There is no doubt that today the website is an indispensable component in the promotion of every medical institution. 95% of healthcare marketing executives believed their company’s website was the primary driver of new business for hospitals. However, it should be remembered that its presence is not enough. The site must be properly designed and updated regularly. It should take into account the needs of the target audience and be easy to use.

At the same time, this is something fundamentally new for the healthcare sector. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, non-profit organizations are faced with new obstacles that digitalization is causing.

In this article, we will share the best practices for creating a healthcare website.

Decide on the purpose of your site

The site must meet the stated goals. It is important to understand that each tool is useful only when used correctly. Therefore, first, think about what functions the resource should perform. Is this just a way to inform patients, or do you want to provide a recording option? Each section and function of the site should be useful and understandable to the user, so start by defining goals and prototyping. This is how you get the most out of your website.

By the way, most users prefer mobile internet surfing. Therefore, you should do a good job on the mobile version of the site or developing patient apps. This will help create the best possible user experience.

Do analytics and update your site regularly

In fact, launching a new website does not mean that you have already fully completed the work. First, you must test the page and optimize it for the best performance.

A professionally created website also requires regular updating and updating. Adding doctor profiles, service presentations, and publishing specialized articles and news will help retain not only regular visitors but also attract new patients.

Use web analytics. Make it part of your regular marketing meetings. It will allow you to find the most popular pages on the site and work on further improvements.

Navigation (menu)

Navigation on your site acts as a roadmap. It helps customers navigate the site easily and clearly. In addition, navigation shows the user where he can find the information he needs.

Don't forget that the main menu should only include the most important pages. At the first contact, the user will not be interested in the privacy policy and copyright information. Links to these sub-pages should be added to the footer.

It is a good idea to include a search bar in your site to make it easier to navigate your site (especially when the site is very large). A good example of implementation can be seen on the Mercyhealth website.

Add social media widget

The profiles of medical institutions on social networks are no longer surprising. On the contrary, it inspires user confidence. Patients can see the life of the company and get a little closer to it. This, in turn, forms a strong bond.

Social media allows organizations to communicate directly with potential and existing users, collect feedback, and better serve needs.

While social media is fearsome in many healthcare settings, it is a powerful tool for building relationships with target audiences. Therefore, if you are still not running social networks, it is time to start doing this and place the widget on your website. This will allow users to navigate your profile easily and start following you. Below is a demonstration of the implementation, as done in the Mayo Clinic.

Quality content

Don't underestimate useful content. With it, you can start attracting organic free traffic from search engines. This simple concept can help improve an organization's marketing efforts.

Get started on content marketing by creating helpful articles. Do regular analytics to assess the effectiveness of your activities.

Nobody likes to read the same thing repeatedly. Therefore, it is worth planning the recording schedule so that the individual subject categories appear one after the other. The variety will not bore recipients and will make the site more visited.

Calls to action are important

Not all medical institutions have this goal when designing a website. For some organizations, the site should help build trust in the marketplace. It may be the task of other sites to create visibility and then invite users to explore service options. And this option is the most popular and effective today.

Create relevant calls to action. This can be an appointment or a subscription to an email newsletter. It will depend on the goals. That said, a CTA is a must on your site as it allows you to increase your conversion rate.

Don't forget that calls to action must be tested and validated. And if necessary, change them to new ones.

Website as part of a marketing strategy

Most companies make the same mistake when building a website. They just use it as a business card without attracting new traffic. Make your site part of your promotion strategy. Drive traffic from different channels and track the performance of each one.

Remember the site itself cannot be of benefit to your business. It works in conjunction with other marketing tools.

Conclusion

Nowadays, a medical clinic cannot do without a website. But in order to attract new patients, you need to make some effort to develop the site. First of all, it should be clear, and intuitive. You should enable users to get useful and necessary information in a short time. This is to ensure efficient operation.