As a hearing professional, you have a lot on your plate—especially now. Of course, your top priority is still to provide the best possible care for your patients. You are also likely looking to grow your practice and attract new patients. As the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic continues and people continue to learn how to navigate the new “normal,” your strategies for finding and serving patients may be a bit different from the tactics that worked in the past.
One of the most obvious changes is that virtual options are now more important than ever before. In fact, they are not only important; they are crucial. These virtual options to offer your patients may include a website for your practice, social media pages, and online reviews. You may be focusing more on finding new patients online through targeted ads. And perhaps most important for your patients, you may be offering telehealth and eCommerce options that allow them to receive the care, services, and products they need from their home.
When considering virtual options, it can be all too easy to look at design as an added expense. However, you should consider it an investment in your practice and your patients. With many people limiting their contact with others—particularly if you serve high-risk communities like the elderly—your business is not the only one stepping up their game online. The truth is that customers have multiple options, so you need to make yours the best one.
One way to help your practice come out on top is to invest in the design of your website. Patients prefer options that are sleek, modern, and accessible. If your website is outdated, difficult to navigate, or does not function properly on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, you may lose potential patients before they even get to know who you are and what you offer.
The key is a responsive website—which means that your website design and formatting responds to the device the website visitor is using, whether it is a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. This ensures that your website functions optimally, no matter how the potential patient accesses it. Responsive websites can also make sure that the most important information, including your phone number, location, and other contact methods, are presented prominently and clearly.
Once you have a responsive website, along with other virtual options like telehealth and eCommerce, is your work done? No! To ensure that you continue to bring your patients the best possible online experience, you need to continually reevaluate your online offerings and their performance. Do patients tend to spend a long time on certain pages? If so, make more like them! Do they hit the “back” button quickly on other pages? That page might not be presented optimally. Continue to make certain that it is easy for patients to access telehealth appointments and your eCommerce offerings. And of course, website design trends change every few years as well, so you cannot rest on your laurels for too long.
In a time when virtual options are essential, you can continue to grow your practice by prioritizing your online presence and offerings. At AudiolgyPlus, we are dedicated to providing you with comprehensive, streamlined services that make it easy for you to upgrade your practice’s virtual options. To learn more about what we offer and how our services can help your business grow, we invite you to contact us today.
