You’ve invested a significant amount of resources, both time and financial, into your website – it is the virtual window into your school. Your website has the potential to fill your admissions funnel, communicate with current families, build community and increase school spirit.
But, are you utilizing its full potential? If you’re not maximizing the blog on your website, then you are missing out on countless communication opportunities. The benefits of blogging for your school are endless, but so are the possible topic ideas. How do you know where to start? It can be difficult to decide what you should publish on your blog.
Every piece of content you create should do three things: educate, elicit emotion and ask the reader to take an action.
If your story is about the school’s programs, include a call to action that directs your audience to the most relevant pages on your website. If you’re writing about the fact that you have the best high school basketball team in the country, share “hero” photos in the post.
Maybe you want to talk about how your students graduate and move on to attend the colleges and universities of their choice. You could then share a video testimonial about why they chose that particular school and how it is the best fit for them.
You can see how we took topics that could simply demonstrate the academic or athletic successes of your school and infused the story with an emotional connection that elicits an action. Without the story a blog post will miss its mark. Sharing stories about your school’s close-knit community, thought leadership, and school initiatives are incredibly important.
So, are there any blog topics you should focus on?
Not necessarily. You have to choose the topics that are the most relevant to your audience, as not all blog topic ideas will work for your school.
Using the power of content marketing, your blog has the potential to encourage the school’s community to engage and participate. The topic suggestions in this article can build school pride and elevate its reputation, which naturally piques interest in, and attention to, your school’s brand.
With all that being said, we’ve worked with various schools and determined that these 8 blog topic ideas can be fundamental in attracting prospective students and their families to your school.
“A Student Athlete's Experience at (School Name)”
Prospective parents and their children will want to know what the student classroom experience is like. Personal story articles can help generate some buzz within a prospective student’s family. If a student’s story resonates with a family in your admissions funnel, there’s a stronger chance they apply.
"Personal story articles can help generate some buzz within a prospective student's family."
Consider choosing one of your students to interview. They could be an athlete, band member, or even the student body president. The title above can be interchanged as you interview different students. Keep in mind that this topic can be used to communicate the diversity of your school, and that each student has a unique story to share.
Recognizing students on your school blog can motivate others to become involved. Your students could act as ambassadors and share their stories, thus creating content for your school’s blog.
Gathering personal student stories shows that no matter the type of interests they have, all students can experience the benefits of a higher level of education, community, and opportunities provided by your school.
This is an easy way to demonstrate to families within your admissions funnel that your school is involved with understanding the different personalities and interests of your students, which builds the fundamental aspect of trust.
“How (Alumni Name) Became (Achievement) After Graduating (School Name)”
Some of the questions most frequently asked by candidate families are around matriculation and where alumni now work. This is the perfect opportunity to tell the school’s story and share how mission-appropriate students achieve success because of the education they received at your school.
Not only should you reach out and interview current graduates, but connect with alumni for their stories. Everyone defines success differently, so you’ll need to aim for graduates that are in different walks of life.
Some alumni may attend schools like Oxford or Harvard, which shows they are academically successful. Some could be budding entrepreneurs; because they’re taking their science fair project into the marketplace. Others may be travelling the world to experience different cultures. Whatever path they’ve taken, it highlights how different students find success at your school.
Asking graduates and alumni to set aside time for an interview may be easier than you think, especially when they understand how sharing their experiences can also benefit them. Firstly, asking them for an interview can make them feel recognized for their accomplishments. Chances are, if someone is asking you for an interview, you’ve definitely done something that people want to talk about.
Secondly, an interview on your school’s blog can also elevate their profile by adding to their thought leadership reputation, as well as contribute to any causes, beliefs, or companies they may be involved in.
Sharing alumni and student stories will show future students and their parents that graduating from your school can bring upon greater opportunities. The end result is different for everyone, but each graduate has a different story to share with different benefits to show.
“What Mr./Ms.(Teacher Name) Learned This Month at (School Name)”
This topic gives your school’s administrators and faculty members the opportunity to share their personal stories. They can explain who they are, their history teaching, and notable moments they’ve experienced at the school.
Choose a variety of faculty members to feature and be sure to include perspectives from people who are newer to international education and those that are veterans in the field. You can also consider team members who are championing a new teaching method or talk about the drama teacher who has had Broadway experience.
Whomever you choose, be sure to demonstrate how they are creating innovative learning moments for the students.
Your school employs world class educators who are thought leaders in the industry. Take advantage of that depth of knowledge by sharing whitepapers, industry journal articles, books, etc., they have written. Not only will this showcase the level of academia students will learn from, but it elevates the reputation of those faculty members and, in turn, the reputation of your school, within the international education community.
"Your school employs world class educators who are thought leaders in the industry."
When you share faculty’s personalities, teaching philosophies, and credentials, you are more likely to attract mission appropriate families whose values align with the school’s visions and strategy.
