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5Simple Steps to Creating a WebsiteYour Patients Will Love

Table of ContentsHaving a Website Matters. 3Keep It Fresh. 5Stay Flexible. 7Make It Actionable.8Keep It Simple and Reassuring.9Put Yourself Out There. 11Also from Kareo. 142

Having a Website MattersHaving a Website MattersYou can’t compete in the digital age without being digital.If you don’t have a website, now is the time to get started. If you have an old, outdated website, it’s time for you too.Your website is like a storefront. It’s the digital representation of your practice and, for many, it will be the firstinteraction they have with you. A Pew Research study showed that 87% of US adults use the Internet and 72% lookfor health information online. And, according to Google, 77% of patients used a web search before booking anappointment. If you don’t have a meaningful online presence that engages patients—and potential patients—youcould be missing out on an opportunity to strengthen and grow your business.There are five ways to ensure your website provides patients with a meaningful online experience:1.Keep it fresh.2.Stay flexible.3.Make it actionable.4. Be simple and reassuring.5.Put yourself out there.Using these five rules as an outline, this guide will walk you through the process of planning and implementingyour website and patient portal.THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GET STARTED Create a reasonable budget for the project. Expect the cost of a new website to start at about 5,000, andannual hosting, updates, and maintenance to start at 1,000. The cost is likely to increase if you choose to addmore advanced features. Select a web design vendor with medical practice experience. One great way to find a vendor is to look atmedical practice websites online and identify the ones you like the most. You can do a search for award winningmedical practice websites or search for other practices in your specialty. When you find ones you like, see ifthey list the designer.www.kareo.com3

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar WebsiteTHINGS YOUR VENDOR CAN HELP YOU DOWeek 1Develop a project calendar like the one below for the creation and launch of your site. It should includeeverything from your kickoff meeting through the go-live date for the site. Timeframes can vary widelydepending on the site’s complexity, but expect to commit 3–6 months. Choose a web host. Chose and secure a domain name. Identify keywords and phrases. Develop your site map and content.Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Content Writing4444Design Concepts44Build Architecture4444Kickoff4Set goals & Objectives4Website Design4 Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 94444Week 10Week 11 Week 12Purchase Hosting44Website Review/Approval44Set Up Google Analytics4Start Website Promotion4Launch4Like what you read? Look for these buttons to share content with others!

Keep It FreshKeep It FreshThe days of static websites are long gone—or should be.Today, the best idea is to use a content management system (CMS) that enables you to have much more controlover your site and easily make updates to keep the site interesting, engaging, and dynamic. This also helps withsearch engine optimization (SEO), which is an important way to make your site visible to online search engines.You have a lot of options today for website development, but be cautious. Medical practice websites can be morecomplicated than the average small business site. Don’t take a do it yourself attitude here. It’s worth paying fora vendor that specializes in medical practice site creation. You can keep costs down by choosing prefab designelements and standard features.GET THE MOST FROM YOUR CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMMake sure the partner you choose offers you a site that is built using a CMS, which may help you save money on theback end. A reliable partner can create the perfect site for your practice with the look and feel you want and the rightcontent to get you started. It can also provide some best practice advice and guidelines. In addition, some offer additional services, such as physician-vetted, patient education and tools like BMI calculators. Don’t try to go “free” ona new website. This is a place where it is worth a little investment, and there are many companies that offer affordable options for healthcare providers.Once your site is in place, you can step in and manage the updating or addition of new content. When you do,keep these best practices in mind:1.Make sure more than one person can make changes, so necessary changes can happeneven if someone is on vacation.2.Develop a calendar that lays out when you’ll make updates and add new content.Dynamic content helps with your SEO and engages patients.3.Know the standards for your site and stick to them (i.e., photo types and sizes, fonts, etc.).Make sure all of your changes are consistent.www.kareo.com5

