Six tests, ten minutes
Do these on your phone, on mobile data, not on the office computer. That is where parents are when they decide.
1. Show the programme by week and age
The test: find next half term. Can you read what happens on the Wednesday, and see which age group it is for, without pinching or downloading anything.
The fail: a PDF, a Clubs page with a paragraph of general description, or a programme that only exists on your Facebook page.
The fix: a page per holiday period and age group, with the days written out as text, published two to four weeks before parents plan. Keep last year's page rather than overwriting it.
2. Book a single day from that page
The test: tap Book beside a Wednesday. Does the booking open on that week with the day selectable, and does it stay on your domain.
The fail: a button that opens a general calendar on another site with nothing chosen, or a form that emails you to arrange it.
The fix: ClassForKids, Sawyer, iPAL or Bookeo embedded where the platform allows it, deep-linked per week and age group, and tested inside the Facebook and Instagram in-app browsers, which is where a lot of parents will be.
3. Collect registration and consent once
The test: book as a returning family. How much do you have to retype.
The fail: the allergy, the doctor, the photo permission and the authorised collectors asked for again every holiday.
The fix: parent accounts in your booking platform holding the child record between bookings, with a confirm-and-update step rather than a blank form. Say on the site that returning families book in two minutes, because it is a reason to come back to you rather than try the other club.
4. Answer fees and funding plainly
The test: as a parent who pays with a childcare voucher or a funded place, can you tell in thirty seconds whether you can use this club, and what to do.
The fail: a price with no mention of any scheme, or the words contact us for details.
The fix: a fees and funding page naming the schemes you accept, the steps to pay with each, and what to do if the parent is unsure. Schemes differ by country and change, so treat any wording as orientation, check it against the current rules where you operate, and review it each year.
5. State arrival, pick-up and what to bring
The test: find the drop-off window, the latest collection time, who may collect, and whether Thursday needs a swimming kit.
The fail: any of it living only in the confirmation email, or only in your head.
The fix: one plain page covering the day from the car park to collection, linked from every programme page and from the confirmation. This is the single biggest reduction in your admin available on the website.
6. Show the people and the safeguarding
The test: can a parent see who will be looking after their child, what training and vetting the team have, and where the safeguarding policy is.
The fail: stock photographs, no named staff, no mention of vetting or ratios.
The fix: real photographs taken during a running week with parental consent, named play leaders with their training, your staffing ratio, and a safeguarding page. Registration, inspection and vetting regimes differ by country, so state what applies where you operate rather than copying another club.
Scoring
Six passes and your website is not what is holding the bookings back. Look at your reach instead: the school newsletters, your local search listing, the timing of when you publish the programme.
Four or five, and the gaps are worth a morning each. Three or fewer, and you are paying for the gaps every holiday in emails, phone calls and empty midweek days, which is usually more than a rebuild costs.
Fix in this order: programme pages first, fees and funding second, booking third. Those three carry most of the weight.
Where this sits
All six are standard on an after-school and holiday club website as we build it, and the same checklist thinking runs through our other childcare and family websites. What each package covers is on pricing. Run the six on your phone before you spend anything, because two of them you can probably fix yourself this week.