Use This Checklist To Ensure Your Mobile Web Design Is Up To Par

Modern responsive web design computer, laptop, tablet and smartp

Just because you can see your desktop site on a mobile phone doesn’t mean that it’s using mobile web design. Mobile sites are specifically designed for the small screen, with the needs of mobile users (your patients) in mind. A mobile-friendly site helps your practice connect with patients and drive conversions.[note_box]No business can afford to ignore the fact that more than a billion people primarily access the Web from mobile devices. Some of the most recent studies indicate that about 50 percent of people with a smartphone or another mobile device use mobile search on a daily basis. And 17 percent of mobile users make a purchase after performing a search.[/note_box]

To ensure it is mobile-friendly, view your website on your smartphone, and while doing so ask yourself these questions:

Content

Does the site fit the screen?
Almost 50 percent of your audience already uses a mobile phone as their primary Internet access device. In other words, you are losing nearly half your audience if you do not make your website mobile-friendly. Make sure content fits on the screen and can be read without pinching and zooming.

Is the content readable?
Do not try to cram all the information you provide on your website into your mobile site. Make it easy for your patients to read and bear in mind that they might be reading it in a place with low light.

Does the site load quickly?
Include important information like phone numbers, addresses and maps which would be useful to people on the move. Instead of giving a detailed description about your practice, provide a one-liner, which is good enough to entice your mobile audience.

Do videos and animations load?
Avoid using large, Flash-based video files on your mobile site, as most smartphone browsers do not support Flash. Instead, use simple images to improve the look and feel of your mobile website.

Is the site responsive?
With the rapid evolution of touch-based smartphones and tablets, touch has taken over typing. When designing your mobile site, use drop down menus, check boxes, and pre-populated fields whenever possible, so that your mobile visitors can navigate and input information easily rather than having to fill in long forms.

Images

Are file sizes as small as possible?
Use simple compressed images and keep them small for faster loading. This will improve the look and feel of your mobile website—but make sure all images used on the desktop are set to resize automatically to fit a mobile device’s smaller screen sizes. We can do all of this for you (see our contact information).

Is there a home page icon set?
Nobody likes to be confused. Help users navigate between levels with clear “back” and “home” buttons.

Do all images fit on the screen?
Use plenty of negative space and don’t let the images overcrowd the page.

Usability

Do the gestures work?
Use large-centered buttons to reduce accidental clicks and make sure that they all work. This will ensure that visiting your site will not be a frustrating experience for your patients.

Is it thumb friendly?
People use their fingers to operate mobile devices, especially their thumbs. Design your mobile site so even large hands can easily interact with it.

Are number and e-mail addresses actionable?
Remember to use click-to-call functionality for all phone numbers.

Are forms easy to fill out?
Use check boxes, lists and scroll menus to make data entry easier.

Would you stay on the site?
Try to be objective and try to look at this through your patients’ eyes.

[colored_box variation=”steelblue”]If you were shocked and disappointed by the results, or would just like to talk to us about making your website mobile friendly so that you don’t lose any more potential patients, we would love to hear from you.[/colored_box]

Understanding the Importance of Search Engine Optimization For Your Practice

Seo ChalkboardThe Internet has had a profound effect on the way that people communicate and interact with each other. The changes have also had a dramatic influence on the business world by altering the way that consumers make purchases and seek out services.

Until about ten years ago, companies reached out to consumers through trade shows, print advertising and other traditional marketing methods.

Times have changed significantly since then. Today, people start their shopping experience by looking on the Internet. In most cases they will visit a search engine, most likely Google, and begin to do their product research from there.

Your patients, both current and prospective, are no different. If they’re looking for physical therapy in their local region, they will expect to find you in the search engines and on the Internet.

This is very exciting and creates the opportunity for your private practice to use the Internet to your advantage and reach out to a wide range of patients in your local area.

[note_box]In order to have the competitive edge and to ensure that other physical therapy practices don’t steal potential patients, search engine optimization (SEO) is now more important than ever. It is not an exaggeration to say that businesses that don’t practice SEO are in a dangerous situation compared to other local businesses investing in search engine marketing.[/note_box]

What is SEO?

This is the bit when we talk to small practice owners that we see their eyes glaze over and they try to stifle a yawn. But bear with us, as search engine optimization (SEO) is very important and could literally save and transform your practice.

Simply put…

  • SEO is helping the search engine find you.
  • SEO is making your website more visible and transparent to the search engines. The most important goal of SEO should be connecting your site to the search engine.
  • SEO is helping people find you in the search engine.

Social media has made everything on the Internet more personal. People don’t want to look hard for your site. People don’t want to do hours and hours of research in order to find information. They want it quick, 1-2-3 boom! SEO makes it possible by making your site more direct and focused on certain keywords that people would most likely go looking for when they want information provided by your site.

That is the point of SEO and that is why your practice needs it.

The benefits of SEO for your practice

The Internet has provided a level playing field for businesses no matter what the size. Small companies can have a viable online presence just as much as the large corporations, but just like in the offline world, the competition is huge and you need to have the competitive edge in order to get a good share of the market.