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar WebsiteMAXIMIZE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATIONSite NavigationKeep your navigation easy witha simple hierarchy and base thenavigation on your homepage(also called the root page). Here’sa brief example:Home PageAbout UsAccording to the Google SEO Starter Guide, SEO affects only organic search results, not paid or sponsored results.For most small practices, this is important because you may not have the budget for paid advertising online. Yourwebsite vendor can help with most of the SEO strategies recommended by Google to help optimize SEO. Create unique, accurate page titles. Use the description meta tag (a short summary of the page contents). Have simple-to-understand URLs that use words (not complex numeric structures). Make your site easy to navigate. Offer quality content and services—the more relevant and interesting, the better your search results.News & EventsPatient ResourcesServicesContact Us -Make it easy to read (describe your practice in easy to understand language).-Stay focused on the topic.-Write for your audience not the search engines.-Regularly create new, fresh content.Optimize the use of images (help people imagine what being a patient feels like in your office).The other important factor you need to consider is designing your website to increase local SEO and attract localbusiness. You want to reach and engage your community to grow your practice—not reach people 3,000 milesaway! Local optimization can help you get found in local searches (i.e., Pediatrician, Iowa City). Make sure that youand your vendor cover these additional SEO tasks when setting up your site:6 Include your city name along with top keywords in website content (i.e., We are pediatricians in Iowa City). Include your full address on every page of your website (not just the contact us page) and make sure it is exactlythe same everywhere (same words, punctuation, etc.). It needs to be consistent. Link your Google Maps listing to your website.Like what you read? Use this button to share content with others!

Stay FlexibleStay FlexibleTechnology is always changing so be sure that your site is optimized for tablets and smartphones. As smartphoneusage grows, having a site optimized for mobile becomes more and more critical. A recent Manhattan Researchstudy showed that 38% of smartphone users say their device was “essential” for finding health and medicalinformation.A Pew Research Internet Project looked more broadly at cell phone and smartphone usage:90% of adults own a cell phone.58% own a smartphone.42% own a tablet.More of your patients than you think are using their smartphones and other devices to search online, makeplans, and get reminders.In fact, not only should your site be optimized for mobile but you should offer optionslike text reminders though a service like Demandforce. A study published by Informa Telecoms & Media indicatedthat 95% of people read text messages within 15 minutes of receiving them.According to a survey conducted by Google and Nielsen, today’s consumers use mobile devices to shop forproducts and services, including healthcare. The following survey highlights illustrate this shift toward using mobiledevices for research and decision making.15 Number of hours consumers spend per week researching on smartphones (of that, more than seven hoursis spent on mobile web, not using an app).93% of people who use mobile to do research complete a purchase of a product or service.59% of consumers visited a business website on their mobile device.74% searched on mobile using a search engine and 41% used a search engine for searches related to health.Mobile Health AppsAre Big BusinessBoth patients and clinicians areusing mHealth apps on theirsmartphones and otherdevices. There are tens ofthousands of these apps, andthe Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation says this numberwill grow by 25% a year. Theirresearch also shows that by 20181.7 billion people worldwide willdownload a health app.As patients think of healthcare more like other consumer services, it is important to be aware of changing trendsin the way patients search for services and expect to be contacted.www.kareo.com7

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar WebsiteMake It ActionableEmploy tools and links that enable patients to take immediate action, such as requestingan appointment, completing forms, and accessing health information on your patient portal.Older Patients and the NetMany providers and their staffworry that patients who areolder than 65 won’t be able toengage online either throughpatient portals or secure email.The latest data from the PewResearch Internet Projectsuggest otherwise—technologyadoption is steadily increasingamong this group. 77% of seniors owna cell phoneOffering online forms is another way to offer a value added service to your patients. It is so much nicer todownload a form, fill it out, and bring it with you at your convenience. Plus, if you use PDFs that can be completedelectronically, they are more legible for your staff. Just remember, these forms include protected healthinformation so should not be sent through unsecured email.Ideally, it is integrated with your practiceThe biggest patient-centric, actionable feature is your patient portal.management and EHR software so that it populates with up-to-date health information and allows patients to seebilling histories and make payments.Your portal should provide secure access to: 59% of seniors usethe Internet Clinical summaries 71% of seniors who use theInternet go online daily Medications, laboratories, and problems Education and care plans 46% of online seniors usesocial networking sites Secure email/messaging Prescription refill requests Online statements and payments Downloadable medical chartsIn addition, seniors are thefastest-growing group of socialmedia users. Don’t count themout! They may be some of yourmost likely website and portalvisitors.8The ability to book appointments online is a great feature. You may be able to add this featureto the website or it could be offered in your patient portal. One simple solution is to use apartner like ZocDoc to provide 24/7 access to online appointment scheduling both on your siteand through the ZocDoc website, where your practice can be found by new patients.Like what you read? Use this button to share content with others!