Building Advice for a Physio/PT Website

Recently Will Boyd of Healthcare Digital Marketing and I talked about all things websites. Following are the key points from the interview.

Why Do I Need a Website?

Online brochure, available 24/7.

People search online. Yellow Pages is dead.

Provides legitimacy. Gives you a chance to shine. Communicate with customers. Gives you a voice.

Whole new world of marketing opportunities.

Can’t I Just Use Social Media?

A company without a website is less credible. It appears cheap.

You own a website. Facebook or Linked In can take your Social Media site away from you or change the rules as they choose. You are at their mercy.

A website allows you to build and own your own database.

Google search doesn’t direct to social media.

So, How Do I Use Social Media and a Website Together?

Your website is the mothership. All your content resides there.

Social media is used to drive traffic to the mothership website.

Use teasers and elements of your web content on Social Media with links back to the website.

Okay, I Understand That I Need a Website. How do I get a One?

Three interrelated steps:

1)  Register a domain name. 

2)  Build the website

3)  Upload the website to a host

Let’s Start with Domain Names

The address by which people find you online.

Sold to you by a Domain Name Registrar. You don’t own the domain but are renting it. 

The best domain names are:

1)  Short – as short as possible.

2)  Memorable – differentiate yourself.

3)  Relevant – the name connects with what you do.

4)  Easy to say – sounds similar to the spelling.

5)  Easy to type – reduce the chance for errors.

6)  Easy to remember – keep it simple.

Domain names have two main elements:

1)  Your name that you choose

2)  The extension - .com, .org, .net or the country codes like .ca, .uk, .au.

Now This is a Great Opportunity to Talk About .Physio

New to the internet are 1,400 domain name extensions. 

Over 500 multinational companies, 200 cities, sports, political parties, religions, community groups and professions, like .doctor, .dentist, .lawyer

And .physio specifically for the global physiotherapy and physical therapy community.

With .physio extension helps you meet the six criteria of a good domain.

How Does .Physio work with Physical Therapy?

The majority of the world uses the word physiotherapy.

The word ‘physio’ is short, punchy and both a noun and a verb. It is also unique.

The good news is Google recognizes that the terms physical therapy, physiotherapy and physio are synonymous.

PT’s can use .physio with absolute confidence that searches for physical therapy or physical therapist will find them.

So, Why Else is .Physio a Better Extension than .Com?

1.    .physio domains are restricted to use by members of the physiotherapy/physical therapy community. So internet users can be confident that the information they receive.

2.    .physio domains provide the opportunity for Branded Navigation. Where your brand is an exact match to your domain name. Take a look at www.limitless.physio. With one phrase you tell people who you are, what your do and where to go for more information.

3.    Inherent Search Engine Optimisation. The exact match of the domain to the search terms means the site will rank higher, be more clickable and readers are more satisfied with the content.

4.    Promotes the profession. As the internet is global, messages created in Memphis, Melbourne, Mumbai and Manchester are being read by anyone. Consistency will help prevent confusion.

Any Other Reasons To Take Action

Intellectual Property Protection.

If someone else in the whole world grabs your businessname.physio before you do, then your traffic is going to go to them. Makes you harder to find.

Okay, Plenty of Good Reasons to Use a .Physio Domain Name. How do People Register a .Physio Domain Name?

Simply go to www.dot.physio, create an account and register your preferred domain name just as you would any online purchase.

Let’s Move On Now. How Does One Begin to Build a Website?

Websites can be as simple as a one-page brochure or as complex as you wish.

Start easy and then grow.

Get an expert to build it or Do It Yourself Online with Website Builders

Expert will build a custom site. It is expensive, slow and difficult to update.

DIY Online services offer templates. Choose your preferred template and then cut and paste text and images.

Website Builders include Wordpress and Drupal, through to Wix and Squarespace.

What do I Put on My Website?

This is vital. You have just 5 seconds to capture your reader’s attention.

Most important piece of advice; less is more. Crowded websites create confusion and the desire to escape.

Most successful health websites have one goal, which is to entice the visitor to take one action.

Three key elements on the Home page

1.    An attention-grabbing headline that identifies their problem,

2.    A statement about the value of your treatment, and

3.    A button for the action, eg., make an appointment

Below the ‘fold’ provide evidence of your effectiveness and credibility. Then how to contact you.

Peppered throughout this information is repeats of the button for the desired action

A good example is Utah Centre for Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery at www.cmibs.com

What about All the Other Stuff like About Us, Contact Details and a Blog?

This information is important for those who want to explore more, so links at the top of the page will do. 

Should I Have A Blog?

Absolutely. A blog allows you to create new information.

New information will create new visitors and give new reasons for old visitors to return.

New information is appealing to search engines

You can use excerpts from your blog in your social media to drive people to your website

A blog allows you to demonstrate your expertise in an area. But remember stay true to your brand and your customer avatar.

What’s a Customer Avatar?

The ideal customer. For our clinic it is a 55 year old lady, with three children who have recently left home. She now has time to care about herself, etc.

Having a customer Avatar allows you to target your marketing specifically to them.

Every decision on Marketing must be directed towards your Avatar.

Where does she shop, what magazines does she read, what keywords interest her.

But What About Other Customers who are Not 55 Year Old Women

You cannot be everything to everyone. If you try you will be nothing to no one.

Target just one type of customer. Others will still come.

Our Avatar has a husband, a mother, adult children, etc, that she will refer.

Okay. That is Good to Now. I Have a Smoking Hot Domain Name with a Brilliant Website. Now How Do I Get My Website Up onto the Internet?

You need to host the site with a webhost. 

There are many options but if you use a Website builder program it will usually offer hosting as well.

With this type of service you need only click on the Publish button and up the site goes.

Thereafter you can edit and tweak the site as often as you wish.

Great. Any other tips?

With more people using mobile technologies websites need to be ‘responsive’.

Responsive means they automatically adjust to the different size and shape of the screens of a PC, tablet and smartphone.

This makes it easier for people to read all of your information.

You can test a website’s responsiveness on a PC by grabbing the bottom right hand corner and re-sizing the window. If information shuffles around to reorganize itself, it is responsive.

Check that your website builder builds responsive websites.

So I understand.  I Need a Domain Name, a Responsive Website and Hosting. Sounds Complicated. Can it be Done all in One Place?

At www.dot.physio you can register a .physio domain name, access our website builder (with three levels of functionality) and have your website hosted. 

Plus you can buy a matching email address.

What Sort of Price?

Standard .physio domain names cost US$95

Website Builder Costs US$72 with free hosting

Email Account cost US$10.

So for US$177 per year you can have everything you need for a very professional digital presence.

Is There Anything Else We Can Do With .Physio Domain Names?

Absolutely. So far we’ve talked about Domain Names for the home page of your Website. But other Domain Names can be directed to other pages within your site.

The value of domain name specificity can be used to attract different kinds of people to the different pages of your website.

Think of your website as a fishing boat and your domain name as a fishing line with a particular kind of bait. You will catch a particular type of fish.

What if you had a second fishing line with a different kind of bait; you will attract a different kind of fish. In this example, all fish are good.

So use domain names with the keywords people search and take them to a page on your site that addresses what they are looking for.

For people where location is important, register yourlocation.physio and take them to the page on your site that talks primarily about the convenience of your location. Do this for all the locations that you service

For people with a specific kind of injury register theinjury.physio, eg., backpain.physio and take them to the page on your site. 

Or marry the two by combining your location with the injury, eg springfieldbackpain.physio. In this way you become the number one practice in town for that kind of injury.

Thanks for all that information Glenn. Tell us again where can we register a .physio domain name

www.dot.physio