Business owners will often hear the term Conversion Rate Optimisation as pertains to their website and overall online marketing strategy. But what exactly does it mean and how does it apply to the marketing of your medical business?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is an essential part of the online marketing strategy for your business. Today’s website visitor is often bombarded with countless distractions and choices that can have them quickly clicking away from your website. CRO can be considered to be the science and even art of capturing the attention of your visitors and taking them closer to the point of making a sale.

It is a marketing strategy developed to maximise business revenue. It is also a strategy that will improve the user experience. The inevitable side-effect of CRO is that the website becomes much more effective at delivering the right information, while also affording site visitors the ability to navigate to the pertinent information faster and with ease. The site can be considered well-optimized when a high percentage of visitors convert into clients or patients.

Conversion rate optimization is an important online marketing strategy when you are looking to maximise the revenue that you see from online promotions that are driving traffic to your site. We have 12 great CRO tips to enhance your medical marketing strategy.

Tip 1. Tracking all of your data

When it comes to marketing your medical business, there is no such thing as too much data. Lacking in detailed and quality information is one of the barriers that marketers can face when it comes to strong lead generation. At a minimum, the site analytics and conversion tracking should be monitored and compiled.

Consider this, if you don’t have conversion measurements then you cannot know what areas could benefit from improvements. Keep in mind, also, that tracking your data can help you to better identify who your typical website user and converted patient is. Understanding these types of demographics can help you to better optimise your site.

Tip 2. Security enhancements

How much thought do you give to the security of your site? Certainly, you may have solid passwords and other protection enabled on the backend. But do you consider the security that your site visitors might be looking for? Before your potential clients or patients fill out forms or place online orders with your site, up to half of them may first check on the security certification of your website.

The right level of data encryption could mean the difference between getting that lead and converted a sale, and not.

Tip 3. Content Headline Considerations

We live in a world where internet users are used to getting their information in bite-sized snippets. A poorly formatted page that doesn’t take headlines into consideration is going to result in clicking away from the site. How can you remedy this? Ensure that you are using headlines on your page. This way, your site visitors will be able to learn everything they need to know about the page or a section of the page with just one quick glance.

Tip 4. How fast does your site load?

You just may be surprised at the number of people who will abandon a website that is simply taking too long to load. There are a number of steps that you can take in order to ensure that your site is loading at the maximum speed that today’s internet user demands. Even image-heavy galleries (such as those that contain the before-and-after images that may be key to your converting patients) don’t need to bog your site down if you are using the right content delivery network to compress the images.

Tip 5. Keeping your copy short and sweet

It can be tempting to overload your website with large amounts of content, particularly when it relates to complicated procedures that you know that your potential patients will be interested in learning about. Studies have demonstrated, however, that most web users need just 14-20 words to understand the bulk of the message that you are trying to convey.
Have great content, certainly. But keep it succinct.

Tip 6. Considering the images on your site

No matter your industry, the reality is that crisp and relevant images can increase readership, keep your site guests around longer and also contribute to the all-important conversion. Where possible, use images that aren’t sourced from a content farm. Custom images and images that are tailored to the value and message you are conveying will offer much more benefit.

Tip 7. What is your selling method or approach?

The person browsing your website already has a good idea as to what he or she is looking for. How are you selling your products or your services? Many tend to focus on a solution-selling method. This has been proven to be a much less effective approach. An alternative is to take the approach of offering benefits as a primary selling point. What are the benefits of the procedure that you are offering? What are the benefits of the product that your medical business sells?

Tip 8. Do you offer reviews on your site?

This can be a tricky consideration for some businesses. However, in some industries, it’s thought that as high as 90% of purchasing decisions are directly influenced by reviews of the business or the products and services that it offers. If you have client testimonials to share, consider placing them in a highly visible area of your website.

Tip 9. Real-time chat

While you certainly do want your potential patients to pick up their phone and call, you can’t overlook the benefit offered by a live chat feature on the website. Chatting with a live representative will start a conversation. It can encourage someone who has questions they’d like real-time answers to. Consider it to be fairly similar to those who’d rather send a quick text to a friend versus calling them. Again, we live in an age where bite-sized information and digital communication is often the preference for men and women of all ages.

Tip 10. Short forms are ideal

It’s tempted to try and capture as much data as is possible through the forms on your website. However, you are much more likely to get a sales lead with the potential to convert if you have a short form that your potential patients can fill out in seconds. Consider this, for every extra field that you have on your form, you increase the risk of losing the inbound lead. You can always have a conversation to collect additional information at a later point.

11. Don’t focus on social media too much

It’s tempting to remind site visitors that you have an active and engaged social media presence. However, don’t divert the attention of your readers off to social media before they’ve had an opportunity to read what your website has to offer. Ensure that you are placing social media icons off to the side of the page, or in the footer area.

12. Does your site work well on mobile devices?

It should go without saying that your website should be optimised for browsing from any type of mobile device. More than half of your site visitors could be using some sort of mobile device. Whether that device is their phone or a tablet, your website should work flawlessly on all devices that could be in use. How can you accomplish this? Test your website using a mobile-friendly tool, such as the one offered by Google. Ensure that you are using a reliable host and also web design for your website.

Medical marketing doesn’t need to be overly challenging if you simply follow some of the basics that will help you to see a boost in your conversation rate optimisation numbers.

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