medical web design usability issues

Over the last several weeks we’ve been studying various medical web designs including family physicians, ob/gyn, plastic surgeons, orthopaedics, and  more. One of the most remarkable things we’ve found is the lack of concern for usability in the design. Website usability can be defined as the measure of how usable a website is. By usable, we mean, how easily visitors are able to find what they are seeking or perform the tasks they’re wishing to do. Usability is the most important factor in ROI. It’s not aesthetics or fancy copy. Usability is what most directly impacts the bottom line. 

For some unknown reason, firms that specialize in medical website design tend to throw out usability. I don’t know why. My only guess is that they do so much to please the client, that they actually forget about the end user. However, it is our view at Stone Soup that keeping the end user in mind is what our clients really want. With family practice websites, we don’t want to create a website that appeals to doctors. We want to create a website that appeals to patients. I think many firms lose that focus since the doctors are the ones paying the bills. However, I think it’s our duty as professionals to assert our knowledge and understanding of the actual users and make sure they’re the focus of any new design or redesign. When we do this, we gain the trust of our clients. And our clients become more successful because of it.

How much should you pay for a custom medical spa website?

Question: how much do you want to pay, or think you should pay for a completely custom, professionally designed medspa website from Stone Soup? Write down or make a mental note of your answer because it might change when this question is asked again later.

Consider this hypothetical situation: Stone Soup just provided you with a new, impressive, professionally designed medical spa website that has been receiving online visitors for the past month. When asked how your new clients found you, 15% (a conservative number) said online. At an average of $100 a visit (if your average visit is higher or lower, by all means adjust accordingly), consider how many of these “I found you online!” clients you would need to attract to pay for your website.

This is an important consideration because it is your return on investment (ROI). In other words, the number of new patients who found your practice online and made the decision to pay for your services based on your professionally designed website. Such clients would not be walking through your front door unless you had hired Stone Soup. Take this a step further and you can contemplate how many additional clients you will receive based on the positive recommendations of your new patients who found you online.

Another factor to consider is time. Depending on the purchase price of your professional website in conjunction with the ROI, your investment could have paid for itself and be turning a profit in the matter of a couple of months. However, even if you knew it would take over a year to be in the green, think about how priceless your site is to the happy clientele who would not have found you otherwise.

Here’s that question again. How much do you want to pay, or think you should pay for a professionally designed medspa website from Stone Soup? Regardless of the exact number, one can assume that it is enough to pay for a professional medical spa website!

5 Steps for Starting a Medical Practice Website

If you own or are part of a family practice that does not have a website, learn why you don’t want to waste any more time – now is the time to start one! Starting a medical website may be easier than you expect, especially with the assistance of Stone Soup. By following these 5 steps, you can get your family practice website up and running in no time.

Step 1: Plan

A failure to plan is a plan to fail so the first step is to start brainstorming. Visit other family practice websites and make note of designs you like and don’t like, and why. If you don’t already have a logo and slogan, consider what they may be. Think about how many pages you want your medical website to contain, and what information about your practice you want to share with the online community. Also decide if you want to include videos, host a medical blog or forum, and if you want to make downloads available to visitors (i.e. new patient forms). And last but not least, figure out how much money you want to spend and set a budget.

Step 2: Purchase a domain name

If you don’t currently have a website, now you need to purchase your domain name (URL). It’s recommended that you have 2-3 additional choices in case your first pick is not available. Then provide us with your selections. Stone Soup also provides hosting and complete custom design work so we can assist you in completing steps 2 through 4 in one fell swoop.

Step 3: Acquire Hosting

If for some reason we don’t fit your hosting needs (Stone Soup specializes in custom medical website design and hosting and can exceed your needs), a plethora of options are available per your preference.

Step 4: Obtain a design

If you are not a medical website design expert, then it is time to hire Stone Soup, as we can create a custom site that is effective and fits within your budget. If you found a couple of websites during step 1 that you like, be sure to mention these as an emphasis of what you want your family practice website to look like and include.

Step 5: Upload and test

Finally! Your hard work is about to come to fruition as you see your family practice website online and “live” for the first time! If you arranged hosting with a company other than Stone Soup, it is important to test your site. Once your files are uploaded, type in your domain name (URL) and begin testing. In other words, start clicking on every link to make sure all the pages appear exactly how you want them to. Read all of the content thoroughly to catch any errors. Test all applications, videos, forums, etc. that your site contains to ensure everything is working as it should. If this seems like overkill to you, just remember that nothing raises questions about medical competence than a family practice website that is questionably set up!