The very first encounter many of your patients will have with your practice is their Internet search for you, making your website your first opportunity to attract and convert patients and boost patient satisfaction. The user experience you provide should be one that loads quickly, states information clearly and navigates effortlessly. Many desktop sites don’t offer this when viewed on a mobile device. According to a KCPB Internet Trends 2015 report, people spent more of their Internet time on their phones vs. other computing devices. Bottom line: If your website isn’t responsive, you’re already missing the mark to attract patients and achieve high scores on those patient satisfaction surveys!
The concept of responsive web design is simple: One single website designed so that it adapts on-the-fly to fit various viewing devices (screen sizes, orientations, etc.). Eliminating the need to maintain multiple websites, designing a responsive website is crucial for the success of your practice.
Here are nine tips to make your website design more responsive:
1. Avoid flash. Keep videos and large images to a minimum, as they increase the loading time for your pages.
2.Make sure your viewport accommodates various sizes. A viewport is a meta tag at the header of a page that tells browsers how to display the site’s content. If you do not have a viewport meta tag, mobile browsers will default to desktop dimensions, which is cumbersome on mobile devices. You also shouldn’t specify dimensions in the viewport information, but leave it as width=device-width to accommodate for different screen sizes. Google has a step-by-step tutorial here.
3. Create “tap-able” links and buttons. Fingers on touch screens need a larger target than someone working with a mouse at a desktop would. Make sure the buttons and links are spaced far enough apart that mobile users don’t accidentally hit something else.
4. Enlarge fonts and image resolution. For fonts, 16 pixels is the recommended minimum. For images, use high-resolution photos that can withstand the scrutiny of high definition screens and the ability to zoom in.
5. Include a working telephone button on your website so that users can tap it and call your office right away.
6. Keep the most important information at the top of the page. Remember that mobile users have to scroll. Don’t force users to scroll through a lot of content in order to find out how to contact you or make an appointment. Put that information – how to make appointments, find your office, etc. – toward the top of the page.
7. Listen to Google. Google has a list of factors it considers part of mobile-friendliness. Get familiar with them so you understand how your site’s usability stacks up and what the problem areas may be. You can peruse the “Mobile Usability” section of their Search Console guide here. Google also provides a free Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
8. Use YouTube for videos. To make sure your videos display properly on devices of all sizes, upload your healthcare site’s videos using YouTube. YouTube’s code is responsive already, meaning it will show up in the right proportions based on a device’s screen size.
9. Test your site on multiple mobile devices to spot any trouble spots. Try each button, video and link, and fill out any forms on your site on each device.
A responsive website is a crucial part of your healthcare marketing plan. Practice Builders will give you a free marketing consult to evaluate your website and create a plan of action to make it more responsive. Sign up for a free consultation with us today; simply call us at 855-898-2710 or email us at info@PracticeBuilders.com.