Building a Successful Medical Website

Choosing the right doctor with the right qualifications and experience can be a difficult task which is why people often evaluate a range of practitioners on the Internet before they make that decision to visit your practice.

The relationship between a patient and a doctor is a not only professional, but personal too and therefore when they engage with a practice for the first time they need to feel confident that their doctor has the knowledge, and skills to give them the care they need. It makes sense that you would want to have a professional web presence, making information about your practice easily accessible and positioning yourself as experts in your field.

Deciding to develop a good quality website or making improvements to an existing site is one of the most important marketing decisions a practice will make. Medical websites that inspire trust, establish credibility and provide insight into the doctors and the services provided increase patient appointments.

6 ways your medical website will add real value to your practice

Increase awareness of your practice to prospective patients
Create authority and credibility with patients and within the health industry
Generate real enquiries
Improved patient services with downloadable forms, billing and payment information
Save costs through smarter online booking systems
Differentiate yourself

A Medical website is a powerful marketing tool and should be used to its full potential. A website is often the first impression a medical practice will make - the key is to making it a lasting one.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when developing a website for your practice:

· Create a professional site using a web design expert

Use an agency that specialises in website development and online marketing for the healthcare industry. A company that specialises in providing medical marketing can build a site that suits your needs. The website should look professional and trustworthy and should help you reach new patients and referral sources, increase awareness of your practice, enhance your image, and position yourself as an expert in your field.

· Know the medical industry's laws and codes

It is important to understand the laws and codes that regulate medical marketing. Engage with a marketing agency that is familiar with the laws and codes in Australia so they can develop an integrated and strategic approach to your on-line marketing.

· Create an information rich website

A medical website provides the opportunity of being more accessible to patients both inside and outside clinic hours. Provide new and existing patients with helpful information about your practice, services and staff.

Add a web page that contains new patient information and downloadable consent forms. The patient can complete these before their first appointment, speeding up the intake paperwork for staff and new patients.

Make booking an appointment as convenient and streamlined as possible by including an online booking system and providing enough contact information to encourage patients to call and make an appointment.

· Inspire confidence through content

Give visitors confidence in seeking out your medical expertise, through your website content. This can be achieved by posting bios of each physician outlining accreditations, qualifications and experience.

Include good quality images of your clinic and practitioners on your website this will make your patients feel more at ease before their first appointment.

· Ensure your practice is easy to locate

Your website should have a location page for each practice. The page should provide the address and a map that has links with photos and directions to your practice.

· Have an online contact form

Capture visitor information and track the success of your website by how many people engage with you. Have a simple contact form that captures the visitor?s name, email and enquiry.

· Be transparent with your patients

Patients don't like unwelcome surprises especially when it comes to paying a medical bill. Include information on your site about appointment policies, whether you are a private billing or bulk billing practice, payment arrangements and fees.

Transparency leads to patients being better informed and creates trust.

· Make your site easy to navigate

Ensure you have a well laid-out site where patients can find what they want easily, if it takes too long to access information, visitors will find it elsewhere. The unofficial rule of web design is that users should be able to find any information they're after in three mouse clicks.

· Increase traffic to your site

Search engine optimisation (known as SEO) and Google AdWords are important tools in appearing on the first page of search engines.

SEO techniques such as, keyword research, technical optimisation, page titles, having friendly URLs, metadata tags, submissions to search engines, and site traffic analysis software, are guaranteed to improve your practice's web presence, generating new patient appointments.

Want help with your website?

Your medical website should be your most cost effective and greatest marketing tool.

Vividus specialises in health care marketing for medical specialists, dentists, medical centres, and pharmaceutical businesses. We are familiar with the laws and codes that regulate medical marketing in Australia. Vividus can develop a medical website to suit your practice's goals and objectives through great content, design and functionality.