Does having an Internet website help your school?

[MasterPain]

Over here in the middle of Nowhere, business is almost all word of mouth. I work for a seamless gutter company, and most of our customers got our number from a family member or neighbor who we had worked for previously. It's rare that they even looked in the phone book. I've never heard of anyone even looking for a gutter company on the internet.

Most local dojos are filled with students who are friends before they started. I think it's part of the social dynamic of rural areas. I can tell you who lives in almost every house in my hometown, and I am an introvert.

[Lee M]

The internet has become very important for attracting new students, because it's cheap and everyone uses the net to find stuff these days....the problem is most ma sites are not set up to do the job their designed for - to create new students.

Many websites are just a school brochures and give too much information and leave a potential student with too many decisions instead of getting them to pick up the phone and make an appointment and visit the school.

Which as a school owners is what you want - you cant sell what you do online but you can convince someone just enough that you are what they are looking for and then convince them to come in.

A nice free trial form on your landing page and learning seo will do wonders.

[sensei8]

The internet can help and it can hurt. It can help by providing the necessary information that would draw the prospective student to visit the school. It can also hurt by filling the site with a bunch of nonsense that does nothing to attract a prospective student.

Imho, a website AND the school shouldn't be a time/place for self-aggrandizement.

There's a saying..."Short and sweat!" Anything else is not good for the school.

[Spodo Komodo]

The internet can help and it can hurt. It can help by providing the necessary information that would draw the prospective student to visit the school. It can also hurt by filling the site with a bunch of nonsense that does nothing to attract a prospective student.

How many poor kata video clips or pictures of poorly executed stances are there out there? Sometimes the heart can rule the head leading to websites being full of well-intentioned material which does nothing to show what the club is about. It is often the case that the most enthusiastic are the ones with the least to show.

[sensei8]

The internet can help and it can hurt. It can help by providing the necessary information that would draw the prospective student to visit the school. It can also hurt by filling the site with a bunch of nonsense that does nothing to attract a prospective student.

How many poor kata video clips or pictures of poorly executed stances are there out there? Sometimes the heart can rule the head leading to websites being full of well-intentioned material which does nothing to show what the club is about. It is often the case that the most enthusiastic are the ones with the least to show.

To answer the bold above...I've lost count!!

[sojobo]

As a martial arts historian, I have real problems if I can't obtain hard facts or source material.

Whilst the internet has a lot of rubbish on it - if you know where to look it is a great tool.

Sure, I understand that some groups simply don't have a want, or need for one, but if you can't at least find something about the school, or its teachers on the web - I would be deeply suspicious.

Sensei8 falls into this category - I like what he says - but can find little to substantiate his training record - short of what he tells us here.

I feel sure there is more to it - but I just can't find it - and that would put the brakes on for me.

sojobo

[bushido_man96]

I do think having a well designed website can be beneficial to any school. However, I don't think that if a school doesn't have a website, that it isn't worth checking out. Bad schools come from all over the place. So do good ones. The internet, or the yellow pages, does not discriminate; they advertise for whoever is willing to pay for it.

Well when I first started out in the MAs, the Internet did not exist and the only way to find a school was through the yellow pages . However, things have changed, and I only use the Internet to search for schools. However, I have found several schools that show up in Google searches, but have no website. These could be great schools, but no body will know this because they don't advertise.

I think in time most people will realize that today's internet is yesterday's yellow pages. Its the place to find info. Granted, its not always accurate, but yellow page discriptions are less than informative, save an address and phone number.

Whether a school has a website or not, its worthwhile to check out all schools nearby in person before signing up for one, in my opinion.

[MasterPain]

Chojun Miyagi never ran a website, nor was he listed in the yellow pages.

[bushido_man96]

Chojun Miyagi never ran a website, nor was he listed in the yellow pages.

Cool, I didn't know that. Also reading your post above, I do think that word of mouth is one of the most solid forms of advertising one can get. If satisfied customers are talking about you to other potential customers, it can travel fast. In the end, you are more likely to end up with those who are really dedicated, and williing to stick it out for a long time.

When I think back to starting the Martial Arts, other than learning with my dad years ago, I got back in when a friend of mine invited me to the local TKD club.

[MasterPain]

Well, I could be wrong about the yellow pages but he died in 53. My point was he made more impact on karate than many dojos with great websites.