As technology advances, clients are relying more and more on the internet for access to healthcare. While telehealth and other forms of virtual care are quickly gaining popularity, it is important, as a provider, to remember what your client’s first touchpoint with you will be if working together virtually: your website.  Your website acts as a first impression for all leads and potential clients, showing them what it will look like when you work together.  According to recent consumer research, 63% of patients would choose one provider over another due to a strong online presence.  

Setting up a website may have been the very first thing you did when starting your wellness business.  However, it is important to leverage your website in order to attract your ideal client and to facilitate business growth. 

To guide you through the best practices for wellness practice websites, we have outlined some tips to implement into your digital strategy and website in order to do so. 

If you’re truly looking to grow your wellness business, Healthie’s all-in-one practice management software can help through client retention strategies, facilitating partnerships and more. Click here to get started for free today!

6 Marketing Strategies for Health and Wellness Websites

1. Highlight your wellness practice specialty 

When clients visit your website, they should be able to have an understanding of what you specialize in, and how you can help them.  Introduce yourself, and speak to your strengths and specialties that you have focused on when building your client base.   

Listing your specialties and services ensures that you capture leads that are within your ideal client base.  Initially, you may feel interested in taking on as many clients as possible.  But, in order to see client successes and build a positive reputation, it is crucial to focus on the clients you can help effectively based on your experiences and certifications.  While leads are looking for a provider that is a good fit, you should also be making sure clients are a good fit for you and your business.  

Including client testimonials on your site may also be a good strategy to help convince leads to understand why you are the right provider for them.  Including positive “reviews” from your past and current customers acts almost like a referral system on your website.  Prospective clients are able to read concrete examples of how you’ve helped others with similar health and wellness goals and can relate to their experience. 

Just getting started with your website? While building a website can feel like an overwhelming task, there are plenty of tools out there to help get you started.  Sites like Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, and WordPress are all good choices for those with not a lot of experience in website development and design.  Each has tools built-in (like SEO) to support you and your business as you develop your ideal site. 

2. Always have an email opt-in

Including an email opt-in on your website is an absolute must for lead generation.  You can give prospective clients the option to download a free ebook, subscribe to a newsletter, or access to a one-page sheet about your services in exchange for their name and email address.  Typically, these are the types of clients who will need a bit more nurturing before they take the leap to become a paying customer. 

Set up an email campaign to pique the interest of these prospective clients, tell them more about the services you offer and push them to move forward and buy a package or book a session. They can receive a series of automated emails to help walk them through the early stages of a service or program. Keep these emails personalized, so any client that receives it still feels like they are connecting with you (as opposed to a clerical-type email).

3. Offer online appointment bookings 

Booking healthcare appointments over the phone has become less and less desired by clients as advances in technology offer easier methods.  A recent study found that 70% of participants consider the ability to book online with their provider important.  Additionally, 40% of participants would actually switch providers to be able to book their appointments online.  Scheduling online takes two-thirds the amount of time scheduling over the phone does, so it is not only more convenient for your client, but also saves you and your business time.  Booking online prevents constant back and forth over email or on the phone, because clients can simply scroll through options and choose what works best for them. 

Don’t want clients to book their first appointment online?  Allow clients to book a free discovery call instead.  Offering a free 15-20 minute discovery call for your practice is the first step in “qualifying” a prospective lead. It’s essentially your best opportunity to talk one-on-one with prospective clients to make sure they are the right fit for your practice.  

Tip: With Healthie, you can embed your Healthie calendar in your website, or provide a direct link for clients to book. As a Healthie provider, you’ll automatically receive a notification when a client books a session or purchases a package. Choose how you want your clients to experience Healthie via your website. To set up a free Starter account today, click here.

4. Include clear calls-to-action across your website

Strategically placing calls-to-action around your website will increase the chances your prospective clients have to sign up to work with you.  A call to action is a statement (in the form of a link or button on your website) designed to get immediate action from a lead.  For example, at the end of your “About Me” page, place a CTA asking clients to book with you.  When they click the link, it brings them directly to your online booking system.  

Calls-to-action spread across your website will increase the chances each prospective customer has to make the leap and start working with you.  Allowing clients to have immediate access to booking or packages removes undesired roadblocks, such as having to call or email to schedule with you.  Without them, a lead could easily read your blog post, get the information they needed, and move on without taking the next and most important steps towards working together.  

