The Six Reasons Why You Need To Prioritize Your Website More Than Ever

What if a website could save you countless hours of your life, help you reach more people and end up making you tens of thousands of more dollars each year.

You'd probably take it a little more seriously, wouldn't you?

Every day, allied healthcare professionals care for their patients and play an important role in the health of many Canadians. The problem is that their websites don't always represent their incredible work. They work tirelessly to deliver the highest standards of patient-centred care.

But here's what I've noticed having worked closely with them all for years: regardless of the scale of their practice, and they often overlook their online presence.

As you read this, here's what's happening online. Everyone who's in need will be looking for a healthcare provider on Google to assist them.

If your website isn't well optimized, this patient won't find you.

Both you and I want you, one of the good ones, to show up. This article is going to help. A great website is going to help you reach more patients, which means more revenue, business growth, and even more free for yourself.

Here are six things an effective website can do for you and your practice:

1. Puts you on the map
2. Converts the curious
3. Saves you time
4. Becomes your business card
5. Convinces your referrals
6. Improves your practice's selling value

Let me show you why these six points are more important now than ever.

1. A Resourceful Website Puts You on the Map

The best healthcare practitioners aren't necessarily rewarded by Google's algorithm. The mysterious algortithm does, however, reward clinics that take the time to create quality content on their websites. If you want to appear in a local search, you must have a website that is scratching where people are itching (literally or metaphorically).

When your website is helping answer questions that people are asking, you'll become a valuable resource to Google. You'll see an uptick in traffic the more you take the time to create valuable content. 

2. A Clear Website Converts the Curious

Let's say someone is searching for a new chiropractor, RMT, physiotherapist, or other healthcare professional. They may visit four different websites before making a decision. Is this to say that if you're one of the four, you have a 25% chance of getting the booking? Not necessarily.

It could be much better than that for you. Your chances go up for getting the patient if you have these two elements that are often overlooked by medical websites: modern design and the right words.

Let's look at each briefly:

1. Modern Design

Even after all these years, we progressive human beings still judge books by their covers. And we still judge people by their clothes. And we still judge clinics by their website.

To be effective, your website has to look good. I don't say "good" in the sense of "it was good ten years ago." It needs to look nice by current standards of website design.

In our free resource Clinic Website Essentials, I discuss these elements. For example, it's crucial to make a good first impression by using clear fonts, consistent colors, a nice amount of spacing, and high-resolution images to name a few things.

2. The Right Words

Finding the correct words to use on your website can be difficult. Patients should not only be able to comprehend the language, but it should also be focused on them. Every word on your website must serve the sole purpose of assisting visitors to get the information they need to solve a problem.

Here's the thing: Visitors don't arrive at your website because they want to know more about you. They visit your website because they have a problem and they're looking for a solution.

This is not the time to impress others with how much medical language you know. Keep your words simple and to-the-point. People need easy-to-understand, scannable language that is geared toward helping them take the right steps to get better.

With StoryBrand, you have a framework you can use to target your customer's head and heart so that the words on your site speak directly to what they need to hear, thus compelling them to take action and book with you.

3. An Effective Website Saves You Time

The majority of people consider their website to be a marketing investment. They're right, of course. But a great website isn't just for marketing purposes. It also helps you save some precious time.

There's a lot of money out there. But few people have time. Do you want more time? Your website can help with that.

A great website can also save you time if:

• You’re answering the same questions over and over again.
• You’re losing precious time every day because patients are making the same mistakes over time.
• You or your administrators are constantly asked for directions to your clinic.
• You're always having to call patients on a regular basis to inform them of the COVID protocols they must follow before they arrive for their appointment?

Your website can be the solution to these common time-suckers. You'd be amazed how much time you can save with a well-placed FAQ section on your website to which you and your staff can refer.

Saving time and energy by leveraging your website's is a powerful reason why your website is not just for marketing anymore - it's for your own sanity.

4. An Easy-to-Find Website Becomes Your Business Card

One of my chiropractor friends was conversing with his new neighbour, who coincidentally was also searching for a chiropractor in town. When my friend mentioned that he was a chiropractor, the neighbour got excited and asked to see my friends...

Website.

That's right. Previously, people would request a phone number or a business card. That's not the case any more. People nowadays visit your website to learn more about working with you. Thankfully, because my friend's website had just been updated, the neighbour returned the next day to exclaim that he had made an appointment via the website.

5. An Attractive Website Convinces Your Referrals

When you get a referral, what is the first thing you do? You pull out your phone and go to their website. When a patient is referred to you, they will visit your website too. This is the ever-important first point of contact with you and your practice.

Because of a weak or non-existent online presence, even the best healthcare professionals with raving fans can lose new patients.

6. Improves Your Practice's Selling Value

Are You Serious About Growing Your Practice?

It is not difficult to create a successful website. So why do so few work at it knowing that a bad online presence could be costing them more than they realize.

You and your team could not only lose valuable referrals, but you and your team could also waste time repeating yourself while being invisible to people you know can help. Even worse, you could be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table when it's time to sell your practice.

It's time to take your online presence to the next level.

You can enter clinics across Canada that are recognizing that how you present yourself online is more important than ever. These healthcare professionals are taking advantage of emerging online platforms to reach out to new people. As a result, they're seeing steady growth in their practice, thanks to a steady stream of satisfied patients.

Here are four other ideas you can implement to help you build your online presence:

1. Spend a little time each day working on your online presence in some way. If you don’t schedule it, it will never get done.
2. Encourage your patients to like, comment, and share on your content.
3. Do an audit of your current website. Is it visually appealing? Are the words simple and patient-centric? Does it have content someone would be interested in?
4. Sign up for a Clinic Sites website today. You'll love just how easy it is to build and manage a great website. We have a whole team devoted to helping you. Sign up for a seven day trial right away.