Count On Coffey

When people visit your healthcare website, they're often looking for something specific: a doctor, a service line, a location. If they can't find it quickly, they may leave—and look elsewhere. That's why internal site search matters.

Why search deserves a second look A modern internal search function should do more than return a list of links. It should:

Support your strategic goals. You should be able to prioritize search results that align with your organization's priorities—like driving traffic to service lines or promoting new locations.

Help users narrow in. Filters that let users sort results by providers, services or locations can reduce friction and improve engagement.

Avoid clutter. Separating educational content— like a health library—from your main search results can help users stay focused on your core services.

Give you flexibility. The ability to add keywords, boost important pages or hide outdated content gives you more control over what users see.

What to look for in a website vendor Not all search tools are created equal. When evaluating vendors for a website redesign or upgrade, make sure their platform includes thoughtful, flexible search features designed for healthcare.

Key capabilities to ask about include:

• Featured search results. Can you promote specific pages to the top of search results to support campaign goals or highlight high-value content?
• Filtered results. Does the search allow users to filter results by common healthcare categories like providers, services and locations?
• Separate display for different types of content. If your site includes a health library, can it appear in a separate area—so core content, like provider and service pages, remains front and center?
• Custom weighting and keywords. Can you add keywords or adjust the "weight" of a page to improve visibility in search results?

Curious how your site stacks up? Try it yourself: Go to your current website and search for a key term like "primary care" or "cardiology." If the most relevant content isn't at the top of the list—or if the results feel crowded or confusing—it may be time to reassess how your site handles search.

Categories: Digital