The Keys to Setting Up a Chiropractic Website for Your Practice

When it comes to the ways patients are finding new health care professionals the Internet is leading the pack, hands down. It's not enough these days just to be listed in the Yellow Pages. Your patients expect you to set up a chiropractic website for your practice that tells them who you are, what you do and where you come from, and if you're not there when they go looking you could be passed up for someone with half your chiropractic skills and twice your techno savvy.

Here's how to make sure that doesn't happen.

 Getting a chiropractic website isn't hard. All you have to do is choose your host and buy a domain. Poof! You have a website. A quick word of advice: You're going to have the chance to choose your own domain name. www.yourbusiness.com is much, much easier for your patients to remember than any odd combination of words, numbers and symbols, which makes you easier to find. Choose wisely, and your domain name alone can bring you a new influx of patients.

Your site's content is key. There are no ways to overstress that fact. Your visuals are important, but great visuals are never going to make up for weak content. There are six primary rules you need to remember when you're designing your chiropractic website:

1)      Your Mission Statement

The first thing your patients need to know is what your company stands for. What's your mission statement? What do you stand for?

2)      Summary of Your Services

Many chiropractors assume that if their patients are looking for a chiropractor they already know what services they offer, and it just ain't so! Many patients with specific health complaints, especially those that have never been to a chiropractor before, are going to be looking for a D.C. that can meet their specific needs. Your site should include a quick listing of what services you provide, as well as any new or unique technologies you implement along the way.

3)      Your Education and History

If you were choosing a doctor, wouldn't you want to know where they came from? Filling your patients in on your history and education, as well as any recent achievements (articles, positions, etc.) on your chiropractic website inspires their confidence and could make a difference between being chosen and being passed by for the quack down the street.

4)      Your Contact Information

A good chiropractic website will have your contact information tactfully displayed on every page. There's no telling where patients are going to start looking, and the last thing you want to do is wow them with your credentials and then make it impossible for them to make an appointment because they can't find you! (You laugh, but it's happened.) Your address and phone number should be on each page, and if you really want to impress your patients try installing the MapQuest widget or including a map to your office and directions from the nearest main roads and/or interstates.

5)      Keywords

Out on the web, your search engines are your guiding light. Your patients are going to type words like "chiropractor", "find a chiropractor", "chiropractic", "chiropractic care", etc. into their search engine query box. Make sure you focus on those keywords in your chiropractic website and you'll get the search engines' attention. Search engine attention=web traffic=new patients. It's as simple as that.

6)      Easy to Navigate

Have you ever been to a website where nobody but the site admin knew how to find anything? It's like walking into an office full of clutter and being expected to find a specific piece of paper. You're going to look for about two minutes, then give up! Make your chiropractic website easy to navigate, with clearly labeled tags and well organized content. Your patients will thank you.

Use these simple rules when you're building your chiropractic website and you'll have the Internet working for you in no time.