Lady Eleanor Holles

The website redesign was part of a bigger branding exercise. When Heather Hanbury became the new headmistress in 2014, she recognized that it was the perfect time to re-evaluate the school brand, including everything from digital and print communications to uniform and signage. LEH initially undertook some market research to cover two phases of qualitative and quantitative research amongst girls, parents, staff and alumnae. This led to a more striking brand logo and identity.

The Decision to Partner with Finalsite

LEH’s relationship with Finalsite began when they attended a free Finalsite Social Media Workshop.

“We received so much useful information from the workshop and the Finalsite staff were so friendly and helpful that we went on to host our own social media workshops the following year,” Ingrid said. 

When it came time for the website redesign, Finalsite was invited to pitch against two other companies.

“Finalsite offered an up-to-date platform backed by a robust yet easy-to-use content management system (Composer)," Jenny said. "Even more so, what appealed to us most was their great customer service.”

“We wanted a website that was easy to navigate so that anyone visiting our site, be it prospective parents, staff or governors, could get the information they needed quickly and easily,” Ingrid said. "The new user journey would have to support marketing and admissions’ goals as well as telling the LEH story in a fresh and vibrant approach." 

In addition, with LEH International School opening in China, they also needed a bilingual site for this school.  With Finalsite’s experience in working with over 5,000 schools in 75 countries, LEH were confident they had the systems in place to launch and manage the site successfully. 

What are some highlights of the new website?

 

• Increased engagement with site videos

LEH’s motto is “Hope Favours the Bold.” This is now reflected in the striking new robust website which embodies the school motto in its vibrant, fresh and contemporary design and the use of photography and videography to reflect the ethos of the school. The homepage video features an inspiring collection of footage showcasing all that makes the school special.

• Optimised navigation and secure portals

The user journey is much more streamlined and users can easily navigate around the site. Strong imagery defines user paths, allowing existing parents and staff to find their password-protected portals quickly and log in securely. This allows the homepage to focus on informing prospective parents about the merits of LEH and encouraging them to learn more and enquire.

• Easy to update and maintain content

LEH is surrounded by a caring community of local families and businesses, and the school can accept donations on the Support Us pages. Additionally, they created a dedicated page for their Bursary Ball to acknowledge and thank sponsors by listing their logos with links to the local businesses’ websites. This page has certainly contributed to LEH’s most successful annual fundraising campaign to date, with a 400% rise in participation year-on-year.

 

Key results from the website redesign

Composer enables the school to easily share the responsibility of website maintenance. Now, the website is a joint team effort, with different departments taking ownership of their sections, which simultaneously reflects the school community voice, with timely updates from human resources, admissions and the marketing teams.

“The website is incredibly user-friendly, said Ms. Amna Siddiqui, the school's registrar. "On a regular basis, the admissions team updates the website with ease. We have built web-based forms for open events, removing the need for parents to send emails for a booking and overall parents love the new look and feel of the website.” 

Both the new LEH website, which launched in January 2019, and the international school website for LEH Foshan, which launched shortly before, are showing strong results. Whilst previously users were getting lost in the menus of the old website and dropping out along the way, the clear new navigation and design have resulted in a much lower bounce rates and longer time spent on the site.

Google Analytics shows a drop from 40% to 33% and the average session time on the site has increased. The admissions page is now one of the website’s most popular pages and since the launch of the new digital admissions form, LEH is delighted to report that they have had almost 2,000 enquiries!

Summary

Jenny and Ingrid shared how well-supported they felt, working closely with the friendly team at Finalsite.

“Finalsite has given us a website with a distinctive design which is much admired within our sector,” Jenny said. “The speed and ease of use for everybody who interacts with it has been fantastic. Composer is really intuitive to use and this, along with the excellent customer support, has resulted in a great partnership. We now think of Finalsite as very much part of our team.”