How Hard Does Your Website Work For You?
Pharmacies have always been central to the communities they serve and this no different now even with the big move to digital healthcare.
Where before customers might visit your physical location straight away, now it’s common for them to go online first. They’ll read reviews about your pharmacy, see what services you have to offer and might even fill in a contact form online all before visiting your physical location.
It’s this factor that makes it so important to have a website that not only shows off your pharmacies services and qualities, but works for your customers.
It’s helpful to think of your website as an extension of your physical store. It can help you attract new customers, retain existing ones, and offer a level of convenience that’s becoming expected.
Plus your website isn’t just about being online—it’s about standing out online. With more competition coming from other pharmacies and quickly changing treatments, having a the right website can help you stand out from local competition and increase monthly revenue.
Judging How Hard Your Website Is Working
So, how do you know if your pharmacy website is pulling its weight? There are a few key metrics that can help you determine whether your site is doing its job or needs some fine-tuning.
Traffic to Your Website
The first thing to look at is where your traffic is going. Are people landing on your homepage and then leaving, or are they exploring other pages? If your pharmacy offers services like flu vaccinations or weight loss consultations, you should have dedicated pages for these services. If these pages aren’t getting much traffic, it could be a sign that they’re not easy to find, or that your website isn’t effectively communicating the value of these services.
Phone Calls from your Website
Phone calls remain a crucial part of customer service and engagement, especially for pharmacies. If your website features a prominent phone number, you should be tracking how many calls are coming in as a result. This can be done using call tracking software, which assigns a unique phone number to your website or at a minimum event tracking to log when someone clicks on the number.
If your phone isn’t ringing with new orders, it might be time to reconsider how visible your contact information is, or whether your website is effectively encouraging visitors to get in touch.
Contact Form Submissions
The number of form submissions can be a strong indicator of how well your site is performing. If visitors aren’t using these forms, it could be a sign that they’re hard to find, too complicated, or not clearly explained. Simplifying forms and placing them in prominent locations can often increase submissions and in turn monthly revenue.
Appointments Booked
For pharmacies that offer services like health checks, flu vaccinations, or consultations, the number of appointments booked through the website is a key metric.
Online booking systems make it easy for customers to schedule an appointment at their convenience, but only if they’re easy to use and prominently displayed. If bookings are low, it’s worth reviewing the booking process to ensure it’s as straightforward as possible.
Where Pharmacy Websites Struggle
Even with the best intentions, pharmacy websites can fall into some common traps that prevent them from reaching their full potential.
Hiding Important Information
It sounds like common sense but it’s easily forgotten, don’t bury the information you customers need in awkward places on your website. Every service you offer should have a dedicated page with clear, easy-to-read information that answers their questions and tells them what to do next. Don’t assume that your visitors know what you do—tell them what they need to know.
No Clear Path to Conversion
Similarly to hiding information, one of the worst things you can do is not making it clear how customers can get in touch with you. Make sure it’s clear where your pharmacy is, when it’s open and phone numbers to get in touch with you. If you want them to fill in a form or place an order, make it obvious which buttons to click and how to pay. If visitors have to hunt for the next step, they’re more likely to leave without taking any action which means you’ll be leaving money on the table.
Not Testing on Multiple Devices and Platforms
Everyone uses different devices to access the internet, from smartphones to tablets to desktops. If your website isn’t optimised for different screen sizes and platforms, you could be losing out on potential customers. For example, a form that works fine on desktop could not work on mobiles which means all your mobile traffic and users can’t get in touch. Testing your website thoroughly on as many devices as possible is the best way to prevent these problems.
We know that this can be a daunting task, especially when you’re busy just running your pharmacy. That’s where we can help!
We offer our Optimiser+ service to pharmacies across the UK to take a closer look at how their website is performing and find ways we can make your website work harder and drive more revenue.
Through this service we look at how your website works for real customers, across mobile and desktop devices to see where they can’t complete actions, are ignoring content or become frustrated and leave your website.
We’ll find ways to get more revenue from your current website and suggest improvements for new services and products to help your pharmacy grow online.
Want to know more? Contact us to find out more about our Optimiser+ service and get your free consultation.