Search engines are there to help you. They serve millions of users every day looking for answers and solutions to their problems. If you have a website or online store, SEO will help your practice grow.

Search engine optimization is essential because:

  • The majority of search engine users are much more likely to choose one of the top five suggestions at the top of the results page. They are unlikely to continue past page 1 or trawl their way through hundreds of search results. This means that if you want potential patients to find you, click on the link and visit your site, you need to rank as high up the search engine page as possible.
  • SEO is not just about being ranked in the search engines. It also improves the user experience and usability of your site, making the viewing experience much more enjoyable for them so that they view you in a good light and will strongly consider coming to you for treatment.
  • Users place a great deal of trust in the search engines and it gives them confidence and helps build up trust in your practice if they see you occupying the top results.
  • SEO is perfect for the social promotion of your website. People who find your site by searching in the search engines are much more likely to promote it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media channels.
  • SEO puts you way ahead of your competition. If two physical therapy websites offer the same services, the search engine-optimized site is much more likely to attract more patients and increase business.

As you can see, small practices have a lot to benefit from SEO. It can literally transform your site into a sales marketing machine. Let’s explore the benefits in a bit more detail.

SEO forces you to create a better and more user-friendly website (more business for you)

Implementing SEO strategies will help you to create a better, faster and much more user-friendly site for your patients.

How, you may ask? Well, despite the name, search engine optimization is not just about search engines but it also focuses on the user. If your users have a good experience on your site, then the search engines will be happy too. Everybody wins.

The same user is also more likely to come back to visit your site more often and tell their friends about how good your site was.

The search engines will recognize that people like your site and will want to refer other users to it when they use the relevant search phrases to find your practice.

You win because you have lots more traffic, bigger profits and happy, loyal patients.

Find new patients and watch your business grow

If you have invested in a website, it’s because you want to increase your patient base and get more business. It is a fact that businesses that have a website grow twice as fast as those that don’t.

SEO will help you to rank higher in the search engines, which will in turn give you more targeted visits and more patients.

Reach a whole new market

As we mentioned earlier, having a website makes excellent business sense because the Internet is growing so quickly. However, SEO will help you to find brand new patients that would normally have never known about you by substantially increasing your traffic levels within social media platforms and mobile marketplaces. There is a revolution going on and you can be part of it.

Increase your visitor-to-customer conversions

A search engine optimized-website means that your site is fast, easy to use and is compatible on mobile and tablet devices. Visitors coming to your website are much more likely to become patients, subscribers or loyal visitors. All of this translates into better conversions for you: more business.

Build brand awareness

If you have top rankings in the search engines, this is going to help build better brand awareness for you and your practice. Users are more likely to trust brands that are near the top of the search engines than those who don’t have a prominent web presence.

If you are a small practice that needs to build brand awareness because, for example, you want to target local markets, then you need to invest in SEO in order to gain the top rankings to enable you to reach your target audience.

The search engines play a very important role in building or destroying a brand.

Beat Your Competition

Imagine you have two private physical therapy practices in the same area. They both offer similar services and charge similar prices. They are both almost identical in every way. Now let’s imagine that one of them has a search engine optimized-website but the other decides not to invest in an optimized site. Which one do you think will be more successful? Which practice will gain more patients from local SEO and which one will grow faster?

It’s obvious. In this day and age you can’t afford to underestimate the power of the search engines. Your practice needs them.

If your competition is on the Internet and they are investing in SEO and social media marketing, you have to as well. If you don’t, your practice is going to be left behind and they will take all of the potential patients that should have gone to you.

If, on the other hand, they are not doing any SEO and they are slipping down the search results page, then now is the ideal opportunity to differentiate your practice and grab the top rankings.

Your business will be a 24/7 sales generating machine

A business that gets sent lots of traffic by the search engines is like a store that is open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. That is the power of the Internet and SEO.

If you invest time and money to get your website on top of the search engines, you will attract new patients interested in your practice even when your bricks and mortar practice is closed and you are fast asleep in bed.

How Can You Take Advantage Of All of these Benefits?

    1. The first thing you need is a website. This may sound obvious but there is still a high percentage of businesses who don’t have a website (we are shocked too).If you don’t already have a website or you have a website that is tired and dated, then you can contact us free of charge and we can give you expert advice on how to take your practice online and reach a wider audience.
    2. You need somebody with SEO experience and expertise to plan your marketing campaign. Remember, money spent on SEO is an investment and not a cost. A good online marketing campaign will always bring in more profits than what you spend.
[colored_box variation=”steelblue”]

SEO is a must for every website

In summary, SEO is a way to optimize your web site so that search engines will understand it better and give you higher rankings. It is important because a good SEO approach can drive more traffic to your website and drastically improve business to your practice.

