Clint's Web Marketing Blog

I was recently on the phone with a with a potential client and as we talked about her practice. We were trying to determine what she really wants to focus on and where she wants to be. In order to get a better understanding of her and her practice, I asked to look at her current website. As soon as I typed in the website address, it popped up and started playing music. I immediately went to turn the music off, but as I clicked on other pages it would start playing again. I got a little frustrated with it and asked her “Why do you like music on your site.” She gave me a real simple answer “I think it adds class.”

She is not alone in that thought. Many people feel that music on their site adds class. For some, it might be welcoming or soothing, but there are statistics that show a far greater number of Internet users who find music on websites annoying.

One main reason people find it annoying is because a lot of research for various services or products are done at work. Maybe on break or even while consumers work. Now, if you are working (or supposed to be working) and you land on a website where music starts to play, you immediately do what I did. You ask the question, “how do I turn this off?” If I was simply surfing the web, I would just hit the back button and move on to a different (and quiet) website.

The most important thing to remember is that when you are surfing the web, you are just doing that, surfing. You are not looking to get serenaded and chances are, you might have music playing on your computer already. The primary focus of your searching is to get information about something so that you can make an educated decision.

If you have any question or want to discuss incorporating other design elements that will keep a visitor on your website longer, I would love to hear from you.

I was doing my typical searching on the web the other day, looking at websites and looking for new ways of doing things, when I came across some statistics for online consumers and how they shop. The main statistic that caught me off guard was that 87% of potential patients or clients believe user reviews.

I guess this shouldn’t be such a shock, seeing that we often ask family and friends about the businesses and services they use. They will let you know if they had a great experience and based on their recommendation, you will usually give that business a call. The same goes for negative reviews. If your friend had a really bad experience someplace and they told you about it, you will most likely form an opinion based on their review.

I always tell my clients to collect testimonials and post them on their website, but I never knew how much impact it can have on someone who is visiting your website. These testimonials could very well dictate whether or not they contact you.

If you are not collecting testimonials, you should start. If you don’t know how to collect them, one thing that I suggest is having an exit survey for your patients with a "comments" box for them to fill out. You will be amazed how many people will leave you a nice testimonial to use. Then as a follow-up with that patient, ask them if you can use their quote on your website.

You should also make sure to have testimonials sprinkled throughout your site, instead of just one page. Remember, your site is more than just a bunch of text, it’s a reflection of you, your personality, and what makes your practice special. To today's consumers, this tends to be more important than where you went to school and what advanced training you have.

If you have any questions about testimonials or how you can start incorporating them into your website, please contact me and we can discuss your individual needs.