Whilst interpreter services in Australia are highly accessible, and have been shown to improve the quality and safety of health and medical care, the same consideration is not always paid to digital channels of communication. Yet producing content, such as websites, in different languages can benefit both service provider and patient – and the process is relatively straightforward.
Non-English speaking patients are par for the course for doctors and health practitioners in multicultural countries. There are very few who haven’t had to communicate across a language barrier – whether in promoting their service, attempting to understand symptoms or explaining to a patient what care they need. Creating a multicultural website is simply the next step.
For a provider practising in an area with a high Chinese population it makes sense to offer information in Mandarin or Cantonese. The same goes whatever nationality is relevant.
Not only can multilingual content lead to more appointments and enquiries but it also fulfils your obligation to provide patients with the information they need to make informed choices and give informed consent. It also helps build trust in your service.
If you are a private clinic offering specialist services or procedures, such as a cosmetic surgeon or a fertility clinic, you might also be looking to attract overseas clients. In these cases, a multilingual website will make you much more accessible and legitimate to a foreign market.
Research shows that if information in their own language is not easily accessible to consumers, the majority won’t buy. The same applies to medical services to an even greater degree because it is their health in question.
One of the reasons why health practitioners don’t offer other language versions of their website is often due to hesitation over how to effectively implement and manage it. But with the right assistance, the process can be relatively straightforward.
Before you begin, the first step is to go through your current website and decide which content you are going to translate. If you want a complete translation you need to include every element including:
When translating your web content you have two main options:
1. Utilize an online translation tool such as Google Translate
Online translation tools can be timely and cost effective. However, they present a big drawback. By making a literal translation they can miss out or misinterpret key words and meanings.
According to a study by the BMJ, Google Translate has only 57.7% accuracy when used for medical phrase translations. This could have negative consequences if a non-native patient misunderstands a service or what it entails.
2. Hire in the services of a professional medical translator
This is the recommended option. By hiring a qualified translator, which specific medical expertise, you can be more confident that the content will be accurate.
If you want to go one step further, you could also look to localise your site. Consider the format, layout and images – do they match the cultural expectations of your non-native English speaking patients? Do some research. If they don’t, change them.
Unless you have technical knowledge or a simple CMS system in place, enlisting the help of a digital specialist is recommended to get your new multilingual content up and running. They can input the content and set up all the links and code correctly to ensure your site runs smoothly.
One of the best ways to add and manage the new content is by using easy-to-identify links to other languages on the homepage of your current English site.
A multilingual site will set you apart as a medical service provider. It will also give your patients and clients confidence in your services and ensure they have all the information they need to make important choices.
Posted by tmD@NEw in General, Medical Web Marketing on March 15th, 2017
When selecting images for your website, stock photography is often the easiest and most feasible option. Not only is it readily available, but it also offers a professional finish that looks good online. However, although stock images may be appealing, it’s worth thinking twice before using them. Instead of helping your business, this type of content has the potential to put-off prospective patients.
Stock imagery is widely used for medical marketing and advertising purposes, with online sites – such as Getty, Shutterstock and 500px – offering an extensive range of high-quality photographs. Two kinds of stock images are available: royalty-free (almost unlimited use of a photo) and rights-managed (one time use of a photo under a specific license).
When creating a medical website you can access literally thousands of professional-looking images, from doctors and patients to facilities and procedures. Digital databases make them easy to search through and when you find an image you like you can download and upload it instantly.
With such images at your fingertips, why spend valuable time or resources arranging a photoshoot, or relying on your own camera skills or those of your team?
Stock photos may appear to be the great solution, but they lack one very important thing: credibility. Although they are depicting real people and situations, they are not real. This matters, especially in the medical world where demonstrating integrity and building trust are vital components in attracting and retaining patients.
To build trust you need authenticity. Yes, a well-composed stock shot of a smiling doctor and patient may appear to get your point across, but it adds little value to your overall message that you are a genuine, credible service provider. In fact, it can actually create a negative impression with the stylised finish overriding believability.
Potential and existing customers are not fooled by slick, inauthentic photos which show nothing of who you really are. They want to see the human side of your business. They want to see the actual doctors who will be treating them, the kinds of premises you work from and, if relevant, for example for a cosmetic surgery provider, before and after treatment shots.
By using real images you can humanize your service. You can help people establish an emotional connection with your brand which results in greater trust and, ultimately, more appointments. For this reason, taking your own photos, rather than downloading stock images, can be worth the effort – but it must be done right.
Unless you have the creative and technical know-how, taking your own photos for your website is not recommended for medical industry content. Whilst amateur may work well for your social media accounts, on a website they can appear low quality and unprofessional. Instead, it is worth employing a photographer to take the photos for you – just check your staff are comfortable with this before you go ahead.
Not only will a professional ensure the lighting and composition is right, but they can also assist you in developing a visual story that is consistent with your brand and values. This way, you get images that are authentic and unique, but polished. To do this you must be prepared to invest and to update photos when staff come and go, but the end result is often worth it.
In an ideal world, using your own professionally taken photographs on your website is the best way to go. However, sometimes time or money constraints can make stock photos the most viable option for all or part of your content.
If you are looking at using stock, be sure to use quality sites, choose images that complement your content and service values and avoid overly staged or posed shots. And, importantly, pay attention to the copyright licences and who else is using the image – the more it is used, the less effective your SEO efforts. A good graphic designer can guide you through the process.
Images may speak a thousand words, but what those words are matter – so make your website images a priority.
