May 24, 2024 • 23 mins
Episode 9 of The Drake Insights Podcast dives into senior living community website reviews. Host Natasha Drake emphasizes the importance of a website as a crucial first impression. Learn the top 5 tips on how to do a review of your community's website to ensure you are attracting and converting qualified leads into prospects and residents. She then breaks down each tip into specific strategies, ideas and interactive tools you can use.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is the Drake insights podcast,your weekly dose of cutting edge
senior living marketing insights.
Join me, your host, Natasha Drake for boldideas, proven strategies and inspiring
stories straight from the experts.
Tune in and let's conquer the seniorliving marketing landscape together.
Hey guys, welcome back tothe Drake Insights Podcast.
I'm your host NatashaDrake from Drake Strategic.
(00:23):
Let's get started.
So on today's episode, we're goingto do a deeper dive into a website
review so that you at home can takea look at your website and see if
there's anything that you're missing.
So a few weeks ago, when I was givingmy top marketing tips, I mentioned
it's important for your websiteto be informative, interactive
and have strong conversion points.
(00:44):
I'm going to dig in a little furtherabout what I mean in each of those
categories and a few other things.
So let's get started.
So the first most important thingis to understand that in today's
digital world, your website isyour new real estate curb appeal.
You know, when we do a firstimpression audit, and we're looking
at the first impression of a visitorcoming to your community, right?
(01:06):
We're looking at what are they seeingwhen they pull up and they're parking
the front entrance and everything?
We have to start thinking of ourwebsite in the same exact way because
I would say at least 90 percent ofyour people that are coming to visit
are going to your website first.
So truly your website and the curb appealon your website is the first impression
(01:30):
all of your prospects, their influencers,their adult children are getting on you.
And does your websitetruly reflect who you are?
Is it giving them the vibe, themessage that you want them to get?
Just like when they're coming tovisit and tour your community, are
they getting that same feeling?
So that's the first thing you wantto think of is your website isn't
(01:53):
just a quick place for them to go to.
No, that's the first place they're going.
That's their first impressionof you as a community.
And I think as well in today's digitalworld, prospects and consumers expect
websites to have what they're looking for.
So, if they're having a bad experienceon your website, if they're not able
(02:13):
to find what they're looking for,unfortunately, we all do it, right?
When we're looking at buying thingsor looking at real estate or whatever
it might be and you're looking onconsumer websites, we compare them.
And so they may choose anothercommunity over yours just
because their website is flashy.
And I know you're probably thinking,okay, well, it's just a website.
(02:35):
When they get to mycommunity, they'll see it.
The problem is we want toincrease those quality leads that
are converting from your site.
And so if we're notfocusing on our website.
And that first impression, we're reallygoing to be decreasing the conversions,
the number of prospects you're getting.
And I'm sure you're spending alot of money on paid advertising,
SEO, blogs, and content.
(02:57):
So we want to make sure thatthat website is really strong.
The reason I'm bringing this to yourattention so that you can just take
a step back, take a look at yourwebsite, see if it's hitting all the
marks of the things I'm mentioning.
And if it's not.
It's just a great opportunity for you towork with your agency, or find a digital
agency, or work with me to see how wecan make maybe some small adjustments
(03:19):
to make your website be truly alignedwith who you are and really hitting all
of these points I'm about to mention.
So the first thing is, like I mentioned,your first impression and your brand.
So when you get to your site and you'retaking a look at that homepage, because
most visitors, that's where they spend amajority of their time is on the homepage.
(03:39):
And depending on your website,that can range from one second,
you know, to three minutes.
So we want to make sure it's hittingthe marks and has a lot of content.
So the first thing you wantto look at is your brand.
Does it feel like you?
Does it have an updated logo, a tagline,your brand colors, your brand positioning?
(04:03):
Does it sound like you?
In language and tone, you know,a lot of times we spend the
time figuring out our strengths.
Have you done a strengthand SWOT analysis?
Are those strengths clearlydefined on your website in
imagery and messaging, right?
So do the photos reflect who you are?
And does the tone and the messagereflect your strengths and who you are?
(04:26):
And is it clear for them, right?
You don't want to have to siftthrough and be like, Oh, well,
there's one photo that looks like us.
And there's one strong headline,no, right in their face.
When they first come to yourwebsite, does it really feel and
reflect who you are in your brand,your positioning and your tone?
Also, what is the transparencyand the tone in your messaging?
(04:48):
Are we a resource to them?
Are we a friendly relationshipguide like you are when they visit?
That should be the same tone inyour messaging on your website.