Let us help you to build your brand and turn your website into a 24 hours sales generating machine. Contact us at E-Rehab for more advice on how to transform your practice.[/colored_box]

5 Scary Website Mistakes Your Private Practice Should Avoid

WebsiteGreat news: somebody has visited your website. Hurrah! Perhaps they might look around and decide to schedule an appointment for treatment…but wait…oh no!  Now they are leaving. “What? They only stayed for five seconds.” Yes, it’s very possible that they stayed long enough to be appalled by your website and then made a quick exit to one of your competitors. If your site is not converting visitors into patients, then you might be committing one of these deadly website mistakes:

  1. Flash-Driven Design

    Search engines hate Flash-driven design. In fact they hate them so much that they will completely ignore your site no matter how pretty you think it looks. So what if it is clever and it contains beautiful, state-of-the-art design?  Nobody is ever going to see it. Google is just going to skip right past your site as if you are the invisible man. And those millions of iPhone and iPad users who use their mobile devices instead of their desktops certainly won’t see it because they can’t see Flash on their phones. It’s pointless to annoy Google to the point where they choose to ignore you. You’re your site that won’t get any visitors. Just because you can add whistles and bells doesn’t mean that you should.

  2. The Annoying “Welcome to our Website”

    How long do you think you have to grab your visitor’s attention?  Here’s a hint: It isn’t 2 minutes, 1 minute or even 30 seconds. It is more like 10 seconds. That is all the time you have, so don’t waste it with a boring introduction. Most people don’t like to read much online, so when they first visit your website, they are probably just going to quickly scan it to see if anything catches their eye. Why would you want to squander an already-tiny attention span by reminding people which site they are visiting? Instead, use an attention-grabbing headline. People should already know where they are just from glancing at the top of your site, where they should see your logo and a snappy tagline, or a short description of your site, so there is absolutely no need for stating the obvious with a banal “welcome to our website” message. Yawn!

  3. “We…. We… We… We… We…zzzzzzzz”

    “We have a team of…” “We plan to…” “We have been in business for…” Sorry to sound blunt but…NOBODY CARES! Visitors to your website are only interested in one thing: “What is in it for me?” If your site doesn’t answer this question pretty quickly, they will probably leave. Instead of just talking about you and your site or your business, imagine that you are talking one to one with one of your typical customers and ‘speak’ to them as an individual. Tell them how your product or service is going to benefit them.

  4. Tech Speak

    Every industry and business sector has its own tech speak and industry-only words that nobody else understands. Try talking to friends and family about autoresponders, SEO and long-tail keywords and you’ll see their eyes glaze over as they slip into a coma. If you use words, terms and phrases that mean something to you but go straight over your visitors’ heads, then you are going to lose them.  We’ve already said visitors are going to scan over much of the content on your website anyway, so you should try to make it as easy as possible for them to be able to pick out and understand the main points from the bits that they do read.

  5. No Clear Call to Action

    As well as telling your visitors “what’s in it for them,” your next job is to tell them what they need to do now. It is absolutely pointless to give them great reasons why they should come to your practice for treatment, and then not tell them what they need to do next to in order to schedule an appointment. You need to have a clear call to action and make it blatantly obvious how they can make it happen. Do you want them to call you if they have any additional questions or if they’re ready to book an appointment?  Then tell them. However, telling them to call you and then hiding your number somewhere on your website is another big fail. If your call to action is telling them to “call us now,” then make sure you put your telephone number right next to it. Never assume that your visitors will know what to do next. Spell it out for them. Tell them what you want them to do. If you make it difficult for them, they will leave. Yes, they probably could figure it out, but sometimes they won’t. They will move on to the next site in the blink of an eye.

[colored_box variation=”steelblue”]

You invest a lot of time and money encouraging people to visit your website, so why scare them off by making one of these fatal mistakes?

For more information on protecting your website from common pitfalls and encouraging potential patients to stick around and come to you for treatment, contact E-Rehab and we’ll be glad to offer you our assistance.[/colored_box]

How To Take Control Of Your Physical Therapy Web Design

Magnifying Glass - Web Design

Depending on where you live, you may have taken notice of a trend where big corporations are taking over and moving the small businesses out. Many towns and small cities are now carbon copy of each other, with the same chain of coffee shops, the same clothing retailers, the same chains of DIY and garden care companies and the same electrical outlets.

The small businesses seem to be fighting a losing battle and the lifeblood is being sucked out of them.

The exciting news is the Internet gives you, a small private practice, a new level playing field where you really can easily become a giant on the Internet and get your share of the business that’s out there.

Increasingly patients are looking online for information with over 80% of patients research health conditions, symptoms, and healthcare brands online. These are local people in your area, and some are potential patients.

[note_box]Don’t just take our word for it. Look at the statistics in any publication (e.g. pewinternet.org) and you will see the trend increasing year after year that the majority of people research products and services online using their mobile phones and tablets but here is the twist: they still buy offline.[/note_box]

That means that your practice should be taking full advantage of the Internet and getting a slice of the action. If you don’t, then your competitors will.

Read on to find out how you can become an online giant.

