Healthcare Website Design: Every Page a Homepage
Odds are Most of Your Website Visitors Don't Enter Via Your Homepage
In most cases, visitors to your website slip in via side doors, an inside page. The problem with that: Most inside pages don't make a great first impression. Here's how to roll out the red carpet for everyone.
The homepage of your website is a lot like a hotel lobby: It's where you welcome guests, roll out the red carpet, and make that all-important “first impression.”
But contrary to all the hoopla around your homepage, not everyone arrives via this virtual front door. In fact, many sites discover most people slip in via a side door: An inside page.
Our own stats on traffic to dental and medical sites shows that more than 60% of new visitors arrive via the side door. Not the homepage.
Slipping in the Side Door
Why does that happen? Let's use Google as an example.
When your website appears on a Google search results page, it will most likely show up as a link to an inside page. Rarely is it your homepage. Why? Because it's your inside pages that hold the in-depth information needed to answer a user's search query.
And, as we all know, Google wants to give users the best answer to their question so it sends users directly to the page with the most information, the inside page.
Google's not the only one that directs visitors to a side door. Facebook, referral links, and emails often link to inside pages so readers (who are always impatient) can get to the good stuff quickly.
Put Out the Welcome Mat
So if your inside pages are prospective patients' first impressions, are they up to the task?
Sneak on over to your own website and take a peek … I’ll wait.
So … how do your inside pages look? Impressive or, perhaps, less than stellar? Maybe even ... boring?
You're not alone. Compare a typical inside page and an inside page that gets the "homepage" treatment:
The Takeaway ...
There's no denying a beautiful homepage is essential. But if first impressions are being made on your inside pages, shouldn't they be as beautiful (and persuasive) as your homepage?
The lesson here: Treat every page as a homepage ... because it is. Google, Facebook, and referral links are typically deep links to inside pages and are the first (and maybe only) pages a visitor sees.
Use engaging imagery and rich media throughout your site to make an unforgettable first impression wherever a visitor lands.
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