How To Use SEO Strategies To Boost Your Ballet Website

You’re the Artistic Director of a successful ballet school. You have a stellar reputation with schools and ballet competitions all across the US. 

But you want to bring in more students to build your school. 

Maybe you want to add a trainee program or build a separate professional ballet company. 

It will take more students than you have right now, and more funds from their tuition and donations. 

You are ahead of the game. You have done your research and you know that your website is the best way to get your name out there to more parents.

Almost everyone checks a businesses website before going to visit it in person. Since we live in a world where everything is online, it has become second nature. 

When parents come to your website, they will X out if they are not captivated the moment they land on your page. This is why your website is the most important piece of your marketing. 

When you update your website with SEO, you are keeping it relevant to your company. This will ensure parents know EXACTLY what you are all about and this can lead to:

• More parents enrolling their children

• More engagement with your email newsletters

• More tickets sold at performances and more donations to your school 

But before we talk about your website in general, let’s make sure you understand SEO.

The Importance of SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. The most important piece of marketing tool on Google. 

In a nutshell, Google has these little bots that go through your website at a fast rate. 

They are looking for SEO keywords. The words that people put into the Google Search Bar to find what they want. 

If it finds text that matches or looks similar, it will display your website at the top of the results page!

SEO is a major component in how people find you on the World Wide Web. We want Google to show your website when parents are looking for activities for their kids.

If your ballet curriculum isn’t prominently displayed throughout your website and without proper SEO keywords, parents won’t know what an incredible school you have.

Your dancers are getting awards from prominent ballet competitions all over the world. And your training is the reason behind it. This is something to showcase!

But how is anyone going to know that you are a renowned Artistic Director if you don’t tell them? Here is where SEO Keywords comes in. 

Keyword Research: How to Make SEO Actually Work

SEO Keywords are the foundation of an SEO marketing strategy. Without keywords, Google doesn’t know if your page is important enough to put on the first page of results.

To begin, you have to identify the keywords that correlate with the programs you teach. 

For example, ballet schools can use:

• Ballet classes 

• Dance for toddlers

• New class schedule

• Nutcracker auditions

• Upcoming performances

• Workshops and masterclasses 

• Outreach programs in your community

All of these shed light on what you offer at your school. But let’s dive a little deeper…

Long-tail and Short-tail Keywords

If things aren’t complicated enough, there are two different types of keywords you can use. 

Long-tail keywords are full phrases people type into the search bar. For example:

• Cecchetti ballet training

• After-school ballet classes in Dallas

• Nutcracker auditions for children 6-10

• Pre-professional training for young adults

• Family-friendly ballet shows in the Portland area

• Outdoor dance performances the weekend of (DATE)

• Upcoming ballet performances in the San Francisco Area

Long-tail keywords are very important when you want to attract a specific audience. 

Now, short-tail keywords are the simplified version of long-tail keywords, like:

• Ballet classes

• Nutcracker show

• Masterclass this weekend

The advantage of using long-tail keywords is you target the EXACT audience you want. You will get a lot of people searching for “ballet classes”. But you can target the parents who are looking for “Vaganova ballet training in Milwaukee”. 

SEO keywords enable you to get in front of people who are looking for what you have to offer.  

Local SEO Strategies

Local Keywords are location-specific. And they are great for businesses that have a physical location, like your ballet school. 

When you incorporate local keywords in your website, you'll attract parents looking for your classes in your area. (Hint: I showed this above with the “Milwaukee” example).

Plus, this is what people are searching for. They want to know that you are in their area. When they find the webpage with the city already included, the parents are more likely to click on your website. 

But keywords are just the first half of the battle. Sure, you can bring them to your site because you popped up first for the keywords they searched. But the only way to keep them on your website is to have engaging, quality writing from the start. 

Writing Quality Content: Keep the Parents Coming Back for More

Getting people to your website is hard work, but the real challenge is getting people to actually read it. 

But you have the advantage, you LOVE what you do! So talking about it is easy. 

