When it comes to generating new patients, just bringing visitors to your hospital's website isn't enough. Once they are on your site, you must also convince them to convert. Below are five tools you can use to boost website conversion rates and generate more patient revenue for your hospital.
A/B testing tools, such as convert.com, allow you to test different versions of your web pages, landing pages, or calls-to-action to find the version that produces the highest conversion rates. As you use these tools, be sure to include a call-to-action on every page you create, whether it be an invitation to register for a class or sign up for a newsletter. This will help you to evaluate the effectiveness of each CTA strategy you use.
Marketing automation solutions, such as Marketo, Eloqua and Hubspot, can also be useful conversion tools. These tools allow you to develop and implement targeted marketing campaigns that will nurture your relationship with potential patients until they are ready to schedule services. These tools are particularly effective for elective surgery procedures, which have a buying cycle of up to 24 months. With the right marketing automation tool, you can make sure that your facility remains at the top of a potential patient's mind until he or she is ready to schedule the procedure.
An email delivery platform is a tool you can use to guide potential patients through the buying process by sending them strategic emails at different times based on the actions they have already taken on your website. For example, if a potential patient requests information about a specific procedure, this program can be used to send the requested information and follow up at pre-determined intervals. Examples of email delivery platforms include Act-On and MailChimp. Some marketing automation tools, including HubSpot, also offer integrated email delivery capabilities.
Having video content on your website can improve your conversion rate by as much as 2 percent or even more. Thus, to maximize conversion rates, it's a good idea to place relevant videos on your interior pages. To make sure that your video content is engaging and effective, you should also monitor visitors' interactions with the videos on your page. With analytical tools like Wistia, you can monitor the number of views each video receives, how long consumers continue to watch the video and whether they share the video with friends or family.
Tracking tools, such as MD Connect's Performance Portal™ Lead Tracking system, allow your hospital to track offline (phone calls) and online lead activity of all campaigns by channel, media source or service line to determine which of your campaigns are the most effective at converting patients. Once you know which campaigns are most effective, you can plan future marketing investments accordingly.
Hospitals invest a lot of time and budget in designing and building a website. To maximize that investment, the above mentioned tools should be used to make sure the website is performing well and reaching your targeted goals. Designing the website (and coding) is only half the project; once live, it is important to use these tools to optimize your site for peak performance and confirm the site is performing as orignially intended.