I wanted to share another case study of a template customization, this time for a preschool. Preschools are near and dear to my heart because I understand the client journey so well. You can read more about what makes a good preschool website on my previous blog post, where I share important features, tips for client capture, and design inspirations.

Before the project began

Cynthia was leading the task of acquiring a Showit template for a preschool. The preschool board was dissatisfied with the outdated look of their current website and they were looking for something more modern with better features. I was one of the designers she was considering given she really liked the Bubbles and Waves template as she thought the design and features would be a good fit for the school.

How was PiperMache different?

We chatted over Zoom about the project and proposal was brought back to the school board for approval. Their website redesign would include a more modern website design where they could showcase their beautiful preschool classroom and their unique teaching philosophy. The school board decided that Bubbles and Waves had just the right design to showcase the information they needed to share with their audience in a modern design without losing its personality and it’s rich business history.

Special Features and requests

• Testimonials: Testimonials were something Cynthia wanted to have added, she asked for an interactive version to help with time spent on the website so I was able to customize the template to reflect that.

• Third Party Parents tool: They partnered with HiMama to help with student registration, so I added a badge for current students to access their accounts.

• Optimization/Sales Funnel Set up: Most CTA (Call To Action) buttons lead to their Google form which helps them capture potential new client’s information and start the registration process.

• Seamless Blog setup: Blog set up It was very important for them to have a blog and continue working on their SEO with their blog posts. Their extensive archive of blog posts was geared towards classroom information so a new blog was set up for them to make more strategic SEO posts for new clients instead of current ones. I designed a blog page where the categories were static on the right side of the page so that customers can quickly navigate to a different topic. I also designed a single page blog post to showcase a picture and the featured blog title.

• FAQ Page: The FAQ page was one of the most important features of this template as it helps address parents concerns before they make a purchasing decision. In the process of customizing this template for Green Circle I revamped the FAQ page design as it served them better.

Defining a Brand for a Preschool

A photographer took pictures of the school and children to be used on the website. They were beautifully done and that helped drive some of their branding features (greens/ white clean background and orange) as well as bring the template to life and showcase a more modern design.

Given they already had a specific logo and branding they wanted to work with, we just kept the same aesthetics and incorporated that into the template. Fonts and colors were kept the same to stay true to their business branding.

I developed a branding board for them that reflects their nature and play-based teaching philosophy.

You are welcome to use this same branding board, it’s available here for free. If you already have a well-defined brand and want to keep it the same, this branding board is usually a good tool to put everything in one place before you transfer it to your Showit template.

define your brand.png

Website Redesign Copy Process

We were able to base most of the copy available from the old website but updated some of the information with some of their newest additions. The copy was reorganized to facilitate the user experience within the template. We added a teacher’s about page with pictures and details on the school’s history. A sample daily plan chart was created to better display their activities. Finally, we removed a few sections to make the information flow better and simplify everything.

Design Process

The design was done in parts. First, all the branding colors and features were added to the template. Pictures were added and a galleries were created. Once the copy was edited and reviewed by the board a first draft was submitted to the board for review. Keep in mind that copy is usually the most consuming part of a website.

I optimized the website for SEO and did a final design audit to make sure everything was working properly after the account transfer. After a few revisions, the customization was finalized.

Website Audit

The website performance was audited. I usually perform a few tests for my clients so that I know the website is working properly and they also have a third party confirmation of the website performance.

I offer this website performance audit as a extra service and you can visit my services page to schedule yours if you would like to understand how your website is currently performing. Or you can download my freebie checklist of Website Performance Optimization. It includes images loading efficiency, screen sizes audit, different browsers performance check and loading speed.

Launching the website

The website was launched seamlessly, it really helped that they had a Coming Soon Page already set up to their main domain. Showit was able to set up a blog in less than a day after that. They were able to start publishing their blog posts right after.

What I loved about this project?

I was really happy to be part of this project. Customizing a template was easy and satisfying. I got to stretch my imagination by providing a completely different visual with the same template used for a different industry serving the same audience. Parents are not an easy target market as you need to provide a lot of information. It is always a joy to work with other educators and parents as I know that audience so well.

Are you ready to dive in and start your template customization? Check with templates I have available in my shop or connect with me directly so I can customize another designer template for you.