First up, what kind of website are you after? Here’s some parameters to help guide your decision.
- Your target audience – are you focused on connecting with your local community? Or do you want to set up a digital platform to mostly collaborate with other allied health professionals? Or do you want to attract telehealth patients from across Australia? These factors will help you to decide how big or small, or complex or simple you want to go with your website.
- Your business capabilities – do you have staff who need to login to the back end? Or have you considered how your website will integrate with your practice management software? Or perhaps you’re looking for a simple website with limited functionality since you only want to share your bio and contact details? Factor these decisions into the very start of your web build (or web refresh).
- Ease of use – regardless of how complex your website needs to be at the back end, make sure it is super simple to use. Again, this requires you to go back to your target audience to frame your decision making around your visitors. Put yourself in their shoes (pardon the pun) and consider their user experience. What is the first step they are likely to take when they arrive at your website? Is your site mobile responsive? How easily can visitors access critical information? Don’t be afraid to trial test landing pages with trusted contacts for feedback.
- Price range – Don’t be tricked into opting for a cheaper upfront cost to only later be stung with higher monthly fees. Look into the overall costs involved in your website’s creation and its ongoing presence. Consider hosting costs, domain name costs, email integration, pop up messages; it all stacks up.
After you have reflected on your Practice Management Software of choice (and considered which web platforms are most suited to this), a good first port of call is to look at the self-build sites. Popular self-build websites include WIX, WordPress, Squarespace and more. These types of platforms feature drag and drop functionalities, along with editable templates, which means you can single-handledly build your own website without needing to engage a professional firm.
However, if you would rather have a website built (or refreshed) for you, a google search in your local area will bring up plenty of web designers, or you may find your future web designer on a platform such as UpWork.
Whichever path you opt to take, ensure:
- Your branding is consistent. Fonts, colours and design elements are all part of your broader brand, and they must be consistent throughout your website. Remember to also choose legible fonts and maintain a good font size for easy reading. Use font variations sparingly for emphasis (such as bold, italic and so forth).
- Your values shine through. Don’t forget to reflect on your personal or professional values. Make sure these shine through your written content. This is what makes your business or personal brand unique.
- Keep each web page action-oriented. Known as a ‘Call to Action’, each page of your website should lead your visitor to a clearly identified next step, such as ‘Book now’, or ‘Contact us’.
Next month in this series, we delve deeper into the importance of Google and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) when you market yourself (or your business) online.