Getting Started Online – Taking Control Of Your Physical Therapy Web Design

One of the reasons so many local businesses put off promoting themselves on the Internet is because it can be overwhelming. There are so many ways that you can market your practice online that you might not know where to start.

A large number of local businesses dabble in online marketing and then give up after a few weeks because they don’t get the results they expect.

Although the Internet is not a magic wand that instantly makes you rich overnight, you will see results if you know what you are doing.

It‘s true, not all marketing techniques are suitable for all business types, but here are some things that your practice can start to implement to help give you a giant-sized presence on the Internet (and they won’t break the bank either).

Your Website

Your website does not need to be an expensive, all-singing, all-dancing work of art. It should make a great first impression and it should be search-engine friendly and regularly updated .

For many private practices, designing a functional but profitable website can be extremely daunting, so they tend to leave the whole design in the hands of their website designer.

This can turn out to be a very expensive mistake for your practice. Web designers can make some stunning looking websites complete with every bell and whistle imaginable.

However, if you owned a car dealership, it is doubtful that you would trust your car mechanic to have complete control of your marketing campaigns. While he might be a very good car mechanic, it is unlikely he would also be an expert in marketing.  Leave it all up him and pretty soon you would be out of business.

That is in effect what you would be doing if you allowed your web designer to have complete control of your website.

Yes, they might have good design skills, but in most cases, they know very little about marketing. There are very few web designers who understand how to optimize sites for the search engines, or how to write compelling copy or information that effectively describes the services your practice offers.

You really don’t want a website designer who just concentrates on how pretty they can make your site and how they can add a wide range of lovely looking but utterly pointless gimmicks on your site.

So rather than give your web designer free reign, here are some tips that will put you in control and and help you end up with a website that draws more patients to your practice:

1. Be very clear about what you want.

You want a website that works 24/7 and earns its keep, so you need to be clear on exactly what you want each web page to do. When thinking about the function of each page of your website, decide in advance what its purpose is.

For example, will it be used purely as an online brochure for your patients to show off services or do you want to add some general information about physical therapy and common conditions treated by your practice as well?

Will you want your page to collect visitor’s names and addresses or do you just want your site to let people know how they can contact you?

Will you have a blog where you can keep patients updated or will you be sending a newsletter out?

2. Have your offer and call to action clearly visible on your website.

Don’t hide this information away. Put your address and phone number at the top-right of every page.  If you want patients to be able to schedule an appointment on your website, make that clear to them and easy to do.   Do NOT make your call to action or offer a sign up for a free ebook on how to treat their own back.  It devalues your service!

3. When you write your web copy for your site, write it with the reader in mind.

Always remember to clarify what you can do for them. It will make it very boring if the site is all about you and how great you think you are. Nothing turns a visitor away fast enough than the words “we do this…” or “we are…” Talk about your unique benefits.  What makes your practice different from the clinic next door.  Remember, it is not about you, it is about the patient, so show them that you are the type of practice that provides exactly what they need and what they’re looking for.

[colored_box variation=”steelblue”]Click here for a guest blog post I wrote and is posted on WebPT which gives you more tips on how to write copy for your home and about us pages. In summary, think twice about letting your website designer completely take over. Even if you don’t have a technical bone in your body, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have full control over the online presence of your practice.[/colored_box]

13 Easy Ways to Improve Physical Therapy Websites and Attract More Visitors

atract more website visitorsSome of the private practice clients we speak to have spent huge amounts of money on their websites, but are still unhappy with the results. The majority don’t do anything about it, as they think it is going to incur more huge expenses and make the assumption that having a better website actually means having to start creating a brand new website from scratch.

In some cases that might be true, but from our experience, just a couple of tweaks here and there are enough to make the difference between a site being successful or not.
If your concerned that your physical therapy practice’s website isn’t attracting enough visitors and new patients, here’s a list of our top 13 quick fixes that have converted non-performing websites into 24-hour sales machines:

1) Have a Call to Action on Every Page

Every single page on your website needs to be working for you by making every visitor take some sort of action. For example, you might want them to give you a call, leave a testimonial about successful therapy, watch a video or leave a comment.

Whatever it is, make sure you tell them what it is you want them to do. Make it easy for them. The last thing you want is for them to be wondering what to do. Don’t assume that they know what to do, even if you think it’s perfectly obvious. Tell them instead.

2) Put Your Phone Number on Every Page

Although this might seem like common sense, it is surprising to see how many companies bury their phone number deep within a site, making it hard for potential customers to contact them.

[note_box]In a lot of cases, visitors have actually come to the site to look for your phone number, so don’t make them hunt for it. Putting it at the top right hand corner is best, but you can also put it in the footer of your site. Remember, patients are visiting your website to find you, contact you, and get directions to your office.  Make your contact information easy to find. [/note_box]

3) Add an ‘About Us’ Page

“About Us” pages often help customers better decide who you are and whether or not they want to take their business to your practice.

Whether they are a businessperson or a consumer, when a person selects a company to do business with, they like to know a bit about their background, so don’t be afraid to give your visitors a brief history that will help them better understand what your practice is all about.

