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What’s important to a customer?
When you read that question, what’s the first answer that pops into your mind? Excellent customer service, honest dealings, immediate access to the information or item being sought, special treatment, and the list goes on, right? When you design a website, you have to remember that you’re selling something. So, when you’re a doctor or a hospital, for example, your website is selling your medical services. Your patients aren’t just patients; they’re customers. At Cowgirl Interactive, we’re experts in web design & medical web marketing, so let’s take a brief look at what your patient is looking for as a customer, and then delve into translating that to the web.
Excellent Customer Service
We all have different perceptions about excellent customer service. The well-known saying, “The customer is always right” doesn’t hold any salt nowadays simply because it’s a known fact that the customer doesn’t always know everything. They may know what they want or need but don’t have the details about it. This is where excellent customer service comes in. You need to provide answers to their questions, put an image to an idea and give them all the information available. That’s how they will make their buying decision.
In a web design, medical providers would be served best by offering some sort of online chat or forum in which they can ask questions or voice concerns. Show prices, where available, list the insurances you accept and provide a comprehensive menu of services offered at your practice. These are all things the customer has almost no way of knowing on his own. Structure your site in a way that’s easily navigated and understood, and provide ways for your customers to report errors.
Efficiency
Speed and efficiency are of high important to customers. We all lead busy lives and have limited time to sift through the loads of information the internet provides. So help your customer out by streamlining the process for them. Make appointment requests easily accessible from the homepage, and don’t ask for a ton of unnecessary information that they’ll have to provide on a paper form later anyway. They’ll appreciate your respect for their time and the ease with which they were able to connect with you. You can bet they’ll be back again.
Appeal
Not everyone abides by the old “don’t judge a book by his cover” adage, so in addition to having an easily accessible, fully information website, you need to make sure it looks great too. Is a medical website really the place for flashy graphics and loud colors? Probably not. Are advertisements appropriate on a page in which customers are learning about a potential surgery or affliction they may have? Doubtful. Be mindful of your site’s imagery and graphics. Represent your practice with a smooth, easy-on-the-eye web design. Medical providers are a necessity in most people’s lives, so don’t think you have to grab their attention with shocking photos or graphics. Make them feel comfortable and at ease.
All in all the key to maintaining a really successful website as a medical or healthcare provide is just this: keep the customer satisfied.
Want to learn more about Cowgirl Interactive’s chops in web design & medical web marketing? Call us today!
We have many specialized areas of expertise here at Cowgirl Interactive – ecommerce, fashion, seo and lots more. But the one that we’ve been spending the most time on lately seems to be web design & medical web marketing. We’ve worked on sites for dermatologists, medical groups and plastic surgery clinics – just to name a few. In that time, we’ve learned a few tricks of the trade, and have been able to hone in on some grade-A tips for medical web design.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
Say we have a small dentist’s office and a large city hospital. How does the patient process work for each? True, the larger establishment probably has much more complicated entry system, but the essentials of each remains constant: a patient comes in, he or she is processed (paper work), and then the consultation begins.
A web design (medical focused) functions the same way as the two establishments mentioned above. Website visitors come in, leave information about themselves, and get the “consultation” they are after. The information left in this case could be something like a name, an email address, and perhaps the reason for the visit. But how can a company make their website & design medical information so that they make enough referrals to make the costs incurred worthwhile?
It’s all in the optimization of the site. Put yourself in the patient’s or a site visitor’s shoes. How would they get to your site? What would they be expecting? As leads, how would you convert them?
A patient or visitor hardly comes by your site by accident. There is usually a set mind behind the online search. The point where they click on the link to your website is what you have to concern yourself with. When a patient gets to your website’s landing page, he expects to be informed in less than 3 to 5 seconds. Therefore, having an uncluttered landing page is one key element to keeping a visitor on your site. Next, on the same page, you might want to consider categorizing your services into five or so sections depending on what your medical services are. These sections will have a drop-down list of sub-sections and so on, further narrowing down to specifics like, for example, on a dentist’s site: Surgeries > Root Canals. Provide the information they’re searching for quickly and easily from your landing page.
