How Often Should You Revamp Your Practice's Website?
John Vakidis - Partnerships and Enterprise Sales in Healthcare
Growing sales through strategic partnerships.
Updated 8/04/23
As a consultant in the digital marketing space for 10 years now, I have had the pleasure of consulting over 1,500 healthcare practices about best practices in website design for new patient acquisition and digital marketing strategy. Below are a few tips for your consideration to determine if it's time to update your site.
Key Indicators That Determine When It's Time to Update Your Healthcare Practice's Website
One common question that arises is how often a website should be updated or redesigned. However, the answer to this question is not as straightforward as it may seem. To assist you in addressing this matter, I have compiled a list of key indicators that indicate your practice may be in need of a new website.
1. Outdated Appearance
While it is true that substance should take precedence over style, aesthetics do matter. In fact, a staggering 81% of internet users hold a lower opinion of a business if its website appears outdated. It is crucial for your website to not only function seamlessly but also exude a fresh and modern look. To gauge the state of your website's design, compare it to the websites of your main competitors. While it is essential to prioritize your unique brand identity, if your design falls significantly behind your competitors' quality, potential customers may overlook your practice. Keep in mind that your website's design often serves as the initial or sole impression for prospective patients, so ensure it portrays a positive image. Here are some great examples.
2. Declining New Patient Volume
If your website has become antiquated and you notice a significant drop in traffic and leads, it is obvious that you are not being found as often as you would like by potential patients who are looking for your services online. Ideally, you should have an effective method for tracking the number of leads generated through your website. If not, this in itself is a sign that changes are needed. If you can track your leads and observe a downward trend in sales or inquiries, it is time to investigate the reasons behind this decline and make necessary adjustments.
3. Poor Mobile Experience
In today's world, where mobile device usage is prevalent, it is imperative that your website offers an optimal experience on smartphones and tablets. According to Statistica, mobile devices account for 52% of all website traffic. When we look at the analytics on our platform with over 5,000 healthcare providers, the numbers are closer to 60% and for some markets, I have seen that number as high as 85%!
It is essential for potential customers to have a positive browsing experience when they access your website through their mobile devices. Moreover, Google places significant emphasis on mobile compatibility when ranking websites. If your current website lacks mobile responsiveness or relies on a separate mobile version, it is advisable to consider building a new website with a mobile-first approach. This approach ensures seamless functionality across various devices, rather than forcing mobile-friendly elements onto an existing design.
4. Expensive Updates
With the availability of contemporary content management and web management technology, there is no longer a valid reason to pay a webmaster by the hour for simple tasks such as updating product prices, adding photos to a gallery, incorporating testimonials, or updating service information. Making minor changes or updates to your site, such as adding blog posts or updating event details, should be easily accomplished by anyone on your staff. If your current website is built on a complex platform or requires third-party assistance for even the most basic updates, it may be time to consider a new website built on an intuitive content management system that enables easy and efficient management.
5. High Bounce Rate and Short Site Visits
A successful website revolves around user satisfaction. If your website is challenging to navigate or fails to provide valuable content, users are likely to leave quickly. Statistics indicate that 39% of internet users would reconsider using a product or service if the associated website appears outdated, lacks user-friendliness, or fails to deliver current information. Tools like Google Analytics offer valuable insights into user behavior on your website. Tracking metrics such as Users, Sessions, Page Views, Time on Site, and Bounce Rate can provide valuable information about how visitors interact with your site. If you observe these numbers trending unfavorably, it is a clear indication that your website needs a fresh and more effective approach.
By monitoring these metrics, you can identify negative trends and take the necessary steps to revitalize your website.
6. Stale Content
Your website is a dynamic entity on the internet. Your website's content should be an appreciating asset that gets more valuable over time. Each update you make contributes to interactions with visitors, customers, and search engines. A stagnant website without any updates is perceived by search engines as inactive or "dead." Failing to update your site can have negative consequences on various fronts. Visitors are unlikely to be interested in seeing the same outdated information repeatedly, and search engines, such as Google, prioritize websites that provide the most, fresh and relevant content, frequently. Regular updates, such as new articles, before-and-after galleries, reviews, eBooks, and new web pages, prompt search engines to revisit and index your practice's website more frequently. To maintain user engagement and ensure visibility on search engines, it is crucial to keep your content up-to-date and relevant.
By paying attention to these key indicators, you can determine when it is time to update your website. Remember, a well-designed and up-to-date website serves as a powerful tool to attract and engage potential patients while effectively promoting your practice.
To bring this home, watch this short 1 minute video of one of our customers discussing how your website impacts your business.
领英推荐
Once your website is built and launched onto Google, you need to get traffic to it. There are a variety of strategies like SEO, Paid Advertidsing, Social Media and more. From a digital marketing perspective the BEST long-term strategy to yield the highest number of leads is SEO. With 5,000+ providers on our platform, leads coming in from local search and organic search (SEO) outperforms the other channels about 6:1.
If SEO has been a mystery, it doesn't have to be. Consider downloading my eBook series on SEO Fundamentals, Content Marketing and External Link Building. Type the URL in the photo below into your browser to learn more and see how to get your FREE copies.
Below are a number of case studies for a variety of healthcare practices that hired DoctorLogic to develop new websites, improve their content and overall digital marketing strategy.
SMB Accounts:
Enterprise Accounts:
At the end of the day, our results speak for themselves. Our average customer DOUBLES their leads in their first 12-months and some have experienced as much as 300% growth in only 6 months!
If your website and current marketing provider is missing the mark to drive your business growth, let's talk!
To your success!
John Vakidis
Partner, VP of Business Development
Do you have questions about marketing your practice more effectively online??If so, shoot me an email to?[email protected]?or call me at 469-458-7126.