NOTE: The Staff page and About Us page serve different functions.  On the staff page, adding photographs of you and your team with short bios about them, helps you and your clinicians become real people, not just a faceless practice.

Listing your experience and credentials is important, but also engage your visitors, tell them a bit about your hobbies, your family life and things you like to do for fun. Letting the visitor see the real you builds their confidence and trust when doing business with you.

4) Add Your Opening-Closing Hours

There is no such thing as typical opening hours these days, so you need to tell your visitors when you are available.

Making your business hours known is very helpful to patients and can solve their frustration if they visit or ring you when you are not open.

5) Don’t be Afraid to Use Big Bold Images

Images speak louder than words. The Internet is very visual and people respond well to images, so include images on your site that a potential patient will engage with.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on fancy graphics. Simply take pictures of your team in action performing therapy on other patients, shots of your local area, your premises, recent community or team events you all have participated in.

All of these things help to engage your patients and lets them know more about you and your practice.

6) Make Your Site Mobile-friendly

Mobile is huge.  Thirty percent of your visitors are using smart phones and with over 200 million in use in the States today, more and more people will be visiting your site via their smart phone or tablet.

You need to make sure visiting your site on a mobile device is an outstanding experience. Sites that are not optimized to be seen on tiny screens can be frustratingly difficult to navigate around for your potential patients. They won’t persevere, they will simply move to another site.

There are a number of ways to make your site mobile-friendly and we will be happy to give you advice on that.

7) Add Success Stories

Your existing patients are a huge asset to your practice.  They can provide real-life case studies and testimonials that will inform potential new patients of how successful their treatment was, how you saved them time and money or how knowledgeable and efficient your staff is.

How do you get testimonials? Just ask right after you receive a compliment.  Most patients will be more than happy to oblige if you ask them.

8) Match Your Company Branding Always!

For continuity and to help create instant brand awareness ensure your online presence matches your bricks and mortar business. It helps patients to both recognize your practice and to remember you.

9) Take Off the Music

Do you enjoy listening to elevator music? Probably not. Neither do your patients. Never put music on your website. It isn’t relaxing or funny. It’s just annoying. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean that you should.

Remove anything that might appear annoying to your customers (music, flashing images, etc.) or anything that might distract them from doing what you want them to do: navigate your website, get a good impression of your practice, and hopefully commit their business to you.

10) It’s Time to Get Social

Have you embraced social media yet? Your patients sure have. They interact with thousands of people on the Internet all the time and are very influenced by it. People listen to other people’s recommendations and are interested in their like and dislikes.

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time your business went social. Get started with a Facebook page or a Twitter account. Focus marketing on that platform, and then move on to another network.

We know it can be quite daunting, but we have some great tips for you, so please contact us at E-Rehab or read other blog posts on the subject if you want to know how and where to get started.

11) Be an Authority Website – Add a Physical Therapy Library and More

If you want to be known as an authority site in physical therapy, add some resources to your site that show potential patients how well-versed you are in the field.

These resources could be reports, research papers, infographics, helpful physical therapy website links, videos and more. They all add credibility and will encourage visitors to buy from you rather than from a competitor.

12) Know Your Site’s Main Purpose

So many businesses forget about this. All they know is they need a website, so they just slap one up without thinking about who the target audience is, how they will use the site, and what their objectives are when visiting your website.

Ask yourself: Who will visit your website?  Why do you have/want a website? What do you want visitors on your site to do?

Spend some time thinking about your answers, then make it your top priority to see that your website accomplishes that goal.

NOTE: Avoid putting your mission on your home page.  Put some additional thought into it.

13) Start Again from Scratch

While starting again is not ideal because it takes a lot of time, money and resources, sometimes a site is so badly designed that you have no other choice.

For example, if you have an old site that was set up in the 90’s, it probably looks old and dated by now. Starting again with brand new technology and a new fresh design, instead of trying to patch up the old site, could be a smart move and pay for itself many times over.

Even if you have zero tech skills, you can still determine your site’s purpose and what you want it to do. Sketch out a quick design, along with a plan of what you would like the site to accomplish, then hire a team of professionals who can make it happen.

[colored_box variation=”steelblue”]

Take Home Message: Hire a Professional

The Internet has changed so much in recent years. What worked well five or 10 years ago doesn’t work now.

If you have been looking after your site yourself, or used an unprofessional friend or relative to create your site, it may well be worth calling on our professional services at E-Rehab to come in on the project. Not only will we bring in fresh new designs, but we’ll also share our experiences, expertise and creativity to improve your website. That is what we do. Not only can we give your site a fresh new look, more importantly, we share our marketing skills to make sure your site converts customers 24 hours a day.

Even just applying one or more of the tips here will have a significant effect on your site and increase your business profits. Simply pick a couple that you can identify with and make the changes to your site.

