As a healthcare practitioner, you still may feel wary of diving into the digital marketing world due to fear of not abiding with healthcare regulations. However, this can leave you way behind in healthcare marketing and missing out on boundless opportunities with patient leads as:

• Patients are now much more tech-savvy and use the internet to search hospitals and healthcare practitioners for healthcare services
• Patients also perceive healthcare practitioners to be up-to-date with techniques and procedures through the information that they source on your website and internet

Astoundingly though, healthcare is the second most searched for service online and over 80% of these searches are done using mobile devices!

Pretty impressive statistics for a healthcare practitioner and one not to ignore, and one you shouldn’t ignore in your healthcare marketing endeavours.

Having a visually appealing website is certainly important; however, delivering great results is even more important in getting more patient leads.

Firstly, what does a responsive website mean?

Responsive design requires you to have a website that is coded to adapt to all screen sizes, no matter what the device the website is being displayed on. This makes it easier for your patient to read and navigate the content with minimal resizing, zooming and scrolling.

So how can a responsive website get you more patient leads?

1. Mobile usage is exploding
   According to Google’s Think Insights study, about one-third of patients use mobile devices or tablets on a daily basis for research and/or to book appointments. This is a fair amount of missed opportunities.
2. Positive user experience is a must
   According to the same Google’s Think Insights study on mobile, if a user lands on your mobile website and is frustrated or doesn’t see what they are looking for, there’s a 61% chance they will leave immediately and go to another website (most likely a competitor). It’s also said that if they have a positive experience with your mobile website, a user is 67% more likely to buy a product or use a service.
3. Be viewed by a higher number of patients
   As the statistics above demonstrate, with the exploding rate of mobile web usage compared to desktop usage, it makes sense for healthcare practitioners to consider the benefits of transitioning to a responsive website design.
4. Builds your reputation
   Having a responsive website will build your reputation by not only reaching a higher number of patients but other healthcare practitioners finding information on you. A lot of healthcare practitioners access their mobile devices in the office to find information for their patients.
5. Partnering with experts
   Being a healthcare practitioner, you didn’t study marketing or business. You spent all those years studying to take care of patients and that is what you love and do best. You may also feel uncomfortable talking about yourself and promoting what you do.
    
   If the lack of marketing experience, feeling uncomfortable or fear of non-compliance with healthcare regulations is holding you back from moving digitally forward with your website, there are marketing agencies that deal specifically in the healthcare industry and healthcare marketing. They will work closely with you to create marketing strategies and a web strategy (i.e. using inbound marketing strategies) to increase patient visibility and patient reach and conversion.

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The Author

Bernadette Beach

Bernadette Beach is the Director of Indigo Medical Consulting Services; specialising in business solutions, recruitment/HR and healthcare marketing. Bernadette has worked with specialists, surgeons and other healthcare professionals for over 20 years providing business and marketing expertise.