All parents want the best for their children. From the safest car seats to the most nutritious snacks, parents scrutinize every option before making a decision. Choosing a pediatric doctor or hospital is no exception. In fact, selecting a healthcare provider for their kids is one of the most important decisions a parent will make. This is the reason your pediatric website features make you different from the rest of the crowd.
But, how can you make your website stand out and turn parents into patients? We’ve got you covered. Take a look at our 5 must-have pediatric website features.
1. Aesthetic and UX: One of the Most Important Pedriatic Website Features
These two elements often go hand-in-hand to make a good first impression. Better user experience (UX) is one of the best pediatric website features that helps to get ranked on Google. A site that’s easy on the eyes will offer a better user experience (UX). Can parents easily find what they’re looking for? A large majority of traffic will come from parents of kids who are facing a new or chronic health issue. They may be flustered and stressed. Do they care about your hospital’s fundraising stats? Likely not. What they need up front is easy navigation—to find specialists, departments, contact information, or appointment booking. Keep these tips in mind to help (not hinder) your visitors:
- The site should be fast-loading
- Include a clear navigation bar at the top of the page
- Drop-down menus should be concise, with only a few choices
- Don’t bog down pages with unattractive stock photos and filler text
- Include photos of actual staff and patients
2. Mobile-friendly design
This feature piggy-backs off of strong aesthetic and positive UX. Considering that mobile searches now outnumber desktop searches, a lot of traffic is visiting via their phone. It is one of the most crucial pediatric website features you need to consider. Ensure that your hospital’s website is optimized for mobile. It may be the case that new patients are accessing your site on-the-go, en route, or upon arrival. Department directories, central contact information, and maps should be easy to find and use, even on a smaller screen.
3. Educational content
Google’s daily health-related searches total 70,000 per minute. That’s over 1 billion health questions every single day. No doubt many of those searchers are parents. Having educational content is another one of the most potential pediatric website features. If your pediatric website offers helpful educational content, those parents will likely return the next time they have a question. When they finally do need to visit a doctor or hospital, your organization has already established a rapport with the family as a trusted source. Consider incorporating these elements in your healthcare information:
- Make the content searchable from the homepage
- A balance of both videos and articles
- Interviews with doctors or patients
4. Clear communication
Your pediatric website may be part of the medical world, but your site visitors are not. Medical jargon and complex sentences are best limited to academic journals. Hiring medical background copywriters means they know how to write about health topics in a way that connects with your audience. Try to aim for a reading level of Grade 8 or lower. Having pages available in multiple languages can also be invaluable to a large section of the population who don’t speak English as their first language. Due to it’s potential, it’s another one of the significant pediatric website features that you should keep in mind when publishing content on your pediatric website. At The Med Writers, we offer translation services for Spanish to English or English to Spanish and looking forward to adding more translation services in near future.
5. Rankings and reviews
Reviews are an inevitable part of having an online presence. But this can work to your advantage. A UnitedHealthcare survey recently found that 37% of consumers use the internet to comparison-shop for healthcare services. Good reviews can go a long way in garnering new patients, so make sure you have a process in place to collect them. And don’t underestimate awards and rankings! They may not be what your visitors came for, but once they’ve found what they need on your well-designed homepage, they may keep exploring. Your organization’s accolades can be extremely persuasive, especially for comparison shoppers. That’s why having good reviews & customer satisfaction recognitions are one of the most persuasive pediatric website features.
All these pediatric website features will work for you together if you can maintain them properly. Our skilled copywriters are ready to optimize your pediatric website content—from planning to writing and editing. Contact us to discuss your next project!