Don’t forget that at E-Rehab we are always here if you want any website or marketing advice, and we help take physical therapy websites and physical therapy private practice to the next level.[/colored_box]

6 Physical Therapy Marketing Ideas for Your Website

physical-therapy-marketing-ideas
Here are 6 physical therapy marketing ideas for your website

Most practices could do with more patients. That’s where physical therapy marketing comes in and physical therapy websites are an important part of the plan and process. Here are 6 simple tips, that if put in place, could help your clinic’s bottom line.

1. Show Off Your Testimonials
When choosing a new practice, reading testimonials from other patients will confirm to users that they are making a good decision by choosing your clinic.

Place your testimonials on their own page. Consider placing one testimonial on each page as well. Also, highlight them not only on your home page but also give them their own place in your navigation. Photo testimonials are great.

2. The “One Benefit Focus” Technique
What is the ONE super thing about your Clinic that you are offering?

If you offer too much choice then people find it hard to make a decision. So concentrate on just one amazing service or program that shows potential patients why they should choose your practice.

3. Behind the curtain
Some potential patients get nervous about what will happen if they see you for care. If they have never had physical therapy before, they don’t know if it will hurt, what you are going to do to them, and they will draw on past experiences with other healthcare providers that might have been less than satisfactory.

Why not make “first-visit video” showing exactly what will happen once they come in for their initial evaluation, guiding them through the process from the reception desk to scheduling their follow-up visits.

This will be reassuring to them and provides a higher level of customer service which is definitely a great way to separate yourself from the competition.

4. Demo – let them see the “hands-on experience”
Why not create a video giving a demonstration showing how awesome your clinic is? For example, if you have a staff member with an exceptional skill, or a program with unique results, then demonstrate how great they are!

When a potential patient can see end results, then will likely be more inclined to choose your clinic.

5. No Risk
Offer free screenings, next-day appointments or educational events to educate the public. This can offer peace of mind to potential patients before their first regularly scheduled appointment.

6. Positive Passion
Of course, and most importantly: You will always be more successful when the audience can feel your excitement for your practice. Your passion and enthusiasm will shine through and help generate new and retain current patients.
[info_box]Action Items
1. Go back and look at your website.
2. Really try hard to view it from the perspective of a new patient shopping for a PT practice.
3. Then review the items above and update your content to differentiate yourself from the competition.[/info_box]

Physical Therapy Web Design -Making It Boomer Friendly, Part 2

In part 1 of physical therapy web design for boomers, I shared with you a number of points mainly surrounding the content (grammar, organization of your message, etc.).  This time, I will share with you some thoughts on formatting your physical therapy website.  I went for a bullet list format for this post so you can go through things quickly and check off things that you have in place and opportunities for improving the web design of your physical therapy site.

Putting Together Readable Text for Boomers and Seniors

As we age, the eyes become less sensitive to light gradients, fine detail and color.  Therefore, here are some things you should keep in mind when formatting your text for your website:

The Font

  • We recommend a sans serif font.
  • Avoid narrower fonts (also called condensed fonts).

Verdana, Arial, Helvetica (Mac), and Tahoma are all common sans serif fonts that are easier on the eyes.  Google offers a number of other free fonts that can be integrated into your site.  The differences can be subtle between san serif font types but if you want to maintain a unique stylized look, check out Google fonts.

Fonts for easy reading
Fonts for easy reading

Lettering and White Space

  • Make sure you have enough empty space (called white space) so your site doesn’t look too busy.
  • Make sure you have adequate spacing between paragraphs.
  • Make sure that you have enough space around links, banners and buttons so each one is easy to click on with the mouse.

 Font size

  • 12 to 14-point font size is best (note pixels sizes on this blog post are slightly different than font points).

Here is 12-point (16 pixel) type.

Here is 14-point (19 pixel) type.

  • Make it easy for people to change the font size.
Have Tools to Change Fonts
Have Tools to Change Fonts

Font weight

  • Use bold type or a medium weight.
  • For headings, increase the size and weight or use a color. If you use bold for body text, make headings stand out with size or color.
  • For <H> tags, known as heading tags, increase the size of that font and also it’s weight.  Also, consider using a different color.

Lowercase versus Capital Letters

  • Make sure that you use uppercase and lowercase words.  Using all capital letters is much more difficult to read.
  • Italics are harder to read as well so use them sparingly if possible.
  • THIS IS ALL CAPS – IT IS HARDER TO READ FOR MOST.

 Justification (Alignment of text to the left)

Older readers are used to left-justified columns of information.  Left justification means that there is an even left margin and the right margin is uneven.

Color

  • Use high-contrast color combinations, such as black type against a white background. Avoid layering shades of the same color, such as dark blue type on a light blue background. Avoid colors that clash. For example, dark blue on red is very difficult on the eye.
  • Colors that contrast well are good combinations.  Black text on a white background is a great example of high contrast.  Try to avoid harsh color combinations (e.g. red with a dark blue background).
  • Also, avoid yellow and blue and green in close proximity. The differences in these colors are difficult for many older people to see.
  • Group information visually be using good color combinations.

