Columbus Daycare & Preschool Marketing: Know These 3+ Things

Running a daycare or preschool in Columbus, Ohio? We understand the unique challenges you’re facing around improving student enrollment, signaling trust with parents, and securing top spots in online searches. Whether you’re starting out fresh or trying to destroy nearby competitors, tweaks to your approach in marketing, web design, and SEO strategy can make a significant impact online!

Get answers to the four most common questions around daycare and preschool marketing below:

Question 1: What’s the Best Way to Get Leads and Improve Enrollment?

Let’s break down the most effective marketing strategies to keep the seats filled at your school:

Referrals Matter – Word-of-mouth marketing is gold. Make sure your current families have a great experience, and then incentivize them to refer others. Offer discounts or referral bonuses and stay top of mind. You can also gamify things by offering a prize for the most likes in a social post. Parents know other parents with similar net wealth and kids of the same age, so tap into their network.
Quality Control Is a Must – In Columbus’s competitive childcare market, staffing and consistency are ongoing significant challenges. Retaining great teachers and administrative staff directly impacts your enrollment. Why? Because 1) parents don’t convert if your team isn’t following up, and 2) parents won’t reach out if other parents have bad experiences. You need well-trained staff who will respond to inquiries, send emails, make timely calls, and develop a good reputation within the learning community.
Meet Parents Where They Are – Columbus is growing fast, and your next student could be just one event away! Attend local events like the Powell Festival, Westerville Music & Arts Festival, or community farmer’s markets. These events attract high-intent families and decision-makers. A single enrollment can more than pay for your attendance, especially when you can tap into their network. You can also explore email marketing to target nearby businesses for promoting your school to working parents.

Question 2: Should I Invest in SEO and Why?

Absolutely. SEO for Columbus-based schools is more important than ever. You’re not just competing with nearby schools for attendance; you’re competing for local search visibility and on answer engines:

Parents Are Always Searching – Did you know that combined, there are over 2,500 searches each month for Columbus daycares, Columbus childcares, and Columbus preschools? Are you getting 1% of them in leads? Parents are in the market, qualifying which schools are best, what curricula are offered, and what to expect at each stage of childhood development. To capitalize on this, your web presence must offer quality content and provide answers through on-page content, social posts, blogs, FAQs, resource pages, and more.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the Future – Google and Bing now prioritize direct answers to questions. By creating content that answers what parents are asking, you increase your visibility and become the go-to answer from ChatGPT and similar answer engines.
SEO is Foundational for Answer Engines – Don’t skip SEO for this reason. Ensure you’ve got on-page, off-page, and technical SEO covered.

For help with daycare SEO/AEO, contact us today for a free consultation.

Question 3: How Can I Improve the Local Presence of My Daycare or Preschool?

If you’re not showing up in local search, you’re missing out on dozens of potential leads every week. Here’s how to fix that with Local SEO:

Google Business Profile (GBP) – If you don’t already have one, stop what you’re doing and set it up. Then have every parent, staff member, and vendor leave a review. Google uses your profile to rank you against competitors in local search, and it is one of the most powerful (and free) tools in your local marketing toolkit. Keep your GBP optimized!
Local Listings Matter – Sites like Yelp, BBB, Yellow Pages, and other directories are key. Make sure your business is listed consistently with the same name, address, phone number, and URL as your GBP listing.
Your Website Is Your #1 Sales Tool – Your website should be clean, fast, mobile-friendly, and aligned with your brand. Search engines reward fast local websites and penalize slow ones. A Columbus web design agency like Uplancer can help you build a Minimum Viable Website (MVW), a marketing site that not only looks great but also converts.
Content Marketing – Build content that targets keywords such as ‘nearby,’ ‘Columbus,’ and other local terms.

Question 4: When Will I Know My Marketing Job Is Done?

It’s never done, and that’s OK because 1) your competition isn’t sleeping, and 2) your parents’ demographic will change (Boomer, Millennial, Gen-Z).

The key to successful marketing is to iterate and move forward, so at a minimum:

A/B test your messaging, visuals, and call to action.
Monitor what marketing channels generate the most conversions.
Keep adapting because once you stop, your competitors can make up ground.

The Bottom Line

If you’re running a daycare or preschool in Columbus, focus on building a strong digital presence, including web design, SEO, and local marketing. These are foundational to maximizing your enrollment.

Ready to grow your school with proven marketing? At Uplancer, we specialize in web design and SEO for Columbus-based schools, and we’d love to help you increase your enrollment.