A well-designed pharmacy website can make a huge difference to your business and bottom line.
Your pharmacy website’s major functions are to draw visitors in, convert them into patients, and serve and connect with your current patient base. As you build your website, consider how you can meet your audience’s needs and leverage available resources to attract more visitors.
To help get you started, here are our top 10 must-haves for every pharmacy site:
1. HIPAA-Compliant Security
If you are planning on allowing patients to refill medications and/or communicate with you, your website needs to be HIPAA-compliant. If your website is not compliant, there is a higher risk of a breach which potentially could lead to a possible violation and fine. Website HIPAA compliance requires data encryption, secure storage processes, compliant hosting services, and more. You can also consider looking for a customizable HIPAA-compliant healthsite that will fit your needs.
2. Clear Calls-To-Action (CTAs)
Make sure your current and potential patients know what to do once they land on your website. You can easily do this by including noticeable buttons on your website to refill or transfer a prescription, email staff, and even call the pharmacy. Put them in prominent positions on your websites and direct visitors to them by using clear and easy-to-read copy, such as “Contact Us” or “Transfer Your Prescription.”
3. Contact and Location Information
Website visitors and patients need to be able to reach your pharmacy at all times. Your business and location information, including phone and fax numbers, email address, location, and social media accounts, should be strategically placed on your website. The top or eye level portion, known as “above the fold,” is ideal, especially on your homepage, but your page footer may also work well.
4. Search Engine Optimization
Like proper HIPAA compliance, this is an important feature that won’t always be visible to users. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of positioning your online content to show up in search engine page results (SERPs). From webpage formatting to local search maps, there are a lot of ways to improve your website’s performance. For more information, start with our post on SEO basics for pharmacies.
5. Mobile-Friendly User Experience (UX)
In an age where mobile internet is quickly surpassing desktop usage, it’s important to think outside the box about how users will access and use your website. Multi-platform integration compatibility across devices
6. Staff Photos and Bios
This is a perfect opportunity to introduce your team to current and potential patients. Add photos and short bios of your pharmacists on the homepage and an “Our Team” page for technicians and the rest of the staff. To help humanize your brand and connect with the community, include photos of your staff in action, pharmacy events, and the pharmacy’s interior and exterior around the site.
7. Dynamic and Quality Content
Make sure any content you publish, whether social media posts, videos, or blogs, is relevant to your audience and answers questions they may have about healthcare. They should also be well-written and easy to read with a clear call-to-action at the end. In addition to quality content, content that is updated regularly is one of the best indicators of a website’s relevancy, which can help you rank for more search queries
8. Digital Tools and Services
Letting your patients know you have gone digital is important. Promote any digital services you offer, such as online prescription refills and additional digital tools like a pharmacy mobile app, messaging tool, or IVR system. Your website is also the perfect place to include details on accessing any digital tools and instructions for downloading, setting up, and troubleshooting them.
9. Terms and Conditions
Although not legally required, it is recommended that you include terms and conditions to encourage users to follow proper guidelines when using your website. It will protect the content and services you provide from infringement, limit liability, and protect your site from misuse.
10. Privacy Policy
This is required by a number of federal and state laws if you collect personal data (name, email address, physical address or location information). There’s no specific requirement for where on your website the privacy policy should go, but experts recommend placing it close to your Terms and Conditions. If you’re not sure how to create one, here’s a template to get you started.
For more information on how a branded website can take your online presence to the next level, give us a call at 877-959-7550 or get in touch today.
