Choosing childcare is one of the bigger decisions a young family makes. Parents may stay with one centre for years, so they take their time and compare carefully.
For a centre owner or director, marketing means getting onto that short list, then making the tour easy to book. This guide covers the practical steps for Perth childcare and early learning centres.
It sits alongside our main childcare marketing page, which explains how we work with centres and groups.
How parents search and choose
Most parents start with their suburb. Searches like “childcare Ellenbrook”, “early learning centre near me” or “long day care Cockburn” bring up Google Maps results first.
Many also search near work or along the commute. A parent working in the city may weigh a centre near home against one near the train station.
Timing varies. Some families start looking during pregnancy, while others need care quickly when a parent returns to work. Both want to know about availability straight away.
In WA, most four-year-olds go to kindy at a school. Families with older children are often looking for care on non-kindy days, and they search with that in mind.
When they compare, parents weigh up location, opening hours, out-of-pocket fees after the Child Care Subsidy and the centre’s quality rating. Then the tour does the rest. Reviews from other local parents carry a lot of weight along the way.
Your website
Your website should answer the questions parents usually ask on the phone, before they need to call.
Pages worth having
- A page for each centre, with its address, hours, rooms and age groups, and nearby schools.
- Pages for each age group, such as nursery, toddlers and pre-kindy, describing the daily routine.
- A fees and subsidy page that explains how the Child Care Subsidy works, with a link to Services Australia for current rules.
- A page about your educators, with qualifications and how long they have been with you.
- Practical details parents always ask about, such as meals, sleep and what to pack.
- A careers page for educators.
Trust signals
Show your current National Quality Framework rating accurately, and link to your listing on the Starting Blocks website so parents can check it. Never present an older or higher rating than the one you hold.
Real photos of rooms and outdoor play areas help far more than stock images. Clear policies on safety, sun protection and family communication help too.
If you use a family app to share updates during the day, say so. Many parents value knowing how their child’s day went.
The enquiry path
For most centres, the main goal of the website is a booked tour. Put a “Book a tour” button on every page, and keep the form short: the child’s age, days needed, start date and preferred centre.
Offer a waitlist form as well, for families planning ahead. Then reply quickly, because a family left waiting a few days often tours somewhere else.
Our web design team builds centre websites around this path.
Google Business Profile and reviews
Every centre needs its own Google Business Profile. Choose the right category, keep hours accurate, including public holiday closures, and use a phone number that reaches that centre.
Add photos regularly, leaving out identifiable children unless you hold consent for that use. Post updates about open days, vacancies in particular rooms or events for families.
Ask happy families for reviews, especially once a child has settled in well. Reply to every review, and handle complaints calmly, without sharing any details about a child or family.
Content worth writing
Parents read a lot before they enrol. Helpful content brings them to your site early and shows how your centre thinks about care and learning.
- How the Child Care Subsidy works, with links to official sources.
- What to look for on a childcare tour.
- Settling in: preparing your child for the first few weeks.
- How childcare fits around kindy and school in WA.
- What the National Quality Framework ratings mean.
Keep articles practical and local. This content also supports your SEO, giving Google more reasons to show your centre for nearby searches.
Paid ads
Google Ads work well for centres with vacancies in particular rooms, and for new centres that need to fill places quickly. Ads can be paused at a centre once it is full.
Our page on Google Ads for childcare centres in Perth covers targeting, exclusions and tracking in more detail. You can also read about our Google Ads management.
Social media and email
Social media suits childcare well, because families like to see daily life at a centre. Facebook and Instagram posts about activities, menus and events show what a brochure can’t.
Child privacy has to come first. Only post photos of children with written consent for social media use, and leave names out. Many centres share more photos of activities, artwork and spaces than of faces.
Email is useful for waitlisted families. A short note when places open, or before the new year, keeps your centre in mind. Our social media marketing and email marketing services cover both.
Rules and responsibilities
Childcare marketing touches several sets of rules. The main ones are:
- The Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations, administered in WA by the Education and Care Regulatory Unit.
- ACECQA guidance on how services display their quality ratings.
- National guidance on taking and using images of children in early childhood settings, including limits on personal devices.
- Accurate wording about the Child Care Subsidy, which Services Australia administers.
- The Australian Consumer Law, which covers claims about fees, availability and quality.
These rules are updated from time to time. Check current requirements with the regulator and your own advisers before you publish.
Recruiting educators
Staffing decides how many children you can enrol, so recruitment belongs in your marketing plan. A good careers page shows what it is like to work at your centre, the qualifications you look for and the support you offer.
Run job ads separately from enrolment marketing, so each has its own budget and tracking.
Measuring enquiries
Track tour bookings, waitlist forms and phone calls, and record the source of each. Then follow them through to enrolment, since a booked tour is not yet a filled place.
Look at results by centre and by room. That shows where marketing is needed and where it can be paused.
Ask every new family how they found you, and record the answer in your enrolment system.
A short checklist
- Each centre has its own page and its own Google Business Profile.
- Your current quality rating is shown accurately, with a link to Starting Blocks.
- Fees and the Child Care Subsidy are explained clearly, with links to official sources.
- “Book a tour” is easy to find on every page and works well on a phone.
- Photo consent forms cover your website, social media and ads.
- Tour bookings, waitlist forms and calls are tracked through to enrolment.
- Recruitment has its own page and its own budget.
If you’d like help with any of this, we are happy to look over your centre websites and profiles. Request a free quote and you will hear back from a senior member of our team.
