The Who's, Why's and What's of a Hospital Web Site

[Christopher Boyer]

I have visited many hospital websites lately, and have found an alarming trend: many of these sites have done a good job revamping their "look and feel", and even have started to add transactional elements for patients (in an effort to add interactivity...perhaps as a trend to embrace "Web 2.0." However, most of them have lost site of website basics.

I am not talking about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is EXTREMELY important to implement on your site, but SEO is an advanced art (and really should be handled by a professional that understands healthcare and how people seek it out online). For more on this, please see our blog post on the importance of SEO to hospital online marketing.

I am referring to the basics of website building - or what I refer to as the "who's, why's and what's" of any website:

Who
This refers who you are - not only the features of your hospital: your key service lines, your staff, your hours of operation, but also your role in the community, and who your key stakeholders are. Hospitals also need to find a compelling way to illustrate who you will be in the future, and the importance of this to the community you serve.

Why
People searching online are searching with intent, which means (in short) that when they are on your website, most web viewers are in the process of selecting your hospital over others. It's important to use your website to tell them why they should choose your hospital over others. Why are you different? Is it the quality of your staff, your technologies and procedures? Is it your accreditations and/or your third-party awards? By giving them a clear illustration as to why your hospital is different - or better - than others, is critical.

What
The one thing that is often overlooked is perhaps the most important - now that they know the who's and the why's of your hospital, what do you want them to do? Consider this the business development portion of your site. What should they do to further engage with your hospital? Download additional brochures to share with their friends/family? Contact your physician referral line? Sign up for a community seminar or lecture? Hospitals that don't give web consumers a "call to action" are leaving potential revenue on the table.

If people visiting your website can't find the answers to these three questions, you're not optimizing your online presence. Once your hospital site has addressed the who, why and what, you are free to focus on other elements of your site. And that's when you can start turning your attention to Twitter, Facebook and other social media elements.

[Richard Haussmann]

Great article. Nice one to call out the smoke and mirrors web sites have become. It's easy to forget that users aren't coming to your site because of the flashy technology. It seems some sites overcompensate for not doing this kind of basic (and tough) writing and research. Where (location and maps) and When (hours or operation, sponsored event calendars) are important but are easy to implement. They don't require a self identity evaluation that may return controversial or unexpected results.