During Ambra Health’s most recent webinar, Providers Go All in, Ambra Marketing Designer Becky Kinkead shared her best practices for a patient and user-friendly website. The focus of the webinar was on the patient journey, and a first critical step is the impression that your website makes.
A: Today’s patients are often finding your practice through their own online research or on a platform like ZocDoc. On average, your potential patients will only give your website 3-5 seconds to decide whether they will stay on your site or move on. Your site needs to grab their attention, get your message across, and demonstrate that your organization is the solution they’re looking for all within that time frame.
A: Keep it simple! Keeping it clutter-free helps highlight the resources and information that’s most important to the patient.
A: There are many less than credible websites out there and that makes patients wary. Use “trust signals” throughout your website. These trust signals can include items such as case studies, years served, and awards or recognition. One of the most effective of these signals is displaying testimonials. As it turns out, 88% of website users will check online reviews before taking the next step.
A: It’s easy when writing content for websites to write for our peers as opposed to the target audience. Avoid complicated medical jargon and remember that your target audience is your patients.
A: Use buttons that indicate to visitors what their next steps are now that they’ve learned more about your organization. From a design standpoint, utilize the same color for calls to actions sitewide, so that visitors can quickly find the buttons and links they’re looking for. Bright colors such as red or orange for buttons typically perform best as they stand out to site visitors, but this will also depend on your brand’s color palette. This is another opportunity to implement clear messaging that help prompt your patient with what to do next. Buttons such as “click here to schedule an appointment,” “access my images,” or “patient portal” are simple but effective communication.
A: Optimize for mobile! As patients are increasingly tied to their phones and searching sites on the go, it’s imperative to improve website accessibility. This means making sure that images are resized correctly and that website typography is still easy to read with correct font size and space between lines of text.
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Catherine Slotnick is a passionate healthcare marketer with a deep interest in the latest & greatest in the Health IT space. As Ambra Health's Director of Marketing, Catherine primarily focuses on creating and sharing thought leadership content in the radiology and informatics space. Catherine graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Psychology & Art History. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and petting dogs that aren't hers.
