Hospital websites: 5 things you can do to make your services easy to find
One of the main reasons people come to your hospital's website is to learn about the healthcare services you offer. Make sure that content is easy to find.
One of the most common reasons people visit a hospital website is to look for information about a service.
Whether these people are searching for information about cardiology or maternity, they all have one thing in common: They want to quickly find what they're looking for.
People who don't readily find the service they're seeking might assume you don't offer it—or just get tired of looking—and head to a competitor's website.
Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to make it easy for people to find information about your services on your hospital's website.
The No. 1 thing to remember from this post: Think like a consumer
The key to organizing your hospital's services is to make information easy to find for healthcare consumers who may not know much about you.
These 5 tips can help:
1. Put all your services in one place. Give consumers a list that includes each service you offer—regardless of whether the service is offered in your hospital or at a clinic. People who are visiting your website are doing so to learn about you, and they likely won't already know if you offer a given service only at a clinic.
Of course, each service page on your website should include all the information someone needs to find the location where that service is offered.
Pro tip: Keep your contact page up-to-date. If you have multiple hospital and clinic locations, make sure they're all listed with current information.
2. Alphabetize the list. It's tempting to list services by how important they are to your organization. However, people who visit your site are going to quickly scan your services list in search of the topic they're interested in. Listing your services in alphabetical order will make scanning easier.
3. Lead with the most important word. Alphabetical listings won't help people scan for cancer services if that information is listed under an official name, like "Smith Center for Cancer Treatment." In cases like this, save the formal name of the service for the service page and use the consumer-friendly term in the services list.
4. Organize related services in consumer-friendly groups. Again, when grouping services, think about the topics consumers are looking for rather than how your services are organized internally. For example, sleep services should have their own spot in the services list even if they are technically part of your pulmonary medicine department. And cardiac rehabilitation should be listed with your other cardiology services rather than in the rehabilitation section. (In some cases, you'll want to cross-link between specialties.)
5. Give every service its due. Even secondary services or those offered by visiting specialists deserve a place in your services list and drop-down navigation. Don't underestimate how these "small services" can make a big difference in bringing traffic to your website and building brand loyalty. Give each service a page that describes what you offer and how people can make use of it.
Need help organizing your services list?
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