“How (Family Member Name) Family Helped (School Name) Raise $1,000 for (Cause Name)”
This is a huge blog topic; one that allows you to share the personal perspective of the parents at your school and there is no better marketing tactic than parents spreading the word about how happy they, and their children, are at your school. Think of these articles as a form of testimonials or word of mouth marketing.
But this topic goes beyond its marketing benefits. This is your school’s opportunity to showcase its diverse culture and share how families from so many different countries and walks of life, come together to create a community that celebrates these differences and nurtures each other during their expat time.
Since you’ll be gathering the opinions of parents, it would help to put some sort of structure together for them. Consider creating a formula for writing each article to discuss sub-topics like “How many years have you been with the school?” and “How often do you try to get involved with school activities?” or even “What have you learned since enrolling your child in this school?”
Parents love to tell others about how their kids are progressing academically or athletically. They’ll definitely enjoy telling the story about Timmy leading the school basketball team to victory.
There’s also the idea that the parents you interview could be encouraging other parents to get involved. For example, if Timmy’s super busy CEO dad can find time to partake in school activities, why can’t the other parents?
This doubles as valuable qualitative data for your school as well as sales copy for the families in your admissions funnel.
When other parents chime in on how their experience at your school has been, it sets a more realistic expectation for other parents. It also shows how the school’s existing parents form a community and consistently get involved to promote school values, build school pride, and ensure the development of all students.
“10 Study Tips to Help You Pass the (Course or Program) Final Exam”
Geared towards prospective and current students more than anyone else, this topic wouldhare actionable tips for students (and even parents) to succeed. This type of article could give an inside look into the school’s support system and general academic structure.
You could easily create an article by selecting one of your top students and interviewing them to share their studying tips. This would prove useful to your existing students as well. On the flip side, you could pick a faculty member to share some tips too.
Not only can this blog topic help your school generate leads, it could also encourage your current student body to adopt and innovate successful studying habits.
Providing useful resources to your students and their parents shows how involved you are with maximizing a student’s learning capabilities. Parents who are considering admission into your school will ultimately see how the faculty and student community work together to encourage and foster success.
“(School Name) Goes to (Initiative Name) to Win First Place”
This topic can act like a press release or school newsletter. A dedicated blog post highlighting the school’s involvement at a local or international level can magnify the importance of an initiative.
For example, if you’ve sent 30 students to participate in a high school debate competition in Europe, you’ll definitely want to write a dedicated blog article. You could take it a step further by including a video clip of the debate. Discussing the learning opportunities for the students and sharing the experiences they enjoyed, communicate the opportunity for development when their children participate in these activities.
As with some of the other blog topics, this type of blog posts will add credibility to your school. When candidate families see that the school puts their written values into action through involvement, both in the local community and in other countries, it elevates its reputation in the industry.
“Join Our School and Take Part in the (National/Local Event or Activity)”
Use your blog as a resource for families to discover different activities to enjoy. Focus on offering parents and students a list of seasonal activities, whether they’re on school campus or not. These activities need to align with both your school’s value and the local culture.
For example, a school in Thailand would very likely want to write about events or activities that celebrate the King. You can also draw awareness towards seasonal activities like a Spring Choir event, which could show how much your school values their music program.
Encouraging key stakeholders such as the choir teacher to write a blog about this event can encourage attendance rates. A larger attendance number, however, isn’t the only aspect that dictates the success of the event. Success is measured by the amount of community support and involvement it fosters.
This can also increase future participation from parents, students, and faculty members.
By sharing the different activities families can participate in together, you’re not only speaking to current families, but to potentials families who are wondering what life is like, both in your school and within the community they will be living in.
“Come Support the Grad Class of 2017 Walk the Stage Next Month”
While your school likely has a calendar of events, big campus celebrations like graduation day, prom, orientation day, or other events should have a place in your school’s blog. They encourage both parents and students to participate in milestone events while also building community spirit and school pride.
Here’s how a blog article can help promote campus celebrations:
A school might hold a summer barbecue on campus to celebrate the end of the school year. To prepare for this event, the school may opt into creating a newsletter and a blog post that highlights the reasons why families should participate.
To follow up, you could write a post-event article about how 200+ parents participated and that all of the proceeds went towards donating to a cause the entire school believes in.
This blog topic demonstrate how close-knit the community is at your school. Writing about how the school celebrates the end of the school year and also donating the proceeds shows the school can come together and achieve a unified goal.
Wrapping it Up
Use your blog to communicate the whole-child education experience that students will have at your school.
The above topics are only a few of the options you could consider. They are, however, very relevant for families who want to be a part of a strong community. Your blog should be about your entire school experience and not just about reiterating your accolades or school programs.
These topics should help your school show parents and students that community involvement, formulating your own values, establishing global awareness, and going through real life experiences, are all part of education.
Do you have a content strategy you can follow to stay on top of producing content for your admissions funnel?
What blog topics will you be writing about for your school’s blog?
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