Q: What are the key benefits of a website?
“Websites are such a common business tool that it’s going to reflect poorly on your program if you don’t have one. When it comes to the benefits, two come to mind. The first is an image. If you can project a professional confident image on your website, it will carry over subliminally to your program. The second is information. A large part of marketing occupational health is playing the education card. The more your clients access your website because it is the most appropriate portal to get what they need, the more you can position yourself as an expert in the area.”
“When I’m prospecting a business, I add our website link so they can just click on it and see all of our services. They don’t have to navigate through the parent organization’s website; they can just click on the link to see our program.”
Q: How do we get our hospital to let us have our own website?
“If you can link, for your health system, the importance of building relationships and creating revenue, you can build a side or micro website and capitalize on the brand of the health system.”“I think it’s important to reorient the hospital’s thinking. The norm is that there is one centralized website, sometimes I get intimidated by such a big site. It takes too long to get from place to place. If there’s a dedicated website, I can get there right from the start and be more comfortable using it.”
Q: What are “must include” for an occupational health website?
“It’s very important to have lots of white space and to utilize photographs. In terms of substance, it’s critical to have some sort of mechanism by which individuals can let you know who they are. Give them an opportunity to ask questions, send a tip, and sign up for this or that so that you can build the all-important contact file. ”
“It’s about getting employers engaged with individuals. Part of occupational health has revolved around health and wellness. One thing we’ve done is create a Community Health Challenge on our website, where employees can sign up. We’ve essentially created a platform for our wellness program and it’s turned into a portal where people receive information. It’s a relationship builder and 75 percent of those members become clients.”
Q: What will a great website look like in the future?
“In the future, the website will be the landing page for the app so people can access our website and our materials wherever they are.”
