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It's quite common for practices to customize their web sites in an attempt to simultaneously achieve two primary goals: 1) to serve existing patients and capture new ones, and 2) to sell optical products such as frames and contact lenses online. The question is, can a practice successfully achieve both goals with a single web site?
If properly built, a web site can certainly achieve the first goal of serving existing as well as new patients by including background information about the staff, the practice's location, and contact details, along with self-service tools such as questionnaires, appointment scheduling, and insurance forms.
Achieve One Goal at a Time
In addition, part of the first goal of serving patients online does tend to also include a sub-goal of selling optical products to them. In this scenario, it appears that the second goal of selling products has been achieved, but in reality, this is only partly true. Yes, the web site is able to sell products to existing patients, but it is unlikely to function well selling products to any visitor, specifically to non-patients who view the web site.
Non-patients who are actively seeking to buy a pair of eyeglasses, sunglasses, or to refill their contact lenses, are not interested in the background information about your practice that is most prominent if your web site is designed to serve patients. They will not see a web site that is geared toward purchasing optical products online. Therefore, it would seem that the two primary goals of an optical practice's web site - 1) serving patients and 2) selling products - are at odds with each other.
Two web Sites are Better than One
The goal of serving existing patients is not achieved in the same way as selling products online to any site visitor, whether they are patients or not. They each require different styles of web site, with a different primary focus and with different information requirements. Because of this, it is unlikely that a single site can successfully achieve both goals. Consequently, when establishing expectations as to what the site will achieve, leave out the expectation that this will be a one-stop-shop for everyone.
If you try to force your web site to make everybody happy, you're likely to end up making nobody happy. The solution for achieving both goals is now fairly obvious, build yourself a second and separate web site that is 100% e-commerce focused. In this manner, you can better achieve your two primary goals: 1) Your first site can serve existing patients and capture new ones, and 2) Your second site is a perfect sales tool to sell optical products such as frames and contact lenses online.
Reprinted with permission of Vision Care Venture, First Vision Media Group.
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“... Google Checkout is the perfect ecommerce solution for my dry eye products ..."
- Dr. Alan Schlussel
dryeyecare.net
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