You may have noticed we have had a few changes on our website, with the changes we thought it may be beneficial to post a blog on our top tips on creating or updating a new website for your clinic!
- Know what you want – first things first, decide the look, feel and purpose of the website. What do you want to get out of it? What websites do you like the look of already? The more research you can gain the better.
- Picking the right developer – unless you are fluent in coding, hosting and development of a website, it may be best to hire a website developer. These can be from an agency or freelancers and will help you in setting it up and ensuring its runs fluently. It’s important to look at the work the website developer has done beforehand, for example if you are looking at building a new clinic website and they have made them before, perfect!
- Choose a Content Management System (CMS) you can understand – when the website is being built it will be built on what is called a Content Management System (CMS). This is where you will upload images, text, forms etc. If you want to be able to add your own updates onto the sites, its important you understand how this works. By choosing an easier format this can save time and ensure the site is always looking professional. Platforms such as WordPress, Joomla and Serendipty are all effective yet easy platforms to get your head around.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)– a term used widely in marketing but should also be kept on the radar regardless of your department, especially if you are providing content for the site. SEO short for Search Engine Optimization is achieved by using keywords relating to your business to get views on your site, which should result in sales! SEO is a vast subject but it’s important you understand this to ensure it is being used throughout your site to keep it relevant and ranking well. Your website developer or outsourced SEO agencies can help along with lots of online blogs on how to optimize your site, examples include MOZ, Google Garage and Yoast.
Mobile Friendly – more than half of websites are visited using a mobile, its important to make sure your website can be used on all platforms effectively and efficiently.- Measure – once your site is up and running you need to measure it. By creating weekly and monthly reports using analytic systems such as Google Analytics and SEMrush you can monitor just how well your site is doing, how many people are viewing it, how fast its working, any broken images, what pages are doing well and what pages aren’t. From this you can continually improve your site to get the best out of it!
Websites aren’t made overnight, they need constant work. With the digital world we now live in having a website is important for any business who wish to raise their company awareness and strengthen their online presence. Starting of with the basics and working with people who can help develop your site whilst sharing your vision are key in ensuring a successful site.
