How long ago was your website built? What kind of features does it use? Is it easy to update? These are just a few of the questions that you should be asking yourself. More importantly, what are people saying about your website? Are they finding good information? Patient testimonials? Patient before & after photos?
Having great SEO and visibility on search engines is great, but if that traffic is getting to your website and leaving quickly then you have a bigger problem. Here is a checklist of questions you should ask about your current website:
1) Is the home page organized? Too much information right away will overwhelm visitors. The navigation bar should clearly organize different sections of the site and you should use the valuable real estate on the home page to introduce your practice and include a video and/or some photos.
2) Is there a clear phone number in the header? This is a must because you may lose prospects who want to call you rather than submit a form. These are very warm leads, so don’t aggravate them by making them search for your phone number on your contact page.
4) Is there an opt-in box on the home page? If not, I would strongly recommend it. It’s likely that the warmest leads will pick up the phone and call you (see #2), but some people prefer to leave their information. Consider using an opt-in box as a lead generation tool. It’s a good way to grow your list of potential patients. You can email market to this list occasionally with information from your blog and promotions.
5) Is your branding consistent? Do you have a clean, appealing design? A website that was built over 4 years ago likely has a design that is outdated. Furthermore, if you’ve updated any other pieces of collateral or marketing that patients see, make sure it looks the same as your website branding.
6) Do you have before and after patient photos? People need to see proof. This will show you’re a qualified surgeon or physician.
7) Do you have video? You need video testimonials. Like #6, this is social proof. Seeing a written testimonial is nice, but watching someone rave about your practice is much more powerful. Consider linking to a custom branded YouTube channel to showcase your videos (in addition to posting them on your website).
8) Do you have a blog? A blog can be your best friend for a patient who is looking for answers on a specific topic. Consider a blog that let’s you prioritize categories and keywords so that people can search by the topic they’re interested in. Know the top 10 questions your patients want answers to and write blog articles about them!
9) Is your website easy to update? If not, then you have to rely on either an office assistant or web developer to do this. That might be ok with you, but what if your office assistant leaves or your web developer retires? Even if you’re not web savvy you should know how to make simple updates to your website.
This is just a short list, but a thorough one. If you answered yes to all of these then congratulations, you probably have a website that is easy on the eyes, user friendly, and web 2.0 compatible.
If you answered “no” to any of these questions then you should re-evaluate your website. You can start by asking your patients how they like the site. You can also hire a 3rd party take a look at the site and analyze every aspect of it. More importantly combining this analysis with your existing SEO, internet marketing and social media presence will help to pain an overall picture of where your practice needs to improve.
If you have any questions about the checklist above or if you’re interested in having a free exam of your website, or internet marketing strategy, then contact TRBO ADvance today, or call 877-673-7096 x2.
