Industries
Education websites that turn enquiries into enrolled students
Schools, colleges, training institutes and study-abroad consultancies sell very different things, but all of them lose applicants in the gap between the first enquiry and the first reply.
Education website development is admissions work first and publishing second. The site must answer three questions for a student or parent (what does it cost, am I eligible, when does it start) and then get their enquiry to a person who replies the same day. Portals, learning platforms and news feeds matter, but only once that path works.
Four kinds of education business, four different websites
"Education" covers organisations with very different buyers, so plan the site around the one you are.
| Type | Main visitor | Main conversion | Must-haves |
|---|---|---|---|
| School | Parents | Admission enquiry | Admissions page, fee structure, notices, calendar, parent portal |
| College | Students on mobile | Application | Programme pages, eligibility, scholarships, application form |
| Training institute | Working adults | Course booking and payment | Schedule, online payment, LMS access |
| Study-abroad consultancy | Students and parents | Counselling appointment | Country and university pages, student enquiry system, document checklist |
School website design is closest to a community noticeboard with an admissions desk attached. A consultancy site is closer to a sales operation, and a training institute's is closer to an online shop.
How should an admissions funnel work?
Every enquiry should become a record with an owner, a status and a next step. A form that emails the front desk is not a funnel.
- The form asks only what a counsellor needs to call back: name, phone, course or country of interest, preferred intake.
- The record lands in a CRM such as HubSpot or Zoho CRM, or a purpose-built tool, and is assigned to a counsellor automatically.
- The student gets an instant confirmation by email, SMS, WhatsApp or Viber.
- The record moves through stages: contacted, counselled, applied, offer, enrolled.
- A monthly report compares enquiries by source with enrolments, so you know which pages and adverts pay.
Course pages that answer the fee question
Visitors look for fees, entry requirements, duration and the next intake, and many leave when those are missing. Put all four in a summary box at the top of each course page, then the syllabus, faculty, outcomes and FAQs below.
Course structured data still helps machines read the page, but Google has been retiring several rich result types, so do not justify a build on a search snippet. For Nepali audiences, publish in Nepali and English with Unicode fonts; our guide to Nepali-English bilingual websites explains fonts, URLs and SEO.
LMS development: Moodle, a plugin or custom?
LMS development rarely needs to start from zero. Choose by how teaching actually happens.
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Moodle | Colleges and institutes needing quizzes, gradebooks and SCORM content | Hosting, upgrades and theming take real effort |
| WordPress with LearnDash or Tutor LMS | Training businesses selling courses from their marketing site | Plugin sprawl and speed as enrolments grow |
| Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams | Schools already on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 | Limited branding, no public course sales |
| Custom LMS | Learning as your product, or tight links to an existing student system | Highest cost; you maintain every feature |
A custom build is justified when learning is the product or when standards-based platforms (SCORM, LTI 1.3) cannot fit your process. Our explainer on website vs web application helps draw that line.
Children's data, consent and honest claims
Schools hold data about minors, and every market treats that seriously. In the US, COPPA governs online services aimed at children under 13, and FERPA protects education records at schools receiving federal funds. The UK's Age Appropriate Design Code applies to online services likely to be used by children. In Nepal, the Individual Privacy Act 2075 covers personal data, and a parent portal should give each family its own login rather than one shared password.
Consultancies face a different risk: claims. Never promise visas or guaranteed admission. Australian providers are accountable for their education agents under the ESOS framework, and in Canada only authorised representatives may charge for immigration advice, including study permit applications. Show your government approval and memberships such as ECAN instead of success-rate banners you cannot evidence.
Education website development: what to build first
- School: admissions page, fee structure, notice board and a calendar parents can subscribe to.
- College: programme pages with eligibility and an application form tied to a CRM.
- Training institute: course schedule with online payment through eSewa, Khalti or Stripe, depending on the market.
- Consultancy: country pages, counselling booking and a student enquiry system, as described in our post on education consultancy websites in Nepal.
Portals and an LMS come second, once enquiries are flowing and tracked.
How Meritbyte runs education projects
At Meritbyte Technologies, a Nepal-based web and software development company, education work covers schools, colleges and consultancies in Nepal, including the dense cluster of consultancies in Kathmandu, and remote builds for training providers in Australia, Canada and the UK. The free scoping conversation is the place to map your enquiry process as it runs today.
Admissions seasons have fixed dates, so the scope, timeline and number you get back should work backwards from your next intake. The first milestone is fixed-price; after that, two-week blocks each end with a demo on staging. Our web development and custom software development pages describe the portal and LMS side.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a school website cost in Nepal?
A school website with admissions pages, notices, a gallery and a calendar is a modest project. A parent portal with fee payment, results and attendance costs considerably more, because it needs accounts, permissions and a link to your school management system. Prices vary widely between providers, so compare quotes that list the same features.
Do we need a custom LMS?
Probably not. Moodle, a WordPress LMS plugin or Google Classroom covers most schools, colleges and training institutes. A custom LMS makes sense when learning is your product, when you must integrate tightly with an existing student information system, or when your assessment workflow fits no existing platform. Start off the shelf and move later if you outgrow it.
How can an education consultancy website get more enquiries?
Publish a detailed page for each country and popular course, with costs, intakes, English test requirements and a counselling booking form. Reply to every enquiry quickly, track each one to enrolment, and show your approvals and real counsellor names. Honest detail builds more trust than "100% visa success" banners, which can also create legal risk.
Can a school website be in Nepali and English?
Yes, and in Nepal it usually should be. Use Unicode Devanagari fonts such as Noto Sans Devanagari or Mukta rather than legacy fonts like Preeti, so text is searchable and displays properly on phones. Give each language its own URL, and translate notices and admission pages first, since those are what parents act on.