Just like when you are meeting withprospects and you're touring prospects,
right, and you're building that rapportwith them and that trust and that
relationship and you're guiding themas a resource through this process.
(05:12):
Your website shouldreflect that same tone.
So, does it have a tone of transparencyand friendly and warm, inviting,
I'm a guide, I'm a resource for youto get you through this process?
Or does it sound likeyou're just selling to them?
And you're in advertising,you know, an ad.
So, Look at those things again to recap.
(05:34):
Is it showcasing yourbrand, your positioning?
Does it have your strengths clearlydefined and in tone and voice?
And does it have that resource guide,transparent relationship building,
you know, friendly voice and tone?
The next thing is user experience.
I'm not going to get into all thedetails that these UX specialists
(05:55):
that exist in the digital agency worlddo, because they do a lot of little
finite details, but the main thing Iwant to say is user experience, right?
What is the experience your prospectsand their adult children are
getting when they come to your site?
Is it easy to follow?
Does the website flow and make sense?
Can you easily click through links andget to the places you're looking for?
(06:19):
Is it easy to read?
You know, especially for older adults,is there other accessibility options
on the websites that they can read itmore clearly or have it read aloud.
Again, easy to navigate, easy to whatthey're looking for, strong headlines.
They're not searching going, well,I was just looking for pricing or
I'm just looking for floor plans.
(06:40):
I can't find it.
You don't want them to get frustrated.
You want it to be clear and easyfor them to scroll, see images,
strong headlines, minimal copy.
Links to, to get throughout the site, youknow, maybe you want to highlight a blog
or some content or photos and videos.
What do you want them to look at?
Just like again, when they cometo tour your community, what is it
(07:04):
you want to show them and you wantthem, you want to explain to them?
Let's create that same journey and thatexperience on the website in that ease of
navigation and have the user experiencejust like you want them to experience
a good and successful and strong visittour when they come to your community.
Let's have them have that sameexperience on your website.
(07:27):
The next three I'm going to go throughare what I mentioned a few weeks ago.
So, informative, interactive,and has strong conversion points.
So, informative.
You know, we want to make sure again thatwe're being a guide and a resource, just
like you are when you're doing that tour.
So, does your websiteclearly define who you are?
Are they able to findeverything they need?
(07:49):
They're coming to your website becausethey are looking for information,
and if we're not providing thatinformation, they're going to
leave and find it somewhere else.
It's just like when you're doingresearch or searching for some
kind of consumer product, right?
If you're not getting whatyou're looking for, then you're
going to go to the next option.
And in today's competitive worldwhere everyone's searching digitally,
(08:10):
we want to make sure that everythingthey're looking for is there.
Amenities, the services, the carethat's provided, the team members,
the floor plans, the pricing isvery important to have listed there.
So that's another thing Iwant to mention that I talked
about as well a few weeks ago.
I know there's some contention aboutlisting your pricing and that can be
(08:32):
scary and I totally understand it.
I've been there.
I've been on the sales side whereit's scary going, well, I want to be
able to explain that in person so theyunderstand, you know, what's included.
There are more options and tools nowthat we can list at least starting rates.
We want our prospects to know, are we evenin the range of what they're looking for?
(08:54):
Otherwise, you may be gettingunqualified prospects, right?
That can't even afford you.
Or you're going to leave yoursite because they want pricing,
they're going to get frustratedand they're going to just drop off.
So at least listing starting pricing.
And I know that's difficult sometimeswhen it comes to the life plan,
CCRC communities, because thereare contracts and it's hard to
(09:16):
explain all of that on a website.
But if we can give a briefoverview of what that means.
Maybe have some downloadable guide towalk them through that content structure.
Some videos of someonetalking about that content.
And now there's theseawesome cost calculators.
There's a lot of great options forpeople to be able to look at the costs.
(09:39):
Costs understand them and makea decision for themselves.
Now of course you want themto convert, so you also have
some conversion points there.
So say, you know, you do have some kindof cost calculator where they can put
their information in and see how itcompares to what they're spending at home.
Or there's some kind of calculator tofigure out if they know what a life plan
community is and how they would fit in.
(10:01):
You could have that gated ifyou'd like, where they have
to put their name and email.
You know, you don'twant to keep doing that.
If things are too gated, they'realso going to get frustrated.
. But there are ways now that we shouldbe able to list pricing confidently
with strong interactive tools togive prospects and adult children at
least a feeling, a range, a realm ofwhere we are in the pricing world.
(10:24):
As well as in terms of informative,having blogs and content.
You know