hosting of medical websites
The 3 pitfalls in hosting of medical websites
You would be surprised how often doctors misdiagnose their digital performance. The cost is a missed opportunity to make full use of digital content marketing to attract more patients. The remedy: A health check, a simple treatment plan and maybe some lifestyle changes.
hosting of medical websites
Hosting of medical websites: the pitfalls to look out for
Kris Borgraeve
November 18, 2022
Why many doctors underestimate medical website hosting
medical website
A medical website for a private practice is more than an online brochure. It’s an active tool that either works for you…or doesn’t.
Do you actively intend to influence the way GP referrals are actually sending patients to your waiting room? Or have you noticed – like many other specialists – that patients will take the referral to the specialist they have discovered during one of their Google searches?
Hosting of medical websites is underestimated because it directly impacts your ability to attract patient leads, convert them and build a strong online presence that supports your practice growth.
In this video, we explore what most medical website agreements are like. We also look at what it should be, the minimum service level you would expect. And we also look at what it could be and how it could be a strategic game-changer for your private practice.
Pitfall 1: Digital, in general, is in your blind spot
digital technology
Is your online presence in a bit of a blind spot? That often happens until the practice owner or manager understands the dynamic nature of Google visibility. In our Grow Magazine, we cover SEO for doctors in full detail and in a nutshell, it boils down to attracting leads and referrals with great content.
"Many doctors miss out on patient leads because they missed the big evolutions in Google’s artificial intelligence. Google Search is now a powerful engine that simply looks for relevant, well-organised content that patients can use to get educated about the niche area you represent."
When a surgeon or specialist and their team don’t have a clear view on their Google visibility, we often see that the digital assets are in a grey area.
These are the typical symptoms that we see in hosting of medical websites:
- There is no monthly strategy to assess performance and add new content
- There is confusion about who is managing the website, the domain hosting account or the software that forms the backend of the website
Digital technology evolves at the speed of light and it is essential in today’s private healthcare landscape, to remain aware of your digital performance. Your ability to be visible when patients use digital technology to research a medical topic.
Pitfall 2: The old-school IT guys are in charge
IT for doctors
If you associate hosting of medical websites with technical stuff and IT…Keep reading.
It’s a huge pitfall. It makes sense to classify websites and the way they are built in the tech world. And at the same time, this is why so many websites have ipsum lorum copy.
Ipsum Lorum content is the typical placeholder copy that you will find in many website templates, and when I see it on a doctor’s website, it tells me that the IT team may have been in charge of building or updating the website.
"Just like we have directors and journalists to work on the content of TV programs, and broadcast engineers to deliver the signal to the screen in our homes, the internet has evolved. Designing and building a content marketing strategy for a hospital, a clinic or a doctor in private practice, with all due respect, should never start in the IT division."
It is tempting to ask the IT guys to do it. After all, many programmers are developers. Developers become designers and website builders.
But think about the television metaphor. Would you want to be informed by a senior journalist who has been analysing geopolitics for 20 years, or by a junior graduate in broadcasting electronics who is able to build a TV studio and switch it on?
Pitfall 3: Uninformed, we took the cheapest package
cheap website hosting
Let’s talk about the hosting of medical websites in more detail. We will unpack why the cheap website hosting offers may cost you patients, turnover and damage your reputation in the end.
What is medical website hosting?
Hosting refers to the fact that your website is a piece of software that runs on a computer in a data centre. The space you pay for is your hosting fee, and it may come with extra security, speed, backup and support functionality…or not.
Why doctors should think twice about cheap website hosting
Cheap hosting reduces costs by squeezing many websites on the same computer. But Google remembers where traffic comes from and you may end up sitting next to someone who is distributing porn. Not being in the best company in the digital world will impact the way Google looks at the physical location of your website.
How can hosting affect your patient numbers?
If your website is associated with IP numbers (the location) that are misbehaving, if cheap website hosting slows down your website, if there are downtimes and interruptions…all of that sticks in Google’s memory and flags your website as a less-than-ideal experience for the user. Which will eventually affect your capacity to rank well in Google Search, get visibility and attract patient enquiries and referrals.
The snowball effect it can have on your reputation as a doctor:
If your online presence is not delivering at full speed, you may not reach your target. The financial capacity to upgrade your rooms, hire more staff, form an alliance, or move to a better suburb.
"The bitterness of poor quality hosting remains long after the sweetness of cheap website hosting fees is forgotten."
Here’s a checklist you can use to see if that hosting package is good for you:
- Does it mean your website is located in your own country?
- Is the data centre connected to a backbone and delivering good speed?
- Is the backup and security process up to standards?
- Is your website monitored for SEO performance?
- Are backend software, server software and plugins updated on a regular basis?
- Is there a human being you can talk to assist you if you have any concerns about your website?
If one or more aspects of the service are missing, think again and ask for a free 1:1 Strategy Session to explore how we can help you.
Check if you are missing out on patients
patient numbers
Why not book that quick health check straight away? It may be one of the missing links to crank up your patient numbers in private practice.
At Digital Practice, we offer an initial assessment to look at the overall situation of your website.
We assess the speed, setup, backend and maintenance procedure and advise on things you can improve to make your website more performant and generate more referrals and patient leads.
You can book it here, it’s free, and it comes with a free 1:1 Session on Zoom to discuss the findings.
How hosting is part of the bigger picture
digital maintenance
Digital maintenance is a relatively new concept and here at Digital Practice, we take it seriously.
To hear how we manage and maintain your precious digital assets as a doctor, book a free 1:1 Strategy Session.
- Tags: Marketing for doctors
