1.06 Informed choice

We are going to start by looking at the ways new clients find you without the internet.

Finding you
How do new clients find your practice at the moment? Recommendations from existing clients. Spotting your surgery as they drive to the shops. Printed directories like Yellow Pages. Advertisements you place in local papers.
Of these, a display ad in Yellow Pages probably represents a major portion of your marketing budget. Lets consider your web site as its online equivalent.

Printed directories
What makes printed directories like Yellow Pages so effective? There are four main factors.

1	Universal		There's a free copy around practically every telephone
2	Organised		Practices are grouped into geographical areas
3	Complete		All the practices within the area covered
4	Accurate		When was the last time you found a misprint ? It happens, but it's rare

When someone looks for a practice offline they commonly pick up Yellow Pages. In YP they know that they are looking at a complete and accurate list and that the surgery they select is very likely to be the one that suits them best. They feel that YP lets them make an informed choice.

Practice web sites and informed choice
Lets look at the same factors when someone uses a search engine to look for a practice.

1	Universal		The search engine is universal online in the same way as YP
2	Organised		Certainly not organised
3	Complete		Only practices with a well designed web site appear in results
4	Accurate		Information is often inaccurate or out of date

When someone looks for a practice online they generally start with their preferred search engine. They don't get results that give them the same confidence though. The search engines don't organise their results into convenient geographical areas. Because the search engines only index web sites the list is far from complete. Practice web sites that aren't designed to be easily found are so far down the results that they may as well not exist. Practice web sites that haven't been updated since the initial flush of enthusiasm that saw them created may display out of date information.

Lack of confidence
Clearly, people can't have the same confidence in search engine results as in the vet listings in YP. They may find your web site, they may be impressed by the services you offer, but they can't be certain that you are their best choice because they don't have information about the other surgeries in their area.

Confidence building
How can you build up search engine users confidence to the point where they feel able to make an informed choice? Ideally, every surgery in your area needs an up to date web site as easily found as yours. If the results provided by the search engines were as organised, complete and accurate as those from the print directories then potential clients would have the confidence to act on the information they provide.

From a Simple Practice Site...
We started this series of articles by looking at the design considerations for a simple practice web site. Once work on its design reached this point it became clear that, before our one web site could be fully effective at attracting new clients, every practice in its area would ideally need a quality, easily found, web site so that visitors could make an informed choice.

Counterintuitive
This, initially, sounds counterintuitive. Why wish that all your competitors have a web site? The reason largely comes from the unique way that vets, companion animal practices in particular, are seen by their clients. The prime consideration for the majority of clients is distance. They may be influenced by the ease of parking or the provision of specific services but initially they want to know which practice is nearest. Something of the order of 85% of urban small animal clients live within two miles of their chosen surgery.

Only web site
If you are the only practice in your area with a web site then the majority of potential new clients visiting your site will not be able to decide whether your surgery is their best choice. They may be impressed by the services you offer but will remain hopeful that a nearer surgery will match your provision. They will look elsewhere for the information they need, probably reverting to Yellow Pages, and your investment in your web site will bring you no benefit.

Web sites for all practices
If, on the other hand, they can find listings for all the surgeries in their area then they will feel able to make an informed selection. They will be able to decide which surgeries are nearest. They will be able to compare services. Your web site can then have an effect similar to a larger ad in Yellow Pages. You can extol your virtues, promote the superiority of your services and show a picture of your car park so they know that your parking is easy.

We decided to take a look at what might happen to our simple web site project as other practices in the area gained web sites.

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