Reassessing goals and direction mi
d-project is almost always a good thing (we actually encourage it) when it’s guided by data, common sense, and the desire constantly improve your audience’s online experience.
We recently helped Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH revamp its web presence with one overarching goal in mind: focus on patient experience. It’s really no different than any other website goal because helping your website visitors find the info they need and take the actions you want them to go hand in hand.
One way we initially thought we could achieve that goal was by providing lots of online forms so people could request everything from prescription refills to information about physicians in their area. Clear calls to action, we assumed, would cut down on the amount of phone calls going into the call center, and help patients quickly and easily connect online.
What happened instead was that while form usage was hugely successful (form completions continue to rise each month), CMC also saw the number calls into their call center increase by 24 percent versus the same time period last year before the new site launched. So why the increase? Websites are supposed to make things more efficient, right? The obvious reason is that more people were finding the hospital online due to improved SEO implementation so more people are visiting the site. Sure, makes sense.
But looking more closely at the data and how people were using the site, we learned that patients ultimately will engage with the hospital in the way they feel most comfortable. Despite the obviously and strategically placed forms, one of the most visited pages on the site is the “Contact Us” page with phone numbers, directions, and yes – a contact form.
What’s really important is making sure we are starting conversations and providing information in the right order and in a way that makes sense logically, so when a site visitor is ready to make the next step, there are no barriers between them and picking up the phone, completing a web form, or using other proactive tools designed make the online discovery process easier.
And that’s the part of digital marketing that we love. We make assumptions, set, goals, and build solutions designed to test and measure the assumptions. From there, we analyze the data to continuously improve online experiences, and set new goals based on what we learn.
Learn more about our work with Catholic Medical Center
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This is a great post. We, too, have found that our online marketing efforts – in addition to driving traffic and sales through our website – continue to drive more calls, as well. In our situation, we sell higher end equipment and believe customers would actually like to speak to a real person–as you state, comfort levels differ from person to person. Traffic is traffic – we must cater to all forms!