There are nearly two billion websites on the internet, and each one provides a unique experience –whether good or bad—for visitors. Those that offer the best visitor experiences act as more than repositories of information. They provide a mood and insight that visitors want to indulge in time and again. When you think of your physical therapy website as a destination that provides a unique experience for visitors, you will have the power to consistently guide browsers away from your competition and into your PT practice. Here are 10 ways to do that.
Remain HIPAA compliant
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The information that your clients share with you will often be much more sensitive than what they would give the other businesses that they patronize. This is why HIPAA compliance is critical for any medical website design component that transmits such data.
You are required by law to maintain protective measures to secure client data, whether it is shared by phone, stored on paper in your office, or transferred online. Then ensure that you and your staff stay up-to-date with HIPAA training.
Make your site easy to navigate
Don’t frustrate your visitors with information that is hard to find. One simple way to improve your site navigation is to use clickable grids that showcase your services. These can be styled to define your brand, with the added bonus of providing visual breaks from blocks of text.
Grids and buttons can be used for calls-to-action and include requests to:
- “Call Now”
- “Download a free ebook”
- “View FAQs”
Focus on accessibility
An improved user experience involves making your website accessible to as many people as possible. There is a significant number of people with limitations in hearing, sight, and mobility who may be shut out of your website simply because it is not accessible. To make your website more inclusive,
- ensure that all content can be accessed with just a keyboard
- use descriptive links that can be read by a screen reader
- use alternative (alt) text to describe images.
Make it mobile-friendly
Nearly 90% of internet users access the web via mobile devices. That means you need to design your website for use on different screen sizes and device types. Work with a web designer and a design platform that incorporates mobile compatibility from the onset, and potential clients will be able to engage with your business wherever they are and at any time.
Cater to your demographic
Use your branding as an opportunity to express the personality of your business, and as a way to appeal to what is most important or interesting to your typical clients. Choose color schemes that are known to inspire trust, rejuvenation, and well-being.
Include photos and short biographies of your staff members to add a human touch, and to give visitors a chance to get to know them.
Optimize relevant content
Though content itself is not a design element, it is an important aspect to consider from the start of your website creation. Decide if you will include a blog, vlog, or articles that will call for continuous updates to your site, then be sure that these elements are laid out in a bold yet simple format, for maximum visual impact.
Once you have created a framework for your content, be consistent with your posts. Stay tapped into trends and client concerns, and let these issues fuel your ideas. Your relevant insights will make visitors want to return regularly.
Make your site interactive
Keep your visitors plugged in by providing interactive tools that take your calls to action to the next level. You can help clients save time by allowing them to access services like these with one click:
- Appointment setting
- Live chat
- Test results
Use high-quality, legal images
When you need high-quality professional photos that are not from your own personal stock, you can find free images online, then use them to add to the mood and story on your website. Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay are three websites that provide royalty-free images and videos.
Optimize website speed
If you’ve taken measures to make your physical therapy website user-friendly, you are already improving speed. Those techniques compress data and eliminate the clutter that would otherwise increase load times.
Additional steps you can take to deliver fast and reliable information online include:
- choosing a web hosting provider with a dedicated server
- having your web designer minimize your code
- reducing image sizes
Don’t make outrageous claims
Promises of cures and unrealistic results or treatment timelines are not only misleading, but they could be illegal. The best way for you to convince consumers of your expertise is to deliver the information and help they are looking for, time and again.
When you build a reputation for providing top-notch service through your website, your visitors will have no choice but to make you their number one source for physical therapy information and services. Contact Clever Solution, and we’ll help with your physical therapy web development project, so you can meet those new clients who are waiting on the other side of the screen or you!