Use Good Navigation, Layout and Contrast to Make Things Easy to Find

website design and navigation
Clear navigation helps with usability

Have you ever watched a child or grandchild use a technology device and marvel at their ability to use it with such ease?   While younger generations may find your physical therapy web design easy to navigate, here are a few steps you can follow to make it easy for boomers as well.  It’s especially important for navigation elements to be consistent, explicit, and predictable.

Web Design and Layout

Consistency will help older adults better understand how to use your website.

  • Have a consistent look and design throughout the website.
  • Use consistent icons, banners and symbols.
  • Have the title of the page in a consistent color, font and site and in the same location across all the pages.
  • Avoid distractions like pop ups

Navigation

  • Make sure the navigation is the same across all the pages.
    • Use bread crumbs when it takes multiple clicks for the viewer to arrive at a desired page.
    • Try to structure your navigation so it doesn’t take more than one click to get to information.
    • Make sure that a “Back to Top” or the “Go Back a Page” browser icons behave predictably.

Menus

Make menus easy to use.

  • If you use pull-down or fly-out menus, make sure they are visible for long enough time for the viewer to take action and click on a link.
  • Do not use menus that require users to slide the mouse and click all in one movement.
  • In the menu below, note that there are pictures of the therapists as well for clarification.  This is called a mega menu system.

Screenshot_48

Links

  • Write descriptive, easy-to-read links that help people predict what will happen next.
  • Make sure your links are easy-to-understand, and people can predict what will be on the next page.
  • Underline links for clarity.
  • Use action words (verbs) when the link is about taking an action.  If a link is meant for the user to take action, use action words (verbs).  For example, “Click Here to Download Your Patient Paperwork”.
  • Make sure the entire sentence is underlined, not just “Click here” in the example above.

Buttons, Banners, Icons

  • Icons and buttons are easier to find when they are large, bright, and in a color that contrasts with the background.
  • Make sure that your physical therapy web design includes buttons, banners, and icons that are bright, have good contrast, are bigger than just body text and it’s obvious that they link to another page.
  • Make sure icons and banners do not require exacting movement for the viewer to click on them.
  • Make sure they are a different color than surrounding text and images.
  • If a bullet in a list is a link, make sure the text that follows the bullet is also a link and goes to the same target web page.

Mouse Functions

  • Use single mouse clicks to access information.  Use a single mouse click to allow the viewer to take action.

Scrolling

  • Avoid the scrolling marquee text.
  • Avoid any horizontal scrolling.
  • Limit vertical scrolling.
  • Keep key information above the bottom of a web page in a 1024 x 768 resolution monitor.

Search

  • Use a search box if your website has pages that are greater than 2-3 clicks deep
  • Use a search box as an alternate to viewers clicking through your navigation.
  • Keep the search box in the same position across all of your pages.
  • Try to offer alternatives for misspellings when people are using your search function.

Your Practice Contact Information

Contact information at the top
Contact information at the top
  •  Have your contact information present on all of your pages (name, address, phone number).  Placing it at the top right of your web page and in your footer, is a common convention.
  • Include your office hours on your home page and contact pages.
  • Include your contact information on your Location/Map page if possible.

Audio, Video, Rich Media

  • It’s good practice to use video (with audio for those that are visually impaired) and still pictures to complement text on a page.  When you share the same information in different formats, it can help the viewer better retain the information.
  • Avoid the use of Flash-it’s not supported at this time by Apple mobile and pad devices.
  • Use mobile-friendly video and slideshow elements.

 Photos and Graphics

 Illustrations and photographs

  • Illustrations and photos should support the text to enhance understand.  Using them solely for decoration can be a distraction.
  • If your physical therapy audience is primarily seniors or boomers, make sure you incorporate pictures of seniors/boomers into your message.
  • Include captions whenever possible.  It’s been proven that captions are read by more viewers than any other part of your website.

Video

  • Use short videos (2-3 minutes max) to get your message across and decrease download times.  Some may still be using dialup Internet access.
  • Make sure it’s easy to understand how to play the video and adjust the volume.
  • For important video, include a transcription of the message.
[info_box]

Wrapping It All Up: Using Your Physical Therapy Website Should Be A Fast, Easy And Enjoyable Experience

By following the recommendations above and in our Part 1 blog post, you can make sure your patients get the information they need to have a better experience at your practice. If possible, ask your patients if they visited your website and seek out feedback to improve the user experience. Open up your website for a few boomers at your practice and watch them use it. Doing so could be very helpful in recognizing opportunities for improvements. It’s important to realize that your website user experience is a small but significant part of clinical communication. Baby boomers and seniors need physical therapy services more than ever and are using the web more too. Good physical therapy web design and content development can go a long way to enhance your customer service and efficiency. [/info_box]

Making Physical Therapy Websites Boomer Friendly – Part 1

Physical Therapy Web Design and Seniors
Physical Therapy Web Design and Seniors

This post offers guidelines that can help you create websites that work well for older adults, the fastest-growing group of Internet users. Besides sending and receiving email, older adults also routinely search for health information.  As the baby boomers age, the number of older adults using the Net will continue to grow.

