Your Web Site: To Find or Not to Find

Twice in the past two weeks I have had home care agency owners say they need a new Web site, but that their cousin/brother, etc. is doing it and they are doing a good job. Twice in the past two weeks I have looked at those familial Web sites and, they do look fine. Should you have any questions as to HOW important having a Web site is to a home care company, take a look at the latest Pew Internet Report on usage among older people.

Then think about the fact that designing a Web site is not like designing a brochure. For a brochure, you are sending it out, or hand delivering it, or folks are picking it out of a rack in a health care facility. So it is the design and message that attracts them. For a Web site, unless the potential customer stumbles upon your site, or can find it via a search engine, they will not find it. So design, although important, is only one factor in what makes a Web site work.

The most important element is Web site design is the ability for search engines to pick up on the words that someone seeking care in your area would use to find home care. If search engine marketing (SEM) is not a part of the design strategy, then you might as well not spend y our money to have that cousin/brother design the site, no matter how low the cost. Think of it as designing a brochure and then putting all the printed pieces in a box and storing them in the basement. Sure, someone who is looking in the basement might find them, but that does not mean they accomplish your marketing goal.

Take a look at these sites: http://www.livefreehomehealthcare.com/ and http://www.independence4seniors.com/ and http://www.blackstonehc.com/. Three VERY different sites in designs, but all designed a) to  match the agency branding and b) to get attention with search engines and c) created and implemented by corecubed. Designed with SEO in mind, we call it. And ONE of these sites has had over a 1000% increase is visits over the past month, since it went live because of great media timing as well. Both employee applications and legitimate client requests for service started immediately upon the sites going live.

If you wanted a fancy wedding cake baked and designed for your oldest daughter’s wedding because that would make her happy, would you go to your neighbor who bakes for fun? When outcomes are important to you, hire someone who is an expert.  Choosing wisely which items to have done locally and which ones to outsource to experts is key to getting the best results. Your Web site, in this day and age, is simply one item that needs expert attention, and not causal or familial assignment. We at corecubed have been building Web sites since 1998 and I have had a Web site since 1993. Our Web design team is steeped in SEO knowledge. So we design for beauty, messaging AND SEO.

Take a questionnaire to have a new design priced: 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IxzRSjoJaEyrVN86uuAEbw_3d_3d

Herre is a link to a redesign questionnaire:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=LYR08Vcg_2bsBZhvYzeXb9jQ_3d_3d