Kansas City, MO -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/02/2010 -- Appearances aren’t everything, but they do account for much of a first impression. As people increasingly search for healthcare on the internet, your web presence and the image it projects for your practice become a vital part of your identity. Still, we see a horrifying number of health networks and private practices with archaic, unsightly websites.

Possible new patients can be turned off instantly by a number of factors relating just to your website. Many pages are hard to navigate. If a user has to search for more than 20 seconds to find the options they want, research shows they give up, returning to the search engine to find another doctor in their area they can more effortlessly explore. Another website faux pas: not having enough resources. People now expect information on your doctors, location, services and personality. They also want links to good health information. “We see this mistake most often with practices that prematurely launch their site just to make sure they have a web presence,” says Jonathan Whistman, Partner at (e)Merge. “Once the initial framework is up with very limited information, it is often ignored, staying inadequate for years.”

“We also see a number of providers who start putting content like videos, calendars of events and blogs up. This is great, until you let the content get stale. No one wants to visit your site and see that your last blog post was 2 years and five months ago. They now consider the site abandoned or under maintained,” says Whistman. Partner Jamie Verkamp agrees. “In many instances, I would rather a business had no website at all. At least then my first impression is not that they are out of date, out of touch or technologically inept. If you’re website looks like it’s from 1995, what kind of idea does that then give me about the technology in your office?”

The solution lies in your mentality: you must think of and treat your website like another business location. The look needs to be consistent with your image and brand. It needs to be professional and welcoming. Information needs to be readily available, making it simple for the user to get to know you and your practice. It must also be easy to interact with the practice and staff- whether through social media links, email options or display of phone numbers and addresses. Verkamp says web surfers must also feel like they are being engaged in real time. This means content must be updated on a regular basis. “We can’t all be techies. Sometimes it’s easier to hire someone to keep up your site or to implement the content you generate. The cost is reasonable and well worth the investment.”

(e)Merge is a medical practice growth consulting firm specializing in providing innovative, patient-centric marketing initiatives and medical mystery shopping services that enhance patient experiences to increase referrals. Call 1.877.362.6584 or visit http://www.emergewithus.com.