A Guide to Websites for Health Care Professionals

South Africa · CPD courses & CPD points · Health Professionals

Every business needs a great website to survive in the modern age, and health care professionals are no exception. Here's a few interesting stats for you. Right now, there are more than 4 billion people with regular internet access, and almost 2 billion websites. More than 50% of those people use websites on their mobile phone exclusively, and 47% of people will look at a business website before deciding to use their service.

Your expertise, however, is probably not in the technical and marketing fields, so it's likely that you've struggled with how to get your own website up and running. Here's a quick guide for you, based on my experience running a digital agency.

Be prepared to pay

There are lots of free ways to get a website (WIX and the like), but free solutions come at a cost - they'll make you look unprofessional and untrustworthy, especially when comparing to your competitors. That said, websites don't need to cost a lot. There are many companies out there that can produce a respectable site for a few thousand Rand. It's worth the investment to get it done properly.

How to find a good website building company

Don't use your friend's nephew. Just because they're "tech-savvy" and know how to use Wordpress, does not make them capable of building a professional site. Google around for a few companies, preferably one that you can meet with in person. Check their portfolio, and look out for examples of websites that they've built in your industry.

What to prepare for your website

In today's world, you can have anything you want built in to a website, and they can be highly variable. Before choosing a company, it's best to decide on what you need out of it, as this is likely to affect the time and cost. A good first step is to Google around and look at your competitor websites. What do they have that you like? What don't you need?

Typically, you'll want to consider;

Your initial budget for the website to be built. Decide what your maximum is before getting quotes.
What a reasonable timeline is for you to have it built (a few weeks, or a few months?).
Ongoing hosting and maintenance costs. Hosting fees are usually minimal. If you want ongoing updates done for you, then you'll need a larger monthly budget.
What pages you want. A very basic website will have a home page, an about us page, and a contact page. But you may want to consider having a blog, a booking system to make your life easier, services pages, or other things.
For each of the pages you've decided on, write content. You'll want to aim for at least 300 words per page. Most companies will also offer the service of copywriting if you want it to be done for you.

Things to look out for

Don't enter in to any contracts. Most companies will simply build the site for a fee and leave it there. The only monthly charge should be hosting, which you can organize yourself through various providers such as Imaginet, Hetzner, Afrihost, and so on.

Make sure that you get your own domain name (johnsmithpsychology.co.za, for example). Emails should be free with hosting. Always use a professional email address (john@johnsmithpsychology.co.za).

Make sure that you are given a timeline up front before agreeing to anything, and that the company sticks to the timeline and communicates with you. Don't pay more than a 50% deposit.

Don't go for the cheapest. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for. Look for a company that understands your needs, has a proven track record, and that you feel comfortable with.

Be sure that your new website is mobile friendly, easily legible, and covers your business needs.

If you want to go the free route

I thoroughly discourage building your own site, but if you're set on doing this yourself, you can still build your own website with WIX or Squarespace. Some hosting providers also have their own website builders. You should still follow all of the guides above - get your own domain, prepare your content, do your research, and so on. Just be aware that it won't come at as well as a professionally built site.