One of the first introductions to many prospective new patients in your community is through your online presence; in particular, your website, Google Maps listing and Facebook page. Although there are 100s of other platforms, these are big three that you must have established, and I mean well-established.
Your Office Website Is an Asset
I get asked all the time, "What should I have on my website?" or "How do I get more new patients from my website?" Let's examine the role of your website and how you can leverage it to funnel new patients through the door of your practice.
First off, I am impressed when I see a doctor has used a web builder such as WordPress or similar tool to construct their own site. The sad truth is that although this is a nice accomplishment and beast to confront, the majority of the time there are critical components missing. These missing components are either the technical pieces that help it compete in the rankings, or visual problems that fail at attracting and getting people to interact.
Structure: Consider the structure of a website. This one piece, done incorrectly, can nuke the effectiveness of your site bringing in new patients. The intent of your website should be first and foremost, to attract new people and inspire them to take action. This is an online asset and it has to utilized as a conduit to bring the public to "raise their hands" that they are interested in coming into your office.
Far too often, I see sites that are warehouses of information – literally encyclopedias of chiropractic philosophy. A well-crafted website would be completely geared toward a gradual conversation in the copy to inspire "conversion" – the site visitor opting in to your offer. Most of the time, this is the visitor filling out a web form; less often, it is them calling your office number.
The more modern chiropractic websites I've seen are structured to generate a prospective new patient who is asking for an introductory package. No longer do you want to divert a prospects' interest down the wrong path of signing up for a "newsletter" or "clicking here for a free consultation." In 2018 and beyond, your offer needs to be an attractive package that is both alluring and experiential. This will set you far above your competition.
Copy: The next pillar your website must stand on is clean, easy-to-read copy. At a recent digital marketing conference, multiple presenters demonstrated the increase in public response when writing was at a 6th grade level. One free online tool you can use is called Hemingway (HemingwayApp.com). Paste in your text and it will highlight the different sections to tell you the reading levels of your copy. For the purposes of your website, you should consider maintaining a 7th grade reading level. This makes a huge difference in terms of whether someone will continue reading your content.
The First Impression May Be the Last: Website Aesthetics
You know how important first impressions are. For your website, it has been researched that you only have approximately 3 seconds of the reader's attention once they click to go to your website. Within those few seconds, your site must inspire a reader or they will exit and continue looking for the site that does allure them.
Most people searching for a chiropractor first look at the Google Maps results for the one with the most reviews and the highest rating. (That itself is another topic.) Once you have made the cut, either from Google Maps or the organic results, most searchers will screen between 3-5 websites before coming to rest on a particular clinic or doctor that seems most appealing. If your site is confusing, jam packed, out of date and disorderly, then the one that is clean, clear and modern will be the one they select.
Some bonus points that certainly increase your site's chances of being chosen:
- An image of the doctor (you) on the front page
- A 30-45-second office tour video on the homepage
- A series of 3-4 testimonials with photos of the patient
- A dedicated dynamic map of your location (preferably embedded from Google, which provides a ranking signal to Google)
Note that having too many buttons or other "bells and whistles" will drastically decrease the appeal and only serve to pull the visitor away from the goal. Your goal is inviting them to "raise their hand" and show interest in coming into your office.
Section Your Niches and Conditions
Another key component of an effective website is an individual page dedicated to each condition or niche you serve. This is important because this page can easily rank on its own. So, when a prospect is searching the web for a particular condition they are concerned with, your page can land front and center in their browser. Not only that, but because this page is so specific, your reader will be much more engaged with the content.
Once again, we want to put some converting content on this page, such as very short video with a call to action concerning that condition, a map embed so they do not need to leave this page to find where you are, and a clear offer with a call to action.
The Call to Action
Assembling the pieces of an amazing website could prove fruitless if it cannot convert your visitors. A clearly defined and appealing introductory offer, a call to action, and an opt-in button or online form greases the rail for the prospect to engage in the new-patient process and conversation.
A call to action must be on each page of your site. The niche pages should have a more specific call to action. For example, on a low back pain page, your call to action could be: "Do you consider yourself health conscious? Click here for our low back check-up, which includes a consultation and chiropractic evaluation, followed with a report of findings. Limit one per person."
Within your call to action, there are many variations of offers you can use. Sometimes you may have a complimentary offer; other times you may want to run a benefit for a local cause or charity and have your offer in exchange for a donation to the cause / charity.
One last point regarding your offer and these prospects: These people must be contacted by phone to finalize scheduling of their initial office visit as soon as possible – certainly within 24 hours – or you will likely lose them.
Keep Your Site Up to Date
I mentioned earlier that you do not need to spend hours each week on your online activities. However, it is recommended as a best practice to have an active blog on your website. The blog can be short: one or two paragraphs of content that add value to someone's life. These can be philosophical tidbits, your "stretch of the week," testimonials, or even reposts / excerpts from popular blogs or other reputable sources.
(Note that this same posting strategy holds for Facebook, and can be the same content, but with only an excerpt with a link back to your website blog article.)
The goal is to keep the site looking and feeling "alive." This makes your practice more relevant in the prospect's mind. I'm sure you can relate to this; have you visited a website recently whose blog was last updated in 2014? What was your impression of them?
With these fundamentals in place, you will be ahead of ahead of the game. Many chiropractors have unsightly, unappealing websites, very little content and/or no initial office visit offer / invitation. Just remember – the No. 1 goal of a website is to create that first, powerful impression to new people that attracts them and guides them to choosing you for their chiropractic experience.
Author's Note: Don't know how your website stacks up? I've put together a free website audit for you to download and use.
Dr. Bobbee Palmer is one of the founding partners of the Chiropractic Business Academy. Employing the same tools he teaches in the academy, he built a thriving million-dollar, staff-driven cash practice. With more than 18 years of intensive, "in the trenches" chiropractic marketing developments and real-world testing, Dr. Palmer's passion and interest center on developing innovative chiropractic marketing techniques and methods to help DCs serve more of their community.