Who searches for a hospital online? It’s simple, people who are going through a distressing healthcare issue are the ones looking for a hospital. They are in a hurry and have no patience to dig deep into what might not turn out to be a solution. So, your website needs to address the effectiveness of your service clearly and concisely. A hospital website should be made considering various aspects like the mindset of the people, their needs, their age group, the kind of services your hospital specializes in, and much more.
A healthcare website should also be able to soothe the apprehensions of the distressed visitor. And by that, we don’t mean just the aesthetics, although they too are an important aspect – but secondary. Simple language, easy explanation of your services, clear call to action that tell precisely what the visitor should do as the next step – are some of the things that should be maintained overall in a healthcare website.
Here’s a list of some factors that should be common while building a hospital website that we have accumulated after working in the healthcare industry for years. Although these are just pointers but if followed diligently, they work wonders for your healthcare website, making it an effective tool for attracting patients continuously.
1) Easy Navigation:
The first step for any website to be effective is ease of navigation. Although it is generally true that people are now more internet-savvy than they used to be but easy navigation eliminates those crucial seconds where the visitor is wondering what to do next and decides to go check out some other solution somewhere else. The power of easy navigation lies in its ability to hold on to the visitor and take him to a position where he is convinced about your services and decides to try out your services after all.
2) Mobile friendly website:
Another important factor to consider is that 90% of the visitors are browsing your website through their hand-held devices. Any website that is made without taking this into consideration will result in loss of patients and ultimately the hospital business.
3) Quick loading website:
How many times have you left a website just because it took too long to load? Too many times, we bet. After putting a humongous amount of effort into bringing a visitor to your website, the fact remains that if it takes too long to load you have lost a potential client. The average interest span of a visitor is less than that of a goldfish, according to various researches. And therefore, a fast-loading website is a must on your list!
4) Working hours, exact location and contact information:
If a website is not able to divulge your exact location along with your working hours and contact information, it does not serve its purpose. If people do not know how and when to reach you in case of emergencies then they might just as well go to some other hospital with similar services.
5) Emergency numbers for Ambulance:
In urgency, this particular section turns out to be a live-saver. Mentioning the contact numbers of emergency services may also result in bringing more prospective clients to your doorstep.
6) What is your hospital known for?
Most of the time, it is your speciality that makes you stand out in a crowd. Mentioning your specialities, specific treatment plans, instruments used by our doctors that are not easily available in other hospitals, surgeons specializing in specific areas, OPD timings, etc. are the things that will convince your visitor to turn into your client. Even mentioning how cooperative and humble your staff is, works in your favour.
7) Payments and Insurance Support:
In India, this particularly is a strong factor for any visitor to consider taking up services in your hospital. Mentioning the kind of payment support your hospital gives to its clients, cashless or part-payments, may influence the decision of your prospective client. Many hospitals do not support cashless payments which are revealed once the patient has already been admitted to the hospital. This tends to lengthen the entire process and sometimes may even result in the loss of a client.
8) Call to Action:
A call to action encourages a visitor to undertake a specific task – for example: Book an Appointment or Call Us Now to know more about our services, Click here to register for the survey, Talk to Us if you are in distress, etc. helps your visitor take definite action. This will result in the visitor turning up as a patient for further assistance and may even result in a permanent client.
Also read: How to increase footfalls in hospitals/clinic
However, these are just a few things that can be kept in mind while designing a hospital website. Other things are to be considered as well for the website to turn into an effective marketing tool. We at Docstokes are experts in guiding you in case you are looking for an effective online marketing strategy.