Does Your Website Need a Facelift?

Your website reflects your virtual practice. Plastic surgeons that recognize the marketing power of the internet are reaping the benefits of leveraging their brand to attract more patients. Does your website need a "touch up?"

Here are some common mistakes we have found in our website reviews of plastic surgeons:

1. All "tell" and no "sell." The site is one big electronic brochure. No action steps are introduced. No suggestion that the reader schedule a consultation.

2. The copy is too long and drones on. You scroll and scroll and there is no click. Research shows the average internet browser has a 3 second attention span. The site must be intuitive and consolidated where appropriate.

3. It is not designed to think like the customer: Developed by young techno wizards, the site thinks like a 20 something male, with photos of young Cosmo girls lying on rugs. Real women on the internet are the 40 to 50 year olds looking to slow down the aging process. Your site must appeal to them.

4. The tone is wrong. Talking to “the patient” means you have missed the point.

5. There is poor use of color and font. Black backgrounds, small white type, red accents, neon blue pictures. There is a psychology to color. Black and red may be OK if you are selling motorcycles, but not fit to put the potential patient at ease. Likewise, excessive use of flowers, hearts and songbirds is better left for nuptials. Treat the reader to a proper image and an easy to read format.

6. "Cookie Cutter" sites. They were inexpensive and quick to get online, but do they do a good job of differentiating you and your practice?