A healthcare provider directory is more than just a place on your website to stick a list of your care team and the locations they work from — it’s a critical touchpoint for patients seeking care.
A well-crafted provider profile can make all of the difference in building trust, enhancing your organization’s reputation, and ultimately driving appointments.
Here are some practical ideas for ways you can make your healthcare provider directory and individual profiles more engaging, humanizing, and user-focused:
1. Regularly audit and update information
Trying to find care using outdated information immediately erodes trust, and can lead to frustrating patient experiences.
Ensure your provider profiles are consistently reviewed for accuracy and updated to reflect changes such as new office locations and contact details, accepted insurance plans, new certifications or specialties, and the conditions the provider treats.
Make auditing a routine part of your marketing strategy to keep your profiles as reliable as the care you provide.
2. Invest in professional, recent headshots
First impressions matter, and a professional headshot goes a long way in creating a warm and approachable image.
Use high-quality, consistent photography across all profiles to build trust with prospective patients, strengthen your organization’s brand identity, and create a polished, cohesive look throughout your healthcare provider directory. Avoid generic stock photos whenever possible; patients want to see the real people who will be part of their care team.
3. Craft thorough, engaging bios
A great bio goes beyond listing a provider’s credentials. Every bio in your directory should showcase the provider’s expertise while highlighting their personality and approach to care.
When updating your bios or writing new ones from scratch, consider including information like their areas of specialization and clinical interests, why they chose those specializations, their education and professional background, languages spoken, and personal anecdotes or hobbies.
This balance of professionalism and relatability helps patients feel a personal connection before their first visit.
4. Create multimedia content
Static profiles can only say so much about who a provider is and the care a patient can expect from them.
Bring your provider profiles to life with engaging multimedia elements like introduction videos, blog posts or articles written by the provider, or even interviews or podcast episodes where the providers dive into their care specialties.
Geonetric client Bronson Healthcare features “Get to Know” videos to showcase providers’ personalities, special interests, and commitment to their patients, community, and work. The results? Increased patient engagement and time spent on the website.
5. Include patient ratings and reviews
If your organization doesn’t include patient ratings in your healthcare provider directory, now is the time to change that.
Transparency is key in today’s healthcare landscape; featuring verified patient ratings and reviews on your provider profiles can enhance credibility, highlight providers’ strengths, and influence prospective patients’ decision-making process.
Be sure to moderate reviews to maintain accuracy and professionalism, and consider responding to both positive and negative feedback to show your commitment to patient satisfaction.
6. Add search-friendly features
Another healthcare provider directory upgrade we helped Bronson with was adding Schema-structured data, like star ratings, to make it easier for search engines to understand and display key information such as provider names, specialties, office locations, and ratings.
Developing a portfolio of keywords is also helpful in creating more robust and search-friendly page titles and descriptions to increase organic search traffic.
Learn more about the SEO tactics you can employ on your provider profiles here.
Time to let your providers shine
Your provider profiles are often the first impression potential patients have of your healthcare organization. By implementing these content ideas, you can create profiles that not only inform but also inspire confidence and connection.
An excellent provider profile also depends on the directory platform you use to host them. Geonetric can help you with our sophisticated VitalSite® provider directory, which is designed with everything healthcare marketers need to attract, engage, and convert prospective patients.
If you’re ready to highlight your providers and showcase the quality of care your organization provides, reach out to our team to learn more about our healthcare provider directory, web design, and physician marketing services!
Want to hear from other healthcare organizations who worked with Geonetric on successful healthcare provider directory upgrades? Check out our case studies on Iowa-based Mercy Medical Center and Nebraska’s Bryan Health system.
