Did you know that Americans spend more time searching for healthcare-related information online than anything else? Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations don’t take their website seriously and end up being hated by Google and their patients! Keep your healthcare website running as a powerful platform that attracts and engages users by removing the 6 elements described below.
6 Things to Remove from Your Healthcare Website
Generic messaging
Messaging matters. Your brand message is what will set your apart from your competitors and other businesses alike. Too often, healthcare and hospital websites are filled with the same generic messaging that lack any empathy or emotional value. Words such as “leading”, “innovative”, “world-class”, etc. are common messages smeared across more websites than you can imagine. The best website messaging provides value to both your current and potential patients as well as your brand and immediately tells users how you can help.
Text-heavy web pages
Web users don’t read, they scan. So it’s important to understand how to properly create content for your web pages that users will enjoy and understand. This is especially important in the healthcare industry, as many websites are full of advanced terminology only doctors can understand. In order to help keep your patients and users focused on the content that matters, you should utilize page headings, sub-headings, bullets, and paragraphs to direct users right to the information they want. Your content should also utilize imagery to complement text and entice users to learn more.
Auto-playing media
While video content is all the rage right now, auto-playing media on websites is not. Auto-playing media is actually a distraction to web users and only ends up frustrating them as they now have to find out where it’s coming from and how to get it to stop. However, more than likely your users will end up leaving your website and head over to another that doesn’t distract them from finding the information they need. Allow your website users to make their own decisions on whether or not they want to watch a video or not by providing a link or embedding a video that only plays once a user hits play.
Pop-up ads
Have you ever been engaged in an interesting blog post or web page only to get hit with a pop-up ad that restricts you from finishing the sentence you were on? You’re not the only one. Like auto-playing media, pop-up ads are a major distraction to our web users and will only encourage them to head over to another website. Remember, the goal of your healthcare website should be to inform and educate users on the ways you can solve the problems, questions, or concerns they have and pop-up ads simply don’t provide that value.
Cheesy stock photos
Imagery is a crucial component for any website, but even more importantly for a healthcare website. Most healthcare imagery tends to leave a generic and unattractive impression. Using compelling images that speak to your audience, relate to the healthcare issues you solve, and help improve your message will help you stand out among your other healthcare competitors and stay memorable among your web users. If you can usereal-lifee images from your organization, great! If not, there’s plenty of options out there that aren’t the same cheesy stock photos that do nothing to properly represent your company or brand.
Field-heavy forms
While many web users are weary of giving out their personal information, even more, are willing to do so if they are receiving a valuable offer. However, don’t scare your web users away by forcing them to fill out their entire life history in your sign-up forms. In reality, all the information you need from a new user is their name and email address. Maybe their company name and/or phone number, depending on what they are signing up for. If you have their name, email or phone number, you can get the rest of the information you need by reaching out and getting to know them. Shorter form lengths not only make users feel more comfortable in providing you with their information, but it also takes less time to fill out than filling out numerous form fields. This may also help when you finally reach out to learn more about this user and the problems they are having.
At the end of the day, your healthcare website is too important to ignore. If you’re finding yourself too busy to keep up with your website, it might be worth getting help from an outside agency. A comprehensive website analysis will show you what you can improve on. Contact us today.
