through your pages easily, get acquainted with your studio and offerings, and proceed through your sales funnel towards registration.
Secondly...
Prioritize a user-friendly layout that keeps navigation easy and intuitive for your website visitors. A well-organized structure improves the user experience, making it a pleasure for those seeking information about your classes, schedules, and policies. A flashy website design should only be used if its layout is also super easy and intuitive for visitors to maneuver through!
Additionally, optimize your website for mobile devices, to ensure easy access from
anywhere. This inclusive approach keeps users happy, no matter which device they’re accessing your site from. It also makes it more probable that someone will sign up for your dance programs while in the waiting room of their dentist’s office.
When was the last time you looked at your own studio’s website on your phone? If it’s been a while, now is a good time to check through it to make sure it’s fully mobile friendly.
and Lastly...
Keep your website maintained with updated content, especially regarding schedules and events. When life at the studio is going a mile per minute, it can be really easy to let your website fall by the wayside. To ensure that you (or your office manager!) do regular updates, make sure to put website maintenance as a regular task in the studio calendar.
Doing regular updates demonstrates your studio’s commitment to providing accurate and timely information and ensures your website is a reliable source for both existing dance families and prospective dancers. This gives people the (correct) impression that your studio is both transparent and relevant!
There you have it – three key strategies to enhance your dance studio’s website! By optimizing your photos before uploading them to your website, prioritizing a user friendly layout, and keeping content updated, your website will transform into a hub that both resonates with your existing dance community and captures the attention of potential dance families.
Best wishes to you and your studio!
Stacey