Having a poorly designed website can significantly harm your business; there’s no way around it. For a medical practice, your website is the most valuable marketing asset. Potential patients rely on it to form opinions about your brand’s credibility and the level of service you provide.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 86% of households have home internet and 78% of adults use the internet to find health information. This means that a lot of potential patients are looking for medical practices online.
Doctors and physicians must take a proactive approach to build and maintain their websites effectively. Numerous studies indicate that patients have an immediate reaction to medical websites. Outdated information or a poorly structured layout tends to elicit negative responses from patients, which can significantly impact your practice’s credibility.
Whether you run a small private practice or a large hospital system, you can make the experience simple and intuitive for your patients by avoiding these ___ common mistakes:
1. Information Overload
While it’s important to communicate effectively in the healthcare industry, try not to cram every piece of information onto your homepage. Instead, keep it concise and focused on conveying the right impression to visitors when they arrive at your site.
Offer a clear overview of your main products and services, using engaging callouts that cater to the everyday needs of your visitors. Utilise eye-catching images, clean fonts, and descriptive text to capture readers’ attention and guide them seamlessly through your website.
If your healthcare website handles protected health information (PHI), including personally identifiable medical or payment details, you need to ensure that your practice can handle this information securely and responsibly.
2. Complex Navigation
The ease of finding information on your website directly impacts visitor retention. If it’s difficult for visitors to locate the information they need, they are less likely to stay on your site for long. This could result in potential patients opting not to choose your healthcare practice if they can’t readily find the information they require.
The most crucial information to make easily accessible is your contact details, including address, operating hours, and phone number. Failing to provide this essential information clearly can deter potential patients from seeking your services.
Research suggests that if visitors cannot find what they’re looking for within three clicks, they are likely to leave your website. As a medical practice, your target audience consists of patients looking for solutions to their healthcare needs—some of which may be urgent. In such cases, it’s important to avoid adding confusion by using poor navigation. Make sure the information they want is easily accessible to deliver a smooth user experience.
3. Irrelevant Content
When people visit your healthcare website, they’re not interested in reading about your hospital’s history or mission statement. They want to know how you can help them with their health needs.
That’s why it’s important to focus on your patients in your website content. Talk about their pain points, their questions, and their concerns. Show them how you can help them live healthier lives. Your content should directly speak to those needs and empathise with their concerns, even on your “About Us” page. Avoid using self-centred messaging that can turn readers away.
For example, if you have a page about your cancer treatment services, don’t just talk about your hospital’s reputation or the latest technology you have. Talk about the fears and anxieties that cancer patients face. Share stories of patients who have been helped by your services. And make it clear how you can help patients get the support they need to fight cancer.
4. Ineffective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves optimising a website or webpage to improve its rankings on search engine results without paid promotion. Ensuring effective SEO is important for online marketing specialists or web developers to keep your site visible to both existing and potential patients.
Pay attention to your meta titles and descriptions to improve your website’s search visibility. Make them unique and accurate for each corresponding page. The meta content displayed in search results should have clear page titles and concise descriptions that fit within the recommended character limits.
5. Failure to Highlight Patient Reviews and Testimonials
Patient reviews and testimonials are one of the most effective ways to build trust and credibility with potential patients. They show that other people have had positive experiences with your healthcare practice, which can give potential patients the confidence to choose you.
Keep in mind that 91% of users trust online reviews and recommendations as much as recommendations from their friends. Incorporating reviews and testimonials from satisfied patients can effectively demonstrate your trustworthiness and positively influence users’ decisions.
To avoid this mistake, prominently display patient reviews and testimonials on your website, preferably on your homepage or service pages. You can use a third-party review platform to collect and showcase patient feedback. This will make it easy for potential patients to see what other people have said about your practice and help build trust and credibility.
Maximise Your Revenue by Avoiding Website Design Mistakes
As a busy healthcare professional, your focus is on providing care and support. Managing your website and maintaining a strong online presence might be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it all alone. Let Creativ Digital’s team of web design and SEO experts step in to save you from unnecessary burnout.
Our experienced team will handle your website design and development, ensuring you avoid costly web design mistakes. With our expertise, we will create an appealing online experience that attracts and retains more patients for your practice. Contact us today to improve your web presence and increase the success of your medical practice.
