Having your own website sounds impressive. However, many Doctors do not understand what does it take to make a website and well maintain it of course.
Why is a Website Needed?
Let’s first understand the basic question. Why is a website required?
The reason could be one or many of the ones given below.
- To show case the services offered by Doctor.
- Showcase availability at Clinics and Hospitals.
- Book appointment of the Doctor based on the schedule
- Patient education related articles and videos associated with the work of the Doctor
- Reviews from existing clients
- Case studies on some challenging cases handled by the Doctor
All these help patient make an informed decision about the Doctor.
In our opinion, if your requirement is point #1 and #2 only, you should not consider having your own website. This is because, the effort taken to make and maintain a website largely outweighs the information provided.
Your case to own a website becomes more solid as you start considering point # 3 onwards. The more points you tick, the more the requirement gets stronger.
By the way, you could still get all this done without your own website by just having your Google My Business page, free of cost. No matter after reading this page, you create your own website or not, just make sure you create your Google My Business page. It is super useful to show much of the information you want to show to your patients.
Important points to consider while making the website
- Make sure your website can be viewed correctly on PC as well as a Mobile phone. These days, 80 – 90% of your visitors will be coming via a mobile device.
- Make sure you have a way to know how many people are visiting your website on a monthly basis. This way, you at least know the utility of having a website in the first place.
- Make sure your website has searchable content that will drive traffic to the website based on the searches people conduct.
- Understand that not everybody that visits your website will be your potential client. You may be a Doctor in Mumbai and the article on your site may be read by a person sitting in Chennai. If you do provide your service in Chennai, then yes, it will help. However, if your area of service is Mumbai then the reader may not be your direct client, however, it will still help you increase your brand value.
- To keep a website running, you need a domain and hosting. Domain is the address which people type in the browser to reach the website. Hosting is where the content of the website is kept. Consider domain like the address of your home. Hosting is the actual house in question. You will need to pay for the Domain and Hosting both.
- You need a partner who can create a website for you and maintain it. Make sure you get proper quotes from them before you dive into having your own website.
MyOPD WebPage vs your Website
At MyOPD, Doctors who purchase MyOPD Clinic Management System get a free page hosted on MyOPD Website. This page takes care of point # 1 and # 2. Check out a sample webpage to get an idea. We have also introduced point # 3, although in a limited way for now.
This way, Doctors don’t need to have their own website in case their requirements are not much as listed above.
Photo by Branko Stancevic on Unsplash