Fight it or go with it, but there’s no denying it. We have entered a consumerist era of healthcare. While referrals are important, more and more patients are now searching online for healthcare providers. Even with a referral, they search for online reviews before deciding to make the appointment. It is necessary to have a strong online presence to sustain and grow your practice.
A strong online presence does not stop with having a healthcare website and a social media account. Patients must be able to find you. And once they find you, your website should convince them that you can provide them with the best care. So, how can you get more patient appointments from your healthcare website? A great design, helpful content and a fully optimized healthcare website will help build credibility and bring in more patients.
Tips to get more patient appointments from your healthcare website
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Google is the leading search engine, and so your healthcare website must be optimized to rank high in the Google search results. Medical and healthcare websites are considered YMYL ( your money your life) sites. As such, Google considers medical websites need higher standards than most other sectors. HIPAA compliance, web content, technical SEO factors all contribute towards the SEO score of your healthcare website and how high it will rank in the results.
SEO is a highly skilled area and a continuous process. Google uses an algorithm to deliver search results. The algorithm is continuously updated with minor and major changes to meet user expectations better. This makes SEO a dynamic field and you need to be aware of the latest trends and be able to read between the lines of Google’s updates. Don’t leave your healthcare website SEO to chance. Get the services of a professional healthcare IT and web services provider for an optimized website.
Make your website mobile-friendly
Mobile has taken over the PC as the preferred device for internet usage in recent years. Google has already announced its mobile-first metrics – from March-end 2021, websites must have a mobile-friendly design to be included in search results. Research has shown that people searching on a mobile phone for medical or physician services are close to making an appointment.
Mobiles are also the preferred device to check online reviews about a healthcare practice. If your site is not optimized to load and function properly on a mobile device, you are losing significant traffic. Easy to use mobile phone features can be the difference between an appointment or a lost patient conversion. A mobile-friendly design will help get more patient appointments from your healthcare website.
Include necessary information about your practice
Ensure that your site displays prominently all the basic and necessary information, including – physician names, specialities, locations, maps and timings. Many people still prefer to make calls for appointments, so ensure that your phone number is visible prominently.
Your website should clearly display information that a patient would be looking for when booking an appointment. Ensure that critical information is clearly and easily visible on a mobile device.
Your healthcare website should have easy-to-use features
An easy-to-navigate website is essential for any sector to ensure that users engage with it and come back to it. This is all the more essential for a healthcare website. Remember, people will be searching for physicians or medical practices because they or their close-ones will be suffering from some form of illness. A visitor to your site may not be in a happy state of mind. While designing features, ensure that they are tested from a user’s perspective.
Your website is not just about providing contact information. It can do a lot of functions like book appointments, accept registration forms or prescription requests. Ensuring these features are easy to use can take off the pressure and free up time for your administrative staff. There are excellent tools, plugins and forms that a professional website designer can help integrate into your website.
Use good templates and designs
You can find many ready to launch website templates that promise a website in a few clicks. These templates give you a tacky and unprofessional website at best. At their worst, you will find a hundred websites that look similar to yours. Your website is an online representative of your healthcare practice. It should reflect your credibility, professionalism and values. Get more patient appointments from your healthcare website with a professional design and full optimization.
Update your website content regularly
It is a good idea to write about the latest developments in your area of speciality. This contributes towards trust-building and assures patients that they will get the best and latest treatment options available. Informative content also increases the chances of your website and practice being shared and recommended, resulting in more referrals and patients.
Link your social media accounts to the website
Participate in professional Social Media platforms and groups. This helps in adding to your reputation and trust-building. Ensure that your profiles are updated to include all the latest certifications and recognition. Provide links to all your social accounts from your website.
How can you get started with Tier3MD Web Design and SEO services?
If you are a healthcare provider, start building an online presence now. If you already have a website, step up the game and get your site optimized for searchers.