To create an effective call to action, be sure that…

• It stands out: Make sure the button or badge is a distinct color and is large enough that it draws the attention of your lead
• Its purpose is clear: The action of your button should be clear to your clients.  Instead of writing “Learn More” give clients a clear pathway of their next steps: “Schedule a Discovery Call” or “Purchase a Package” to ensure a seamless experience

5. Make it convenient to purchase services online

Allowing clients or leads to purchase packages online will not only offer them increased convenience but also allow them to get a feel for your services before they book with you.  They are able to choose a package that fits best with their needs and purchase right on the spot.  Another perk is that clients can view your packages and then have the opportunity to discuss them with you to find the best fit for them, perhaps during a free discovery call. 

If you are an insurance-based practice, you can diversify your revenue by offering add-on services through your website.  Subscription packages for between session engagement (such as chat support or food journal reviews) or meal-planning, online programs, and upcoming support groups and webinars are all examples of services to offer in your practice for additional revenue.  Including these services on your website will help to attract customers that aren’t necessarily consistent clients who see you on a regular basis, but can benefit from one of your programs or webinars.  

Tip: Using your Healthie account, you can embed your packages directly into your website using a pre-generated embed code.  You also have access to unique links for each package, which you can place throughout your website, social media pages, and email campaigns. To learn how you can try out all of our most sought after features with none of the risk, click here.  

Purchasing packages online can result in buyer hesitation from potential clients.  When putting together your website, keep these tips in mind in an effort to decrease this hesitation:

• Prove your credibility: As we mentioned above, testimonials are a key part of your website.  The data has shown that 90% of consumers read reviews before making a purchase, and 33% will purchase after seeing just one positive review.  On your services page, be sure to list a few testimonials to show your leads that you are the best choice
• Identify the deal breakers: When customers decide not to make a purchase, there is usually a reason.  If you can figure out what some of the general reasons are clients don’t end up purchasing a package, you can make changes to your services page in order to increase conversion rates.  Maybe clients simply don’t have enough information on the package and the services included.  Try being more detailed and list out exactly what a client will receive for each package, in order to make them feel more comfortable spending their money. 
• Remove the risk: Again, when purchasing something online, there may be some uncertainty about the result.  Offering clients the chance to have a free consultation with you prior to purchasing a package may alleviate some of this uncertainty, and make clients feel confident when eventually purchasing a package.  

Should you list your prices on your website?

‍Deciding if you should list your prices on your website? Check out our tips here.  

6. Implement an SEO Strategy

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” Creating an SEO strategy is critical for increasing the number of visitors to your website, which will, in turn, increase your lead, and hopefully paying customers.  Increasing traffic organically, instead of using paid ads, may actually be more beneficial for your website.  While only 3.4% of searches resulted in a click on a paid ad, 12.6% of Google clicks go to the top 100 search-traffic receiving domains.  So, it is more effective for you to dedicate time to SEO than just resorting to paid ads.  

Should you hire an SEO expert? 

While you can learn the basics of SEO and optimize your website independently, hiring an expert in SEO may be the next step in driving new leads to your website.  Having an expert to optimize your website content can save significant time while providing you with significant data on the performance of your website and content rankings. Quite typically, you can utilize a web designer to work on your SEO (or even to build your website alongside implementing an SEO strategy). 

There are some benefits to adding this team to your business: 

• Saves you time and resources: With an SEO team in place, you can now focus on revenue generating services like client care.  It is also a more feasible option than trying to establish an in-house team.
• SEO teams see better results: Hiring a SEO company takes all of the guesswork out of building your website.  While you can spend significant amounts of time researching and trying to come up with a proper SEO strategy, chances are an outside team still has more expertise and can come with better results in a lesser amount of time.  They simply have more experience, resources, and time to dedicate to get you the results you want.  

One alternative is to use the SEO tool that your current website platform already has in place.  Sites such as Weebly, WordPress, and Wix have built-in SEO tools that you can leverage to start learning about how to optimize your content.  

Ultimately, it comes down to whether you feel you have the time and resources to dedicate to this project on your own, or if you want to invest in your business by hiring an outside team.  You can achieve results either way, but you must consider which will be most beneficial to your business in the long run.