To create quality content, you have to put your personality into it. You created this school because you believe in what you have to offer these children. Let’s tell them about it. 

• Talk about how you designed your curriculum to give these children the best training you can

• Give parents insight on why you are so passionate by sharing a little bit of your past with them

• Highlight testimonials from other parents on pages on your website to build trust with your audience

When your writing is clear and concise, parents are going to become invested in what you have to say. 

Which leads us to the type of content you can provide. 

Blogs, Blogs Blogs

Consistently updating your website sounds like a challenge. 

After all, you’ve already incorporated keywords, showcased your curriculum, and attracted students. What’s left to do?

Blogs are a wonderful way to engage with your audience and keep them coming back to your website. They incorporate ballet-specific keywords and enhance the SEO for your entire website. Plus, there are so many different things you can write about. 

You can do blog posts about upcoming performances, behind-the-scenes insights and dancer profiles. But you can also use blogs as an educational platform. 

Ballet is a very technical art form. And when new parents are coming into the ballet world, they won’t know all the technical jargon from the get-go.

As the artistic director, it’s very easy to add these technicalities into your writing. But what you have to remember is, the parents coming to your website don’t know the ins and outs of ballet like you do. You have to break things down and explain it to them in simple terms. 

Just like you have to teach a new student what a plie is, you have to teach the parents as well.  Through blogs, you have a platform where you can educate the parents on the history and different areas of ballet. 

And as an added bonus, you will attract new parents to your website. Not only are you teaching them, but they will already be on your website to check out your classes and programs. 

On-Going SEO Practices

Now that we have learned about how important your website content is, let’s dive a little deeper into HOW keep the good things going. 

Regular Content Updates

• Consistently look at your pages to ensure all the dates are correct

• Making sure all the links and class schedules are working properly

• Posting regular blog content, I suggest starting with 2 a month, then working up to 4 blogs a month to take advantage of SEO

Track Performance

• Use Google Analytics to track behavior of people coming to your site

• Make note of the analytics and adjust your strategies according to what you found

Building Backlinks

• Backlinks are a direct link from your website to others

• Using backlinks will enhance your website credibility if you partner with other schools or competitions

Maintaining your website is very important when you want to bring in new students. 

It can be very obvious when a website is outdated. Sometimes the dates of your performances have passed, or your class schedule isn't relevant. 

By keeping these SEO practices in mind throughout the year, you will attract parents who are looking for a ballet school. They will come to your website, be thoroughly engaged with your content and book a tour of your school!

Next Steps

Now you know how to draw in parents who are looking for ballet training by using ballet keywords and engaging content. 

You have all the resources to have a beautiful website:

• Testimonials 

• Fantastic teachers

• A well-thought-out curriculum

• Performance schedules to dazzle your audiences

What you need is a strategy to put it all into place. 

With all the information you just read, it can be pretty overwhelming. Not to mention technical. 

And I completely understand. You have lessons to plan, rehearsals to oversee, and all the daily tasks that come with running a ballet school. 

This is where a ballet copywriter comes into play. 

Hey there! I’m Isabella, a ballerina-turned-copywriter. 

When I quit ballet due to an injury, I looked at every possible way to keep ballet in my life. 

After I learned copywriting, I immediately knew this was my ticket back in the ballet world. 

And the best part is… I get to help YOU, the Artistic Director. 

Writing for ballet schools is the highlight of my day because I know how much ballet changed my life. I want to help you show as many children as you can how magical dance is.  

If you made it to the end of this blog (or you scrolled to the end without reading, I see you 😉) I know taking on a big update to your website is daunting. SEO strategy, keyword updates, it’s all a lot to take in. 

But that is why I am here to help you. Not only do I want you to know the different strategies that bring in the most students, I want you to feel comfortable with the strategy of SEO. 

When I work with clients, it is a partnership. I want your website to be a direct reflection of the values you have built your school on. 

Your school is an incredible place for dancers to grow as people and as dancers. Let’s get the word out together!