mobile web usage

mobile-friendly website for hospitals

Importance of a Mobile-Friendly Website for Healthcare

You know it is important. But why? And how can you tell if your healthcare facility has a mobile-friendly website?

First, Why a Mobile-Friendly Website?

Reason #1: Increase in Usage of Mobile Devices

According to a January 2017 report from Pew Research, here are a few arguments that your hospital’s website should be mobile-friendly.

  • 95% of Americans own a cell phone of some kind and almost 80% own a smart phone. (In 2011, smartphone ownership was just 35%.)
  • 50% of US adults own a tablet
  • Adoption of broadband service has slowed in recent years and a growing number of Americans now use smartphones as their primary online tool

In addition, these statistics don’t just apply to Millennials and Gen Xers…

  • 75% of adults age 50 to 64 own a smart phone
  • More than 40% of adults 65 and over own a smart phone

Simply put, more and more current and prospective patients are using their mobile device to research and locate services and providers including healthcare. They should be able to find a physician, fill out a form and read patient testimonials and reviews conveniently, in the palm of their hand.

Another Reason Your Hospital Must Have a Mobile-Friendly Website: Google Search Results

Since the beginning of 2017, Google uses the mobile version of your hospital’s website to determine rank. Google is all about a better user experience. Simply put, a better user experience makes for a better patient experience.

Furthermore, How to Tell if Your Hospital has a Mobile-Friendly Website

Your hospital or healthcare facility’s website is mobile friendly if it has responsive design. Users to your site shouldn’t have to pinch, pull, drag and zoom. Instead, visitors to your site should be able to find a physician or view a map of your hospital without adjusting the screen. The content on a mobile-friendly website should respond to the screen size of the device they are using. In addition, your mobile-friendly website should be easily and intuitively navigable, and the buttons should be large enough to “click”.

Finally, test your hospital’s website with Google’s Responsive Test Tool.

In conclusion, whether you need a few tweaks or just content added to your current site, or a completely new, mobile-friendly website design, call TotalCom Marketing to discuss what the process looks like.

ABOUT JIMMY WARREN
Early to bed, early to rise, work like crazy and advertise! Jimmy Warren is president of TotalCom Marketing Communications and has over 30 years experience helping many kinds of businesses build a strong brand. A large portion of that experience has been helping hospitals and healthcare organizations. He loves the ‘weird’, interesting and extremely talented people he gets to work with every day – that includes co-workers and clients. Outside of work he enjoys his grand kids, traveling and any kind of good ole fashion Alabama sports. Roll Tide!

Healthcare Marketing: Mobile Prime Time Same as TV Prime Time

Mobile usage peaks at 7 PM daily and continues strong through the evening.

As mobile marketing becomes more feasible and the opportunities for local mobile marketing beginning to accumulate, it’s important for healthcare marketers to analyze consumer usage just like other mediums.   A study by MediaMind  and reported in Advertising Age examined when consumers use their mobile devices to search the web and access mobile apps.  And the results are the same as it is for TV.  The study showed that users surf the web and use mobile apps most during the evening hours, between 7pm and 9pm.

Examining billions of mobile ad impressions across various devices, carriers and operating systems, mobile click-thru rates are also highest between 7pm and midnight, with click-throughs reaching a peak at 8pm.  Other studies from Jumptap and Google confirm the findings.

And it makes sense considering that consumers go home and park themselves in front of the television with their mobile device in their hand or close by.  A whopping 86% of U.S. mobile internet users watch TV with their mobile devices according to a Nielsen and Yahoo study.

This is very useful information for healthcare marketers.  As we begin to examine opportunities for mobile marketing, we should use the available data to maximize its effectiveness.   Which means evenings is the time to maximize exposure on mobile sites