What a dance studio website needs: pages, words and photos

A dance studio website needs a small set of pages that answer what parents and adult students ask at the front desk: what styles you teach, for which ages, when classes meet, what it costs to join, who teaches, and how to get in touch. Photos of your own dancers and your own rooms do more than any design trick. Everything else is optional.

Two kinds of visitor

Most dance studio visitors are parents. They are looking for a class their child will enjoy, at a time that fits school and other activities, at a studio that feels safe and not overly competitive (or, for some families, serious and competitive). The second group is adults: people who want ballroom lessons before a wedding, an adult tap or ballet class, or a fun fitness class.

The site should let each group find "their" part in one tap. A home page with two clear paths, "Classes for kids and teens" and "Classes for adults", does a lot of sorting on its own.

The pages to have

Home. Who you are, where, the styles, the ages, and the next step.
Classes. Every style and level with who it is for.
Schedule. The current season's timetable.
Registration and tuition. How to sign up, what it costs, what is included.
Faculty. Your teachers, their training and what they teach.
Contact and location. Phone, email, address, parking, drop-off.

Add pages only for things you really offer: a competition team, a recital page, summer camps, private lessons, wedding dance lessons, studio rental. How to organize classes by age and handle registration and recital details is covered in dance studio websites: classes by age, recitals and registration.

What the home page should say

The opening line should tell a parent or an adult whether this is their studio:

"Ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop for ages 3 to 18, in the heart of Millbrook."
"Ballroom and Latin dance lessons for adults and couples, beginners welcome."

Then add the thing that makes your studio different, said plainly: "Small classes, no more than twelve students." "A non-competitive studio: everyone performs in the spring show." "Home of the Millbrook competition team." Parents choose partly on this, and it saves both sides time when a family wanting a competition track finds a recreational studio, or the other way round.

Follow with the main paths: "Find a class", "Register for the season", "Book a trial class".

Photos: real dancers, real rooms

Parents want to see where their child will spend Tuesday afternoons. Use:

Your studio rooms, with the floor, mirrors and barres visible, in good light.
Classes in progress, especially the little ones, with written permission from parents.
Recital or performance shots, which show what students work toward.
Each teacher, in a friendly photo, not only a dramatic leap.
The lobby or waiting area, where parents will sit.
The building from the street, so families find you.

Choose photos that show a range of ages and abilities. A site full of advanced teenage soloists can quietly tell a parent of a shy five-year-old that this is not the place. If you need help choosing which shots to show and how many, how to show your work: a gallery page that helps has the general rules.

Never publish full names of minors next to their photos. Many studios use first names only or no names at all.

Teachers worth introducing

Parents ask about teachers more than about anything else. For each teacher, write a short block: photo, styles and ages they teach, their own training and performance background in a line or two, and how they teach ("very encouraging with first-timers", "known for clean technique"). Mention any training in teaching young children or in safe practice for growing bodies.

What to leave out

A long history of the studio before the reader sees a single class
Last season's schedule or last year's recital date
Every trophy and award ever won, at the top of the page
Music that plays when the page opens
A tuition chart so complicated that a parent has to call to understand it

The contact path

Parents usually have one or two specific questions before they register, such as "My daughter is 7 and has never danced; which class?" or "Can my son try hip hop before we commit?" Make asking easy:

Phone number at the top of every page, tappable on a phone, and say when the office is staffed (many studios only answer during class hours).
An email address or a short form with name, contact, dancer's age and the question.
Address, a map, parking, and where to drop off and pick up.
If you text, say so: many parents prefer it.

For more on forms people actually finish, see contact forms that people actually fill in.

What to do this week

Rewrite the first line of your home page: styles, ages, town.
Add one sentence that says what kind of studio you are: recreational, competitive or both.
Take photos of your empty rooms, the lobby and a class of the youngest dancers.
Remove anything that refers to last season.
Put your office hours next to your phone number.

If your current site has the right information but looks dated or is hard to read on a phone, you can see it rebuilt before you decide.