Regardless of whether or not you already have a website for your physical therapy clinic, or are just starting out and need to build one – this blog will cover some very important (but simple) things to keep in mind.
Your website is your virtual storefront, and sets the stage for what a prospective patient might expect. At Prompt, we notice that so many of our users have websites that are hurting their ability to attract more patients, but the fixes are so incredibly simple. Many marketers and website developers can chat your ear off all day long using fancy terms that you likely will not understand, but we suggest that you just focus on three simple things – that’s it.
The layout
Your website’s layout is arguably the most important. Having looked at and navigated through thousands of physical therapy clinic websites, I am often very surprised by how difficult it can be to find the information a prospective patient likely needs. The navigation typically doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the pages are often jumbled with lots of information. First, consider what your current and prospective patients are probably searching for:
- Insurance information
- Hours and location
- Contact information
- Who you are
- Services
- Forms
- Clinic news and updates
Now, make sure that it is incredibly easy for them to find that information. I recommend having a menu on top that is direct and to the point – be sure to avoid adding too many menu items, and the menu must be visible on every page
In the above menu, your website’s visitors can very easily find what they are looking for. It also sets you up very well to include more pages without adding any confusion. For example, under services, you might include the following:
In this case, you can add as many pages as you would like, without adding any confusion. The same holds true for your other menu items. Under “About,” you can have a page that tells your story, another page for your team, and maybe an FAQ page. And don’t forget, the more pages the better – but more on that in the SEO section of this blog.
Drive conversions
Your website should include calls-to-action on every page that prompts visitors to contact you or schedule an appointment. You will notice that in the above sample menu, I included a “Schedule an Appointment” button. I recommend including that on every page of your website, along with some additional calls to action strategically placed throughout your website’s design.
Despite having the “Schedule a Demo” button on each page of Prompt’s website, I also chose to include other calls to action on the very bottom of each page which has worked really well for us. In many cases, someone may see something interesting on a given page and these calls to action make it super easy for people to reach out to us to learn more.
If you do not have a way to add a “Schedule an Appointment” button to your site, then I recommend just placing your phone number in that spot so prospective patients can easily get in touch. Regardless – it is still better to have that button there if possible. Thanks to our two-way integration with BetterPT, clinics that are using Prompt can easily add one. The integration enables patients to book directly into the clinics schedule which also enables them to fill out all necessary paperwork prior to their first visit. Many clinics have seen an uptick in business because of that since there is far less friction associated with booking the first or subsequent appointment(s) and your clinic becomes easier to find.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
I won’t claim to be some kind of SEO wizard or even an expert, but I do however know a few things about what has worked well for us and various PT clinics we have worked with. If you DO want to take a deep dive into SEO, I would recommend checking out Google’s starter guide here.
In general, the objective here is to show up BEFORE other clinics in your area. Outside of hiring an SEO expert or becoming one yourself, here are a few ways to help make that happen:
Include valuable keywords
Think about what someone in your area might be searching for and create a list. This might include:
- Physical therapy in your town/city
- Physical therapist in your town/city
- Your company’s name
- Certain injuries
Once you’ve created a relatively comprehensive list, try to scatter those keywords throughout your site. Make sure their placement makes sense though. I would consider making a page under “Services” that covers a whole bunch of injuries your clinic treats. That is a big help for SEO.
Update Your Sites Content Often
Regularly updated content is viewed as one of the best indicators of a site’s relevancy, so keep it fresh! The easiest way to do this is by posting to your blog as often as you can. I covered this in some more depth recently in our popular Quick Marketing Ideas for Your Physical Therapy Clinic – $0 Required blog. Just make sure you write 450 words or more so Google can more easily index your content.
Use a simple third-party tool
These are only a couple of the many methods for improving your search engine ranking. If you want to learn more, we recommend the following resources:
- mtu.edu/webmaster—specific post about SEO and usability
- moz.com—professional blog and SEO tools
- google.com/webmasters/tools—a great reference for understanding your Google site stats
Conclusion
Your focus is in on treating patients so I wanted to keep this simple. Building a great website does not have to be complicated, and following these simple guidelines can undoubtedly make a meaningful impact on your business.
If you are not happy with your existing website or need to create one, feel free to reach out to us. While Prompt’s mission is to build physical therapy EMR software for the future of the industry, we are also more than happy to help out in other areas and love talking to physical therapists. If you would like to create your own website from scratch, I highly recommend using either Squarespace or Wix.
