Consumer Friendly Websites With Easy Navigation = More Time Spent on Your Website = Growth in Revenue!
There is a great video available on SeachEngineLand.com that provides a brief tutorial on the basics of SEO. Let's start there. In order to optimize your website, you must:
- Know Your audience
- Create a title that is about the content/subject/service you offer
- Include links to credible websites
- Post relevant content often - use Facebook and twitter as vehicles to engage with your audience. Starte conversations, find out what your customers want, need, and like. Don't be afraid to ask, it will be appreciated!
- Graphics should reflect your written content
The goal of creating a website, as a business owner, is provide a source for users to view your information so they can complete a transaction, find information from you as the expert, or gain something they were seeking. As a result, you as the business owner, will have the consumer loyalty if you have provided them with the information they need and the ease of use from your website.
Making information too complex, and creating barriers in order to complete a purchase or transaction is not recommended. Consumer-friendly websites, that are simple, content light and contain relevant graphics are more likely to have a higher click rate. Transforming your website to a consumer-friendly website is most often a recommendation made by content strategists.
Let's use a hospital website as an example. Feel free to read this article I have drafted on:
"Patient-Centric" Websites, and Best Practices for Hospitals:
“Health care organization websites need to reach as many people as possible, the study said. This means the content should be accessible to those with low computer literacy levels as well as those who have physical disabilities that limit their ability to use a mouse or who use nonstandard browsers (Ford, E., PhD, 2012).”
Healthcare information disbursement over the years:
Innovative hospitals are moving away from traditional means of informing patients on complex medical data. Now, more than ever, it is absolutely necessary for patients to obtain healthcare information quickly and simply.
NOTE: (I would have wrote: clear and concise format, however, this is not the type of content we will be using in order to create a “Patient-Centric” site).
· Hospitals are becoming increasingly aware of the digital revolution and the impact their website presence has on the publics’ perception.
· Complex medical jargon is quite often too difficult for most patients to understand, the pamphlets and old brochures are being thrown away once the patient is home.
· 88 Billion people search the internet per month, this is not discriminatory to patients who visit the hospital.
· Hospitals are not as inclined to spend money on print and traditional marketing, instead, the surplus of information they can present on the web is much more COST EFFECTIVE.
· Websites are consumers’ first point of contact with an organization in contemporary America. 1
Why do hospitals need to change their websites to become more user-friendly?
* In coordination with the latest healthcare reform guidelines, many ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) are mandated to institute preventative health care practices. The goal is to provide the patients with as much information, resources, and tools in order to AVOID/PREVENT hospitalization and the READMISSIONS in the event a patient is in fact admitted.
*How are hospitals/ACOs increasing awareness of their preventative efforts, seminars, videos, and best practices? THROUGH THE INTERNET!
2
· Patients are searching the web to find out healthcare information, searching definitions, and best places to go for the best physicians and the best healthcare.
· Studies have shown that when the website is too complex, or even “sanitary” looking with HEAVY CONTENT, and not enough visual effects – the patient is inclined to leave the site.
* Patients do not want to feel inferior and confused, especially when they are concerned about receiving healthcare or if their loved one may be receiving healthcare treatment. THEREFORE patients must be able to visit a site that makes them feel comfortable and helps them UNDERSTAND what their diagnosis is, navigate the page, and find information easily – in their language, not the language of a biochemist or the Chief of Medical Oncology.
Patient-Centric vs. Physician-Centric and WHY THIS MATTERS!
* Physicians are able to communicate in relativity to medical content in a highly complex way that for most people is far too advanced and quite confusing.
* Patients prefer to receive information about their healthcare in brief statements, with common terminology associated so that they can have time to process the information and then follow up with questions.
* It is IMPERATIVE to differentiate and separate the language on the website from physician to physician, vs. physician to patient.
How to design the site?
· Mix capital font with lowercase font
· Use ONE consistent font
· Increase visualization and video
· Allow for whitespace – do not clutter the page – this makes the viewer feel overwhelmed and confused
· Use terminology that would be appropriate for the 11th grade reading level
·Explain the information as if you are speaking to the patient, have a conversation with
your reader
·Use common words: (cardiologist = heart doctor), (podiatrist = foot doctor), (Oncology = cancer), (search by specialty = what does your doctor do? –or- What do you need help with, where is your pain?)
· Make the navigation section EASY and APPARENT. Do not make your viewers SEARCH for your SEARCH? Get it?
· Hospital and health system websites can also be improved on the technology scale, as many sites do not return clear descriptions of links to search engines such as Google and Bing that use webcrawlers to collect information.
Case studies and proven success:
· A recent article published in the Journal of Healthcare Management discusses the first study conducted to uncover the assessment of hospital websites and the impact on patient/viewer readership. The study included an evolution of 630 hospitals based on four major criteria: Accessibility, Content, Marketing, and Technology.
· A study conducted in 2010 at the Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, concluded that an effort to increase healthcare literacy by using an assessment tool to evaluate service areas concluded that consumers increase their literacy are more inclined to engage. 4
· New Jersey Hospital Association created a “Consumer Website” specifically designed for patients with heart failure in order to provide them with a user-friendly website filled with information, resources, links, clinic information, and ways to follow up with care in order to PREVENT READMISSION. This has helped the providers as well because they can refer patients to the site for a wealth of information. 5
1Hirsch, L., Gandolf, MBA, S. (7, May, 2012). Study: Healthcare website need updates as Hubs for patient engagement. Retrieved: http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/healthcare-marketing- advertising/study-healthcare-websites-need-update-as-hubs-for-patient-engagement.html
2 Schilhavy, R.A.M., Menachemi, N., Huerta, T.R., Ford, E.W. (2012). Effective US Health System Websites: Establishing Benchmarks and Standards for Effective Consumer Engagement. Journal of Healthcare Management, 57, 1, pg. 47
Hirsch, L., Gandolf, MBA, S. (7, May, 2012). Study: Healthcare website need updates as Hubs for patient engagement. Retrieved: http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/healthcare-marketing- advertising/study-healthcare-websites-need-update-as-hubs-for-patient-engagement.html
3MedCityNews.com published the results from the Journal of Healthcare Management and included the top 25 hospitals that scored the highest in accordance with the four evaluation categories. The list can be found here: http://medcitynews.com/2012/02/hospital-websites-study-lists-top-25-in-the-nation/
4 Gazmararian, J. A., K. Beditz, S. Pisano, and R. Carreon. 2010. "The Development of a Health Literacy Assessment Tool for Health Plans." Journal of Health Communication 15 Suppl 2: 93- 101.
5American Hospital Association (2012). www.aha.org. America’s hospitals: Caring for patients, strengthening communities. Committed to Quality and Safety. Retrieved from: http://www.aha.org/advocacy- issues/initiatives/quality.shtml
Hirsch, L., Gandolf, MBA, S. (7, May, 2012). Study: Healthcare website need updates as Hubs for patient engagement. Retrieved: http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/healthcare-marketing- advertising/study-healthcare-websites-need-update-as-hubs-for-patient-engagement.html
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