I spend a lot of time talking to dance teachers about their schools. What starts as spirit wear or a school store almost always turns into questions of growth. How do I advertise? How do I get more students? What would you do? Somewhere along the way, I got kind of obsessed with search engine optimization and figuring out how people actually find businesses. And I realized I was giving the same advice over and over. So, why not write it down?
If I were starting a school from scratch, here is my practical playbook.:
- Start with a simple, useful website. Just the basics, who you are, where you teach, ages, schedule, and a very obvious next step like “Try a class.”
- Build out your Google business profile. Claim it and fully fill it out. Website, classes, hours, photos. Then put reminders on your calendar to update it like you would a social media account.
- Ask for real reviews, even early on from people you’ve taught in a genuine appropriate setting.
- Get listed in legitimate directories like the Chamber of Commerce, Yelp, community sites, and relevant dance organizations (Plaxti, IDM, etc)
- Build backlinks where it makes sense. If you perform at a festival, ask them to link your site. If you join the Chamber, make sure your profile links back. Each one’s another road back to you.
- Join local Facebook parent groups and be a normal human. Don’t spam. Just show up and when someone asks about dance classes, answer genuinely like “I teach right here in town. Happy to share info if you’d like.”
- Set up Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, but focus on experience over competition. Show beginner moments, friendships, first performances, fun little traditions, and put yourself on camera. Parents choose teachers.
- Don’t hide that you're new. Use it. Share your progress, first class, first performance.
- Get into your community. Perform locally, meet other business owners, then bring those connections online with tags and links.
- Start collecting email addresses from the beginning. Give people a way to join your list so you’re not relying only on algorithms.
- Ask every new family how they found you. Keep a running list. Do more of what actually works.
- And finally, don’t rush into spending money on ads. Build the foundation first, then pay to send people to it.
If you only remember one thing, think like a parent. Put yourself where they’re already looking, then show them what it feels like to become part of your school.