Four Key Points to Consider During Physical Therapy Website Design

[info_box]Action Items

  • Keep it Organized-Break information into small, manageable sections.
  • Make sure you write for senior viewers too.
  • Number each step and give clear instructions.
  • Minimize the use of medical terms and technical jargon.
[/info_box]

1. Organizing Web Information for Older Adults

Many older adults have had little training in the use of computers and the Internet and are unfamiliar with the way information on websites is organized. In addition, changes in working memory may affect their ability to simultaneously grasp, retain, and manage new information. Declines in perceptual speed can increase the time it takes to process information. A website with a simple design, uncluttered layout, clear labels, and short sections of information can make it easier for older adults to select content, absorb and retain what they read, and avoid information overload.

Make it clear how the information on the website is organized. 

Users should easily be able to determine what information your site offers and how it is organized. They should be able to figure out a starting point and predict what type of information a link will lead them to. It should also be clear how they can find more information as well as how to return to previously visited pages.

Keep the website structure simple and straightforward.

A broad and shallow site hierarchy reduces complexity and makes it easier for visitors to learn how information is organized.

Break information into short sections.

Giving people a small amount of content at one time makes it easier for them to grasp and recall information.

Write a clear, informative heading for each section.

Clear headings give people anchors on the page and help them select desired content. For example, headings can be:

Topics

  • Back Exercises
  • Knee Conditions
  • Rehabilitation After Hip Replacement

Action Verbs (“ing” words)

  • Caring for Stroke Patients
  • Making Your First Physical Therapy Appointment

Questions

  • How do physical therapists help with back pain?
  • What causes arthritis?

Put key information first.

The most important information should be located where people can find it most easily—at the top of the website and at the top of a web page.

Put the sections in logical order: Think about how older adults might look for information.

Provide a site map: Make sure your sitemap includes every page.

2. Writing Online Text for Older Adults

Age-related changes in text comprehension can make it harder for older adults to understand written material that is not expressed in a straightforward or concrete manner. Changes in attentional functioning may make it more difficult for older people to stay focused on specific information and eliminate distractions. Many older adults may be unfamiliar with technical language and jargon. To keep the text senior friendly:

1. Limit the number of points you make.
Stick to one to five messages in each section. Keeping your information brief can make it easier for web users to stay focused.

2. Put the key message first.
Putting the main message at the beginning ensures that your website visitors will see it. 

3. Keep paragraphs and sentences short.
Paragraphs should express one main idea. Sentences should be simple and straightforward. 

4. Write in the active voice.
The active voice puts the focus on people and actions.

 

Things to Avoid and Some Possible Alternatives

Avoid: Prescription medicines are taken by many older adults.

Use instead: Many older adults take prescription medicines.

Write in the positive.
Be especially aware of words that have negative meaning such as “forget,” “until,” and “unless.” Instead of combining them with “not,” rewrite the sentence with a positive word.

Avoid: Don’t forget to take your medicine.

Use instead: Remember to take your medicine.

Explain clearly; don’t make people guess what you mean. 

Avoid: Restaurants that offer senior discounts may be a good choice for older adults who like to eat out.

Use instead:  If you like to eat out, go to restaurants that offer senior discounts.

Address your web users by using “you.” A direct instruction like “Exercise every day” is one way of writing for your web users, but not every message you want to give is such a direct instruction.

Avoid: No matter where a person is, a sudden fall can be startling and upsetting. If someone falls, that person should stay as calm as possible.

Use instead:  Whether you’re at home or somewhere else, a sudden fall can be startling and upsetting. If you do fall, stay as calm as possible.

Choose words your web users know. Minimize jargon and technical terms. Write in simple language. For example, to describe a place to exchange messages with other older adults on a website:

Avoid: Online Community

Use instead: Communicate with others online

3. Make Sure Instructions “Can’t” be Misunderstood

Give specific instructions. These examples tell people exactly what to do:

  • Repeat the exercise 10 times.
  • Hold the stretch for 20 seconds.
  • Exercise twice each day.

If the instructions have more than one step, number them.

How To Do a Calf Stretch

  1. Sit securely toward the edge of a sturdy, armless chair.
  2. Stretch your legs out in front of you.
  3. With your heels on the floor, bend your ankles to point toes toward you.
  4. [The steps would continue like this.]

4. Avoid Medical Jargon and Unfamiliar Terms

Define unfamiliar terms. If you need to use a term that most older adults do not know, define it when you use it.

Active Range of Motion (AROM) – the patient lifts or moves a body part through range of motion against gravity.
Isometrics – muscle contraction without joint movement.

Provide summary information. Summarizing information reinforces it and helps with recall. If you repeat information at different places in your site, make sure the messages are consistent.

[note_box]Baby Boomers are big consumers of physical therapist directed services. It makes good sense to consider your audience when putting together your physical therapy web design and development plan.[/note_box]