Your website is the most important online marketing tool to acquire new patients. It is the first place a prospective patient will look to learn more about your clinic. With only 11% of people looking in the yellow pages to find healthcare professionals, it is essential that you have a website that looks professional and functions well.
Your website should be a reflection of the quality of your clinic. Consider having a new website designed or re- vamping your current site to include our 10 tips for a successful website. If your marketing budget is not able to accommodate the costs of developing a website, you can purchase a domain and have it redirected to your
10 Tips to Creating the Perfect Website
1. Brand Consistency
Portray your clinic’s brand throughout your website. Try to keep your colours and style similar to your print material and office look.
2. Simplicity
Your website should be simple and easy to navigate through. Maintain organized menu items and sub menu items. Visit other websites to determine the best topics to discuss on your site. If someone is overwhelmed by the amount of information on each page of your website they will leave.
3. Interactive Features
An interactive site makes visitors stay longer. The longer someone is on your site, the higher chance you have of enrolling them as a patient.
4. Call-to-Actions
What do you want your site visitors to do on each page? Whether it is booking an appointment, signing up for a newsletter, or “liking” your clinic on Facebook, every page should have a call-to-action. Other examples of call- to-actions are: call us now, ask a question, join our blog, follow us on twitter, or watch our YouTube channel. If someone responds to a message, it shows their interest in your clinic.
5. Include Videos
Over 23,000 videos are being watched on YouTube each second. People want to watch, not read. Add video testimonials, explanations of treatments, or success stories to garner the trust of your site visitors.
6. Testimonials
Ask your regular patients to provide you with a testimonial that you can publish online. Combine that testimonial with a photo and add it to your website so that visitors who are interested in similar treatments can create a connection with your clinic, without ever having set foot in it.
7. Include a Photo Gallery
Photo galleries are just as important on your website as videos are. They add balance between text, links, and videos. Your photos should showcase your clinic, treatments, practitioners, and anything else that may be informative to your future patient.
8. Provide Information
I have seen clinics that mention a treatment type, but have no explanation of the service. Each service listed should have a small graphic and be accompanied with text. The text should include a description of the service and possible signs and symptoms. You can also have some frequently asked questions relating to the treatment as well as a testimonial from a happy patient. In order to keep the information accurate and up-to- date, consider creating your site in Wordpress or Drupal so that you can easily manage the content.
9. Accessible on Cell Phones
Your website should be accessible on most mobile devices. Blackberries, Androids, and iPhones are the three types of smart phones that are most commonly used. Also, refrain from using Flash on your website as many computers and phones are not Flash compatible. 1/3 of your site’s traffic will come from tablets or cell phones.
10. Add Social Integration
With Facebook, Twitter, and now Google +, having a site that is socially integrated will allow your site visitors to share sections of your website that they like. When they “like” something, it shows up on Facebook, and can create a discussion.
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