Maybe you started your website yourself, but now you want someone else to take it to the next level. Perhaps you’ve got a full practice that doesn't need any new patients, but you’d like to provide great information to your current patients. Whatever your specific reason may be, you’ve come to a point where you’re revisiting your website. With that, you’re likely considering changing website providers.
Are you trying to determine whether or not you should switch website providers? It’s a question that many chiropractors might face in their careers. We’ve compiled a list of key areas to focus on in making your decision.
Establish the Goal of Your Website
Before we dive into the evaluation criteria, it’s important that you make sure that your business, marketing, and website goals are up to date. Your goals might have changed since you created your existing website. Take a few minutes to jot down your goals. Here are some examples of popular goals that we’ve come across to help get you started:
- Get more patients
- Spend less time on marketing
- Rank higher in local search results
- Get more traffic from the internet
- Start a blog
Evaluate Chiropractic Website Providers Based
Whatever your specific goals may be, you’ll want to keep them in the back of your mind as you compare website providers. This way you’ll be more likely to pick a website provider that better aligns with your company’s specific requirements, which will increase your chances of success.
Now, let’s dive into the four areas for consideration:
1. Features
Features are a big one when it comes to your website. Many website providers offer their own menu of features. Here are ten of the most common features:
- Setup Time
- Customization Features
- Custom Domain
- SSL Certificate
- Storage Space
- SEO Features
- Mobile Optimized
- Accessibility Menu
- Built-In Content
- Analytics
It’s important for you to know your goals because it will help you narrow down what features are necessary for your business case. Chances are you will find yourself using a few key features while not using other features.
2. Support
Have you ever needed help with your website or had a question about something? How responsive was your current website provider? Support is an important factor in selecting a website provider. Some website providers offer excellent support no matter what plan you’re on while others charge extra for premium support. Some providers offer robust knowledge bases or support portals that house guides to answer common questions.
You’ll need to ask yourself how many times you’ve had to contact support in the past and imagine what kind of questions you might have in the future. Do the website providers that you’re evaluating offer support options that meet your needs?
3. Pricing
Has your budget gone up or down lately? Depending on the direction of the change, you might have more or less money to spend on a website. Different website providers offer different pricing. Here are some types of pricing that you might come across:
- Pay annually and receive a discount: Under this pricing option, it’s essentially the same as signing a 12-month contract and receiving a discount for the commitment. This is great if you’re certain that you want to stick with a provider, but if you’re trying someone out for the first time it might be best to start with month-to-month.
- One time setup fee: This is something that is more common among smaller providers. You might notice that they list a one-time setup fee that can range from tens to hundreds of dollars. Even if you have an existing website, you might still have to pay a fee to get set up on one of these providers.
- Tiered pricing based on features: This type of pricing is more common among large providers. They basically turn features on or off depending on what plan you sign up for with the more expensive plans being the most feature-rich.
- No contracts: This type of pricing doesn’t require a time-commitment or have a cancellation fee. It’s the ideal type of pricing for trying out a new website provider.
4. Expertise
Expertise can often be overlooked, but it’s an important factor in picking a website provider. Many of the large website providers serve thousands of verticals. You could consider them a jack of all trades, but master of none.
As a chiropractor, if you’re considering a website provider there is something to be said for choosing a business that understands your trade. Selecting a website provider who has expertise in serving chiropractors can serve you well in the long run. These providers will better understand your business needs, and many of them often have added features that are tailored to chiropractors.
We understand that picking the right website provider is a big decision. In order to better help the chiropractic community, we’ve put together this website provider evaluation worksheet to help you determine which website provider is right for you.
