Internet users have a smaller attention span than a goldfish. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s the truth. According to one study, 55% of the people that visit a website leave it after less than 15 seconds. In other words, for every 100 people that land on your website, 55 will bounce without engaging with your content.
If you’re using your website as a way to introduce your physical therapy clinic to your audience and persuade them to try your services, then that number is bad news for you.
Don’t assume that just because online users spend so less time interacting web pages, then you should kill your website altogether. It doesn’t mean the end of websites, but the beginning of a new era. The thing is, the way people browse and read online content has changed dramatically in the past few years. Gone are the days when you could create a cheap website, add low-quality content, stuff it with keywords and get away with it. Nowadays, consumers want sleek, professional design and value-added content. Therefore, if you’re audience is bouncing less than 15 seconds after landing on your PT clinic’s site, then it may be entirely your fault.
The good news is that you can fix most of the errors.
Let’s take a look at why your audience is leaving your website and what you can do to keep them engaged.
Before jumping into the reasons visitors may be leaving your website seconds after they landed on it, it is paramount to understand how you need to approach a site redesign. Here are some of the questions you should be asking yourself before revamping your PT clinic’s website:
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about physical therapy? Most people associate it with sports injuries, seniors, and rehabilitation. As a PT clinic owner you know that’s a misconception – physical therapy can impact many aspects of one’s life, regardless of their age or fitness levels.
Make sure that you are communicating this message through your website. If you only talk about jocks and sports injuries, then you may be limiting your target audience significantly. Make it clear that your PT clinic can manage a variety of health problems, both physical and emotional.
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and try to anticipate the questions they may have about your PT clinic and services. For how many years has your PT clinic been in business? Can I afford your services? How can I contact you? Where do I find more information about your services?
Generally speaking, the goal of a website is to promote a business, create leads and attract as many visitors as possible. The more people land on your site, the higher the chances that they will convert into leads and, ultimately, into paying patients.
However, you should look beyond your business goals when analyzing the purpose of your PT clinic’s website. Again, try to see things from your audience’s perspective. What type of information would you want to find on a physical therapy website? Sure, you may eventually want to learn more about their services, but for starters, you want to gain knowledge about this type of therapy. You want to know what you can use it for, how it can help you, and if it’s effective. You also want to read reviews from other patients and learn about their experience with your PT clinic.
Your PT clinic’s website should focus primarily on providing educational content to your audience. As mentioned already, try to anticipate the questions prospects may be asking and offer them valuable advice.
Your SEO strategy has been effective, and a potential prospect just landed on your site. What do you want them to do? Do you want them to explore your service page, read your content, subscribe to your newsletter or contact you?
A professional website guides its visitors in the right direction. Use content and layout to tell them what you want them to do next.
Now that we’ve explored the mindset you should get into when redesigning your site, it’s time to explore the mistakes that are chasing potential patients away from your page.
Internet users are extremely impatient. If they can’t find what they want as quickly as possible and without having to put too much energy into it, then they will leave without second-guessing their decision. That is why a website’s navigation has tremendous SEO value, and it can impact not only your traffic but your search engine rankings too.
How to Fix It: Don’t make visitors think too much about what they need to do next. Make your navigation simple and as intuitive as possible. Use visual cues to direct visitors and make important buttons easily accessible. Don’t assume that if you load your website with ornaments, then your visitors will appreciate its aesthetics. Au contraire! Internet users prefer speed and efficiency instead of a web page that has tons of elements, but it’s slow and confusing.
Use A/B tests to analyze the transition from one page to another and see how easy it’s for your visitors to find their way around your site.
Picture the following scenario.
You are looking to purchase a new smartphone, and you come across a website that promises to offer just that. But, when you click on it, you land on a page that sells computer parts. Evidently, you don’t waste too much of your time exploring the site and return to your initial search.
The same thing can happen to your PT clinic’s website if the content doesn’t live up to the promises you’ve made in your Google advertising or social media posts. If you promised potential prospects a fantastic solution to their health needs, but your content falls flat or is irrelevant to their search, then they won’t think twice before bouncing.
How to Fix It: In this day and age, when people are bombarded by marketing messages, authenticity is the key to building a successful online presence. Be genuine and don’t try to mislead your visitors in any way, shape or form. Sure, empty promises and false claims may generate a spike in traffic rates, but this approach is only going to hurt your PT clinic in the long run. Always strive to stand up to your prospects’ expectations.
One of the mistakes most business owners make is assuming that their audience takes the time to read their content word for word. That couldn’t be further from the truth. With so much information at their fingertips, they skim through content, looking for the parts that interest them or that can help them solve a problem they’re facing.
If your PT clinic’s website doesn’t have enough content, then prospects might assume that you aren’t a professional or reliable source. If you overwhelm visitors with too much information, then they will have a difficult time finding the essential details, so they will just give up and bounce.
How to Fix It: Finding the perfect balance can be extremely difficult. Sure, you want to educate prospects, but you also don’t want to tire them with boring details. At the same time, you want them to know that you are a leader in your niche and have the knowledge and expertise to solve their problems.
Try to provide a mix of both short-form and long-form content. And, most importantly, ensure that your articles are engaging. Write short paragraphs, add subtitles, bullet points, and numbers, and include high-quality images that are relevant to the topic.
You know you shouldn’t judge a book by its covers. Unfortunately, the first impression has a major effect on most people. Just think about it: if you were to land on a website that looked like it was stuck in the 1990s, would you trust that business enough to purchase something from them?
You probably know the answer already.
The same stays true for your PT clinic’s website. You may think that the value you are providing to your prospects weighs more than the aesthetics of your site, but that’s far from the truth. Outdated designs, cluttered elements, and overwhelming color schemes contribute to a high bounce rate and low page rank.
How to Fix It: Try and organize your page layout and make everything as clear and straightforward as possible. It shouldn't be cluttered and confusing. Think about what you want your visitors to do when they land on your page and prioritize your content accordingly. Pay attention to the color scheme, as well since it’s a valuable psychological factor that can influence your visitors’ decisions. Green and yellow, for example, are suitable for a business in the healthcare niche. Green is associated with health and power, while yellow is a cheerful color that promotes optimism.
Time is of the essence. That stays true both in the real world and in the digital space. Because there are so many things your prospects could do on the Internet, their patience is extremely limited. Reports show that if a page takes more than three seconds to load, visitors will bounce and look for what they need somewhere else.
How to Fix It: You may think that adding ten different plugins and a wide range of bells and whistles will make your visitors enamored with your website. But, that’s rarely the case. As mentioned already, Internet users prefer performance over aesthetics. So, strip down your PT clinic’s website of all its unnecessary elements, minify your code, resize your images, and try to reduce load time to a minimum.
How are prospects supposed to get in touch with you or book an appointment to your physical therapy clinic if they can’t find your contact information? Of course, you want to educate patients about the value of physical therapy, get them to know your services, and provide value-added content that makes them perceive you as an authority in your niche. But, your ultimate goal is to convert visitors into customers, and you’re sabotaging your chances by making the contact details hard to find.
How to Fix It: Ensure that all your contact details are readily available. Make it easy for prospects to get in touch with you with the simple touch of a button.
You only have 15 seconds to captivate your audience and convince them that you are the solution they were looking for all this time. Make the most of this time and deliver an outstanding experience to your prospective patients. Work with a specialized marketing agency, such as PatientSites.com and build a professional looking site that will generate impressive SEO results, boost your engagement rates, and drive more conversions.
Do you want to take your physical therapy marketing to the next level? Download our Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint for Physical Therapists and start creating long-term assets that generate new patient bookings for years to come.
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