SOURCE: Aurora Information Technology, Inc.
COLD SPRING, NY–(Marketwire – August 10, 2010) – Though it sounds strange enough, the “stickiness” of your medical website is critical to its ultimate success. It is the way you get visitors to your site, keep them there and get them to return over and over. “Your website needs to make a good impression in order for your potential patients to spend more than 30 seconds on it,” said Daniel Gilbert, CEO of Aurora Information Technology (Aurora IT), a medical website design and physician marketing company based in Cold Spring, New York.
“The challenges in medical website marketing are endless,” explains Gilbert. “First, you have to build your site and get traffic to it. Then you have to keep them there and not click away after a few seconds thinking there is nothing there for them. Stickiness is what makes visitors into patients.”
And how is “stickiness” accomplished? Gilbert believes a good Content Management System (CMS) is vital, such as the Bitrix Site Manager that they employ in their website designs. Aurora IT is a Certified Gold Bitrix Partner and they stand behind the offerings of the product to improve a site’s traffic. “Bitrix CMS includes a series of building blocks that perform certain functions, such as blogs, calendars, newsletters, etc.,” said Gilbert, “But the Bitrix CMS goes a step beyond with features and functions that can make your medical website sticky, interactive and functional.”
Gilbert offers these CMS offering basics and value-added extras that can optimize your website’s stickiness and make it attractive to current and future patients:
Content: Relevant and updated content is the most important factor in attracting visitors. For doctors, medical condition, treatment and practice information communicate value to your visitors.
Photo Gallery: People in search of medical information are visual creatures and appreciate quality photographs, especially before and after photos and pictures of conditions and outcomes. Be sure not to have too many graphics or photos that are heavy and slow to load because most patients are not patient.
Social Networking: In addition to Facebook or Twitter, your medical website can feature social networking via forums and message boards that allow your visitors to make contributions to the site by providing comments and participating in discussions. Building community is excellent marketing.
Newsletters: Newsletters bring return visitors and are an effective form of e-marketing. They should contain useful, relevant information as well as possible promotions. Be sure to have visitors opt-in and allow them to unsubscribe easily or you will damage your reputation.
Events Calendar: Put information seminars, patient related events, workshops and more on an event calendar. Your visitors will see the value-add and you will drive more traffic not only to your site but also to your practice.
Media Player: Video and audio give your patients a dynamic, interactive experience. You can feature promotions, provide tutorials and introduce your practice to patients. The engaging nature of video and audio encourages users to spend more time on a page and help you “upsell,” because these clips can relay more essential information in less time.
“Website stickiness gets potential patients to stay and explore everything relevant to them in your website,” concluded Gilbert. “It incites them to read, interact, sign up, give feedback, and transform them from a casual surfer into a repeat visitor and future patient.”
Contact:
Aurora Information Technology, Inc.
Medical Website Design and Medical Marketing
Ph: 914-591-7236
http://www.aurora-it.us
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