Moving on from the basic layout, the website design for a medical entity has to build rapport. Offering a spot on your website where visitors can leave comments or suggestions on or having them subscribe to your newsletter will make them feel that their views matter. Following that up with personalized emails makes it even better. Again, keep it simple. No one wants to go through some kind of form asking them for their name, last name, maiden name, telephone number, location, zip code, etc. It’s too cold. Simply ask for their email address and let them start commenting or asking their questions Tell them you’ll read all the comments and answer whatever is necessary. Everyone likes that personal touch.
There’s so much more you can do to keep your patients engaged. The bottom line is that as long as your website allows them to get information quickly and efficiently, there’s a big chance they’ll bookmark your site and refer it to their contacts as well.
Want to learn more about Cowgirl Interactive’s experience in web design & medical web marketing? Schedule a consult today!
Learn about Cowgirl’s specialty in web design & medical interactive marketing.
Interactive marketing is on the rise – big time. The year of 2012 is proving to be a breeding ground for new and shifting marketing tactics. The main thing that will change is the sophistication of the marketing content. Consumers are no longer happy with the typical radio commericals and internet ads. They want more. They are always demanding more advanced ways to become engaged. A recent case study analysed consumer opinions of which marketing tactics are the most effective in reaching customers. This study will ultimately change the way we as an interactive marketing agency strategize and create client campaigns.
The youth of today have grown up around computers, cell phones and high-tech gadgets; it’s a natural part of life to them. Because of this, it’s usually assumed that the younger generations tend to be drawn more in technology, interactivity and the digital world. Take a look at any interactive marketing company, ours included, and you’ll see a large portion of the staff under the age of 40, often even 30, because, well, it’s assumed that those younger generations just “get” the niche more.
Part of our work as an interactive design agency is staying on top of web design and graphic design trends. In order to deliver the highest quality, most effective websites for our roster of clients, we have to be sure we know what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s really working for web browsers out there.
As an interactive marketing agency, we at Cowgirl Interactive have learned that copy is the bread and butter of a website.
In a digital world, where your customers can’t taste, touch or feel the products they’re buying, your copy tells them what exactly will be delivered to their door if they choose to buy. It tells them what the product looks like, why they need it, how to use it and what it’s used for. If your copy isn’t right on the mark, you could be losing sales left and right.
Leslie Hahn, interactive marketing consultant and president of Cowgirl Interactive, says “Copy is the lifeblood of an e-commerce site. If you don’t have killer copy, don’t expect to have killer sales.”
So, in the light of the booming holiday shopping season, we at Cowgirl Interactive marketing agency would like to share a few quick tips for writing stellar website copy.
Internet marketing is a huge industry. There are hundreds of different facets, and you could never be an expert in all of them. You must always be willing to learn more, find out more, and take advice from those who have more experience than you. That’s what we’ll do today: take a page out of the internet marketing book of RESTAURANTS.
Leslie Hahn, who provides interactive marketing consultant services to companies acorss the nation, says, “Restaurants are some of the best examples of web success. They really know their audience and know specifically what they want out of their local SEO package.”
What are restaurants doing right, you ask?
Too often businesses going into web development and search engine optimization with the idea that they need to spread their marketing dollars out and focus on EVERYTHING they offer. True, you want customers to take advantage of all your services, but in reality, you know some of your services are more successful than others and some of your services are more in-demand than others. Take advantage of that. As the premier Dallas SEO firm and Dallas web site design company, we at Cowgirl Interactive have learned that in web development, it is ideal to be as specific and narrowed as possible when developing your website, SEO and marketing efforts. This will allow you to find the best, most viable customers and deliver them the products they are truly wanting.
Online shopping is supposed to make life easier. You don’t have to go to the store or the mall, you can compare prices easily and quickly, and you can make your purchase in a matter of minutes. But what faux pas perpetually make online purchases HARDER on customers? A recent poll found the top 5 “ecommerce gripes” from online shoppers. If your company is considering delving into ecommerce web site design & development – take heed!
