Buying Guide: Website Designers

WEB WIZARDS

Savvy web designers who build slick sites can help ECPs differentiate from their competitors.

This article originally appeared in the June 2016 edition of INVISION.

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Once upon a time, a well-designed website was
considered just a nice thing for a small business to
have. Today it’s a must. The modern patient is likely to
research your practice online, and probably a few others,
before she ever walks through your doors. Steve
Freed, vice president at EyeVertise, calls your website
the “billboard” of your practice. If your billboard looks weathered and dated, it probably won’t persuade
potential clients to get off at the nearest exit and see
what you have to offer. Your site should also adhere
to a few best practices and inform visitors about what
you bring to the table. If done right, a newly redesigned
website can convert visitors to clients and help you
outshine your competition. — JESSE BURKHART

 

POINTS TO CONSIDER

➤ Understand the
Goal. “You must have
new business as the
goal,” says Michael
Porat, COO of Eye
Care Pro, “and that
will drive all of your
decisions from a design
and content perspective.”
To that end,
he says to make sure
that your practice’s
contact information is
prominently displayed throughout the site
and that you offer
a way for visitors to
schedule appointments
online.

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➤ Be unique. EyeVertise’s Freed
says it’s critical for
your site to stand
out and not look like
“every other practice
with a template
website.” That means
highlighting specialties
and anything
else that makes your
practice different
from the rest.

➤ Keep current. Rod Yost, president of
EyeMotion/Eye-IQ,
recommends that
your website include
a blog so that you can
communicate the
latest news about
your practice and any
upcoming events. The
key, though, is to regularly
update it — as
well as any other pages
on your website with
information that could
change frequently —
since your site “reflects
the image of your
practice,” he says.

➤ Go mobile. Last
year, Google searches
on mobile devices
eclipsed searches performed
on desktops.
With mobile traffic on
the rise, it’s essential
that your site be easily
viewed and navigated
when it’s accessed on
phones and tablets.
Talk to any web design
or marketing pro that
serves the eyecare
industry, and they’ll
tell you that having a
mobile-friendly site is
a requirement, not an
option.

➤ Mimic yourself. Your website should
match the aesthetic
and personality of your
business. For example,
if you sell high-end
frames, then you want
your site to reflect the
quality of products
offered. The idea is
that you’re “trying to
build a website that sets
correct expectations of
what [customers] are
going to see when they
[walk in],” says Daniel
Feldman, CEO of dba
designs & communications.

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WHAT ECPs SAY

KEN MELIES

CFO, EUROPTICS, DENVER, CO

➤ With our redesign, creating
a website for the mobile
environment was the first
priority. The goal was to
create a website that’s compatible
with all devices while
maintaining the integrity of
the Europtics brand.

➤ We added some features
that allow clients to schedule
eye exams and request customer
service. We were also
able to create an environment
that supports online
reviews because those have
become more prominent in
the reflection of the brand.
Instead of making clients go
find us on Yelp, Facebook or
Google+, we incorporated
all of those sites into one
place to streamline the user
experience.

➤ Driving engagement with
clients was important for our
redesign. We’ve definitely
had positive feedback and
experienced a lot of engagement
from all of the new
avenues they can interact
with us.