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Are you treating your medical website like a yellow pages listing? Do you have the feeling your website isn’t serving your business needs – or the needs of your patients? Here’s a list of 9 signs you need help with your medical website, and several free tools and resources to help you improve.
Is your site:
- Not search engine optimized (SEO)?
- Not mobile-friendly?
- Slow to load?
- Unattractive?
- Difficult to navigate?
- Hiding your phone number?
- Not providing a linked email or contact form?
- Not sharing a map or directions to your office?
- Not tracking analytics?
Mobile-friendly Medical Websites and Page-loading Speed
Mobile-friendliness and page-loading speed are key ranking factors of Google and a fundamental part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
A mobile-friendly medical website means your site has a responsive design which can be viewed on a variety of devices (including a smartphone, tablet, and desktop). The site’s elements, including text and images and buttons, will be designed and programmed to change size or position to accommodate each device.
Since 2015, mobile-search has dominated search engine traffic, and page-loading speed directly correlates to website conversions. When a search is being made for a local doctor, or general medical information, it will likely be from a mobile device. Having a mobile-friendly site will improve the likelihood of your site’s being competitively ranked and selected by potential patients.
Google Mobile-friendly Test (free)
https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly
Google PageSpeed Insights Test (free)
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Medical Websites
Your site could be beautiful, responsively designed and mobile-friendly, but not be search engine optimized. That means, when a potential patient is searching for “GP in Collingswood”, your site could be buried on page 15 of Google.
SEO implementation ensures that your site is communicating effectively with major search engines, based upon the latest industry trends and technologies. These may include:
- Keyword analysis and competitor keyword analysis
- Encoded content edits (page titles, URLs, meta descriptions, htags)
- Body text edits
- Creation of analytics tracking accounts for major search engines
- Addressing page-loading speed
- Creation of a thank you /confirmation page upon form submission
- Heat map tracking
- Regular reporting
- Regular content creation
- SEO edits of content additions and updates.
Hubspot’s Website Grader (free report by email)
Beautiful, Easy-to-Navigate Medical Website Designs
Why does it matter if your medical website design is unattractive or difficult to navigate? Because a poorly designed website reflects badly on your medical practice and is an overall poor user experience (UX) for your patients (and potential patients). These days, a website is much more than an extended yellow pages ad. It is the face of your business 24/7 and it has a lot of competition. CEO and Creative Designer, Stephanie Kuhla states, “The days of brochure and yellow pages websites are over. Patients demand more from a website and if they do not find what they are looking for upon first landing, they move on.”
A medical website should be clean-looking, appealing and easy to navigate, especially for first-time visitors. Your phone number should be easy to see and linked for mobile users. It should be easy to contact you and to find directions to your office. Your office hours should be clearly posted.
Determining ROI for Medical Websites
Because your medical website is vital to your practices’ health, you should be tracking your analytics to help determine your ROI and to inform your updates and improvements.
Major search engines like Google and Bing offer free accounts to track visits to your site and help you improve it.
Google Search Console (free)
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en
Google Analytics (free)
Bing Webmaster Tools (free)
https://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster
Bonus Pro-tip: Add a regularly updated social media account
to
- Keep in touch,
- Share medical news & events,
- Encourage patient compliance, and
- Meet your patients where they are.
No time to update your website, manage your practice, and meet your patients’ needs? Call Advanta Medica. We have more than 20 years’ experience in the life sciences and medical health industry and are happy to help you with all your medical marketing needs – including improving your website.