You have probably already been told that having a fully functioning website is of the utmost importance for any physical therapy clinic these days, but perhaps you are not aware of why it is so important. The simple answer is that your website, if created appropriately, can help to convert prospective patients into actual paying patients. This is because your website acts as a sale funnel. Let's take a look at how this actually works.
In the world of internet marketing, when we talk about a funnel we are talking about the process involved where we identify potential customers (patients) and then encourage them to buy our product by engaging with them and building a level of trust with them.
There are three steps to converting your prospects into patients via your website. The first is to drive traffic towards your website. This can be done by listing your practice on the likes of Google, Bing and Yahoo. Search engines are an integral part of the process which is why SEO is so important for your practice if it is to succeed. If you are not appearing in search results then you are going to have difficulty in attracting new patients.
Once traffic is driven towards your practice's website you must ensure that it is a good website which has the ability to convert leads into sales. Not only should the website be pleasing to look at, but it should be user friendly and have a very clear call to action. What is it you want potential patients to do? For example, you might want to encourage them to call your physiotherapy practice for more information or perhaps sign up to your newsletter. Whatever your preferred outcome, make sure that the website is prompting all visitors to perform that action.
Finally, you will want to make sure that your staff are fully trained and comfortable with the techniques that can be used to convert an enquiry from a prospect into a regular patient. This could mean training them in dealing with phone enquiries, or even just responding to emails. Once a prospect gets in touch with you they are almost a patient, all it takes is that little extra push from you or your staff.
If you feel as though you are following the steps outlined above and yet your leads are just not converting, then there is likely to be some reason behind it. It is important that you identify the issue as soon as possible so that you can work on rectifying it. These are some of the most common reasons why your prospects are just not converting.
Your Website Has No Clear Call to Action – As we discussed above, you need your website to have a clear call to action otherwise your visitors may not know where to go next and tey will end up navigating off site, never to be heard from again.
You Are Not Offering A Solution – When prospects land on your website for the first time, they do not want a pushy sales pitch, they want to know how you are going to solve their problem. That means that your website needs to contain relevant and informative content that is going to show prospective patients that you understand the problem they are experiencing at the moment and that you have the knowledge and the expertise to be able to offer them a solution to that problem.
Your Landing Page Is Just Too Busy – Another common reason why prospects may not be converting is that your landing page could be far too busy. If the page is overcrowded and poorly designed then it is really going to put people off using your practice. Keep your pages clean and simple. First impressions are everything – so make it count.
With growing numbers of people looking to solve their health care needs online it has become more important for physical therapists to not only have a website, but one which is going to convert prospects into patients. PatientSites.com can help you to create the ultimate website for your practice, so why not get in touch today for more information.