It’s 2021, which means that you can’t afford to have a website that’s operating like it’s 2019 or even 2020. And these days, most people will find out about your chiropractic practice through your web presence. If your website is painfully slow, outdated, or doesn’t function well when pulled up on mobile devices, you won’t attract as many patients as you could.
Let’s remedy that.
In this post, we’ll explore the 7 signs that it’s time to upgrade your chiropractic website. But first, here’s why having an outdated website is not harmless.
The Dangers of an Out of Date Website
You’re a busy chiropractor with a lot of tasks to complete each day. In addition to working with your patients, you have an endless list of things to do to maintain and also grow your business. Why should you add “update website” to your list?
Here are 4 major reasons to upgrade your chiropractic website:
1. An Out of Date Website Causes Prospective Patients to Distrust You
Your website doesn’t just deliver information to a prospective patient. It can also signal whether or not your practice is trustworthy. It’s strange but true. If your website is out of date, with “news” or blog posts that haven’t been updated in years, it’ll make prospective patients wonder if you’re still in business.
An updated website shows your prospective patients that you’re open, available, and that you care about their experience with you—both online and in person.
2. Your Website May Be Incompatible
Some technologies expire. The interactivity software Flash Player used to be all of the rage until it fell out of flavor at the end of 2020. Like Flash, there are plenty of other technologies that no longer work and may be dragging down your website’s speed and killing the visitor’s experience.
This is why you need, at the very least, to perform an audit on your website. Ensure that your website is functioning properly for all visitors, no matter what browser or device they use to access your site.
3. Your Website May Not Get Found on Search Engines
The gods at Google determine whether or not prospective patients find your website. If your website is out of date or slow, or if Google simply doesn’t think that your website will deliver a good experience to visitors, Google will bury your website in the search engine results. This means that if someone searches for chiropractors in your town, they likely won’t find your website through search—even though it exists.
To avoid getting penalized by Google, ensure that your website is optimized for both the search engines and the search engine users.
4. Your Reputation Can Be Damaged
If a prospective patient has an unsatisfactory experience while visiting your website, they’ll be less likely to book an appointment with you. People think that if a website is outdated, the in-office technology may be outdated as well. If your website looks like it’s stuck in the past but your competitor’s website looks great, and all else is equal, they’ll likely go with your competitor.
An out-of-date website can actively harm your reputation, and it may be the reason why you can’t seem to grow your practice at the pace that you’d like.
An out of date website can actively harm your reputation, and it may be the reason why you can’t seem to grow your practice at the pace that you’d like. Share on XThe Warning Signs That Your Website is Out of Date
How do you know if your website is out of date and in desperate need of a makeover? There are a few ways to tell. If your website suffers from one or more of the following maladies, it’s time to hit the “refresh” button on your website design:
1. Your Website is Old
Is your website so old that you haven’t actually updated it (or even thought about it) for years? Websites can last a while, but all of them have an expiration date. The goal is to refresh your website regularly before it starts to look and act dated.
Updating your website is also essential if your competitors have updated sites. It may not be fair, but prospective patients will judge your entire practice based on your website’s appearance. To maintain your competitive edge, you’ll need to ensure that your website looks and functions just as well, if not better, than that of your competitors.
2. Your Website Doesn’t Look Good on Mobile Devices
Did you know that the majority of Internet traffic comes from mobile devices? That includes smartphones and tablets. Less than 50% of visitors will arrive on your website from their desktops or laptops. This is why search engines like Google have adopted a “mobile-first” policy. “Mobile-first” means that you should design your website for mobile visitors first and primarily.
Do a quick test. Pull up your website using your smartphone. Is it easy to navigate? Is it easy to read? Or do you need to scroll around to view the content? Are the buttons large enough to click?
Your website should offer an enjoyable experience for your visitors.
3. It’s Difficult to Upgrade Your Chiropractic Website on Your Own
Do you have trouble updating your website on your own? For example, if you want to add a new event or change your office information, does it take you longer than a few minutes to do it? This can be a telltale sign that your site is not user-friendly. When your site isn’t easy to update, you’re less likely to add new information to it.
This is a leading reason why your chiropractic website fails to convert visitors into appointments.
4. Your Website Loads Slowly
Your website needs to load immediately. If it takes longer than two seconds to load, the majority of your site visitors will click the “back” button and leave. The average Internet browser expects a lightning-fast response when they click on a website. However, if your website is built with out-of-date technology or has too many plugins or large images, it won’t load quickly.
This is why your website’s loading speed is one of the factors Google uses to determine your ranking in the search engine results. If your website loads slowly, Google won’t show your website to its users. That’s because Google doesn’t want to send users to a page that they’ll quickly back out of. (The visitor’s negative experience on your website will reflect poorly on Google.)
Instead, Google wants to ensure that its users have a great experience on every website they recommend. So, if your website doesn’t load quickly, your website won’t rank high on the search engine results. This decreases (or eliminates) your ability to get found via an Internet search.
5. You Haven’t Implemented an SEO Strategy
In addition to site speed, you also need to have a full-on search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. An SEO strategy includes planning out and executing the steps necessary to improve your website’s search engine ranking. There are over 200 different factors that Google uses to determine where your website ranks on search results pages. This includes targeting specific keywords, updating your website regularly, and getting a healthy number of inbound links.
If you haven’t thought about your SEO, or don’t know where to begin, you definitely aren’t doing enough to rank well and attract search engine visitors to your site.
6. Your Website Has a High Bounce Rate
Do you have a high percentage of visitors who arrive on your website and then leave right away without visiting another page? That’s called your bounce rate. You can find out your bounce rate by looking at your Google Analytics if it’s connected to your website.
Every website will experience some bounce, and that’s okay. However, if the majority of your site visitors leave after arriving, that indicates problems with your website. Either your site is slow, it’s irrelevant to their search, or it’s difficult for visitors to navigate.
Fortunately, you can remedy these issues by upgrading your website and ensuring that you have a clear SEO strategy in place.
7. Your Website Doesn’t Function Well
Does your website take into account what your visitors are looking for? Your website should make it easy for visitors to find information about your services. It should also be dead simple to schedule an appointment on your website.
If you don’t offer online scheduling in this day and age, it’s time to upgrade your chiropractic website. Make it easy for your prospective patients to book with you.
Final Thoughts
Having a website that looks great and delivers a quality experience for your prospective patients is essential. If you’ve decided that it’s time to upgrade your chiropractic website, let’s talk. We’d love to help you create a website that converts visitors into patients.
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