Rehab Website Aesthetics: The Importance Of Good First Impressions
When it comes to websites, first impressions matter. How you present your treatment center online to potential clients and their loved ones can make the difference between them calling or shifting their focus to your competitors. Perhaps Will Rogers said it best, “You will never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
When individuals are researching treatment options for themselves or a loved one, they want both information and reassurance. This requires having a website that has useful content presented in a professional, user-friendly format. Your target audience will appreciate having the ability to find answers to their questions quickly. They need specific guidance on how to take the next step and a clean website can do that for them.
Of course, creating a treatment center website that is both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional is easier said than done. There are many considerations. Some of these apply to all websites in every industry, and others pertain specifically to treatment center marketing.
Website Usability
While colors, images, and layout are all important elements of a website’s aesthetics, there are also functional elements that are equally as important. For example, page load times can either encourage a visitor to keep navigating or frustrate them enough to leave. Error messages, broken links, and undeveloped pages are equally as problematic. With websites increasingly being viewed on mobile devices, it’s also vital to ensure your website is mobile-optimized.
Company Branding
Just like every other industry, brand elements like logos and taglines are an important part of rehab marketing, both on and off-line. Having a strong logo to brand your treatment center is a way to help visitors and clients remember you and your message. It also adds credibility to business to have a professionally designed, memorable brand identity.
Colors And Images
The colors you choose for your logo and throughout your website will have a tremendous impact on your site’s attractiveness and the site user’s emotional response. Individuals respond to colors on a subconscious level and will make decisions and judgments in a matter of seconds based upon how they react to the various hues and shades on your site.
Like color, images can also greatly influence how a visitor responds to your website. Obviously, images need to resonate with your target market. They also need to be high quality photos or graphics to create a positive impact. Although stock photos are commonly used in treatment center marketing, they can sometimes create a sense of inauthenticity. Often, it’s worth the extra expense to invest in quality photography to have unique images that truly represent your center.
You can see the differences in the feelings you get in the below example of stock photography vs. an actual facility photo. The real photo is much more warm and inviting.
Website Navigation
It can be terribly frustrating when you can’t easily find what you’re looking for on a website. This is particularly true in the case of treatment facility sites. Potential clients and their loved ones who are seeking information about addiction and treatment options want answers to their questions quickly. Content needs to be clearly presented with understandable menus, tabs, and options that guide visitors to where they specifically want to go.
Creating a website that works on all levels is no simple task. It requires a broad understanding of marketing along with an eye for detail. Want to learn more about how to maximize the success of your rehab marketing efforts? Call us today at 781-405-5815
