Medical and Dental Websites of the Future
As the Internet becomes more popular and readily available for the average consumer, it is important for your website to reflect your practice as modern and technologically advanced. In order to accomplish this one must create a website that is built not only for the search engines, but also for the potential patients that are looking for a qualified doctor online. Equally important is the ability for the visitor to view the full website in a variety of browsers or methods of accessing the Internet. With this in mind, here are a few tips for designing your medical or dental website for the future.
1. Consider Mobile Devices
With mobile internet connections gaining speed, they are quickly becoming an easy means for people to access the internet. Designing your website so that it can be seen on a mobile phone is good for a couple of reasons. First: your website is accessible to more people. Second: mobile phones and search engines are similar in the sense that they read the text and can only display some website formats, while other formats are not compatible. Flash and Java Script are two formats that are not visible to the search engines or mobile devices, therefore one should never create a website entirely in these formats.
2. Consider Creating a Content Management System or CMS Website
CMS websites are great for both the visitor and the search engines. The site can be expanded to accommodate a procedure on every page which allows a visitor to easily navigate throughout the site and find the information that they are looking for. By creating an easy-to-navigate site, you are also helping the search engines find relevant content to offer to people performing searches. The administrator will be able to add new content on an ongoing basis which will help out the overall positioning of the site online. This is because new content tells the search engines that your site is up to date with the most relevant information for the consumer.
3. Video, Video, Video
Great content will grab the attention of the search engines and the potential patients, but if you really want to keep people on your site – you need video. Internet video has really taken off in the past few years. If you want to increase the number of people contacting your practice through the website, you need to increase the amount of time they spend on the site. The best way to do this is by incorporating video throughout your website. Think about it: how will someone get a feel of the doctor’s characteristics and overall bedside manner through content or pictures alone? Video is the only way for someone to feel as if they have already met both the doctor and the staff before they ever set foot in the door. Other than increased contacts, video opens the door to viral marketing and the expansion of you marketing to social media sites like YouTube.
Overall, your website should position your practice as the leader in the area and leave no question in the visitor’s mind that you are the one they can trust to change their lives.