What a child care center website needs: pages, words and photos
A child care center website should help a parent answer one question quickly: is this a place I would like to visit? The pages that get them there are programs by age, a picture of a typical day, enrollment and tuition information, your staff, your license and policies, and a clear way to book a tour. Keep the site simple and current, and treat photos of children with care.
How parents use a child care website
Parents looking for care are often on a deadline: a return to work, a move, a waitlist that just fell through. They usually shortlist several centers on their phone, at night, after the kids are asleep. They want to know in a minute or two whether you are worth a call.
That means the first screen of your home page should say:
- Your center's name and neighborhood or town
- The ages you serve: "infants from six weeks to pre-K", "ages 2 to 5", "before- and after-school care"
- Your hours, for example "Monday to Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m."
- Whether you have openings or a waitlist
- A button to schedule a tour and a tappable phone number
The rest of the site backs up that first impression. The companion guide on what parents check before they call a daycare covers the trust details in depth: licensing, ratios, safety and food.
The pages a child care site needs
Programs by age
One section or page per age group, using the names you use with parents: infants, toddlers, twos, preschool, pre-K, school-age. For each, say:
- The age range and how children move up to the next room
- What a day focuses on at that age (for infants, feeding and sleep on their own schedule; for preschoolers, early literacy, play-based learning, outdoor time)
- The room setup and group size
- Any curriculum you follow, named and explained in a sentence
Parents of infants read differently from parents of four-year-olds. Separate sections let each find their part quickly.
A day at the center
A sample daily schedule for one or two age groups is one of the most-read pieces on a child care site. Keep it as a simple list of times and activities: arrival and breakfast, morning circle, outdoor play, lunch, nap, afternoon snack, centers, pick-up. Add a photo of each part of the day if you can.
Enrollment and tuition
Spell out how enrollment works step by step:
- Schedule a tour.
- Fill in the application or join the waitlist.
- Pay the registration fee, if you charge one.
- Complete enrollment forms: health records, immunizations, emergency contacts, authorized pick-up.
- Start with a gradual first week, if you offer one.
On tuition, many centers list weekly or monthly rates by age group. If you prefer to share them at the tour, say what is included (meals, diapers, wipes, field trips) and whether you accept state child care assistance or subsidies. Parents who rely on assistance often skip centers that do not mention it. Say how the waitlist works and how families hear when a spot opens.
Our staff
The director and lead teachers with a photo, first name or full name as they prefer, their role, years in early childhood education and relevant credentials, such as a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or a degree in early childhood education. Parents want to know who will be with their child all day. Keep personal details light: no home towns, no family details.
Licensing and policies
Your state license and how parents can look it up, a summary of your health and sick policy, pick-up rules, closures and holidays, and a link to your parent handbook. A PDF handbook is fine if it opens on a phone; a short web summary of the key policies is better for most readers.
Tours and contact
Covered below.
Calendar and news
Closures, holiday schedule, picture day, parent nights. Only keep this if someone updates it. An old calendar suggests an old site.
Photos of children: what to show and what to avoid
Real photos of your classrooms, playground and staff do more than anything else on the site. Children in the photos make it feel alive, but they need care:
- Get written permission from parents before using any child's photo on the website. Many centers add a photo release to the enrollment packet, with an opt-out.
- Never name children in captions, and do not show name tags, cubby labels or anything that identifies them.
- Prefer photos from behind or at a distance, hands at work, or activities where faces are not the focus.
- Do not show the building's door codes, entrances or security setup in detail.
Empty, well-lit classrooms, the playground, the kitchen and smiling staff are safe and still useful. Parents want to see where their child will spend the day.
What to leave off
- Stock photos of children who are obviously not at your center. Parents notice, and it undermines trust in the real photos.
- Long mission statements. One or two sentences on your approach is enough on the home page.
- An outdated tuition sheet. Wrong numbers cause hard conversations.
- Old staff on the team page.
- Embedded social media feeds that may show photos of children without the right permissions.
The tour and contact path
The tour is where most families decide. The website's job is to get them there.
- A tour request form asking for the parent's name, phone, email, child's age or date of birth, desired start date, days needed and preferred tour times.
- Tell them what happens next: "We will call within one business day to confirm a tour time."
- Say what a tour includes: how long it takes, whether children can come along, and who will show them around.
- A tappable phone number at the top of every page.
Directors are often in classrooms during the day, so say when you return calls. Make sure tour requests go to an inbox someone checks every day; where contact form messages go explains how to check.
Reaching families who read on a phone
Most parents will read your site on a phone, often with a baby in one arm. Use short paragraphs, big buttons, and put the tour button and phone number at the top. Checking whether your website is mobile-friendly shows a quick way to see your site as they do.
What to do this week
- Put ages served, hours, openings and a tour button on the first screen of your home page.
- Write a section for each age group with its range, focus and group size.
- Add a sample daily schedule for at least one room.
- Check that you have written photo permission for every child shown on the site.
- Test your tour form and make sure someone answers it daily.
If your center already has a site that is hard to read on a phone or out of date, you can see it rebuilt first and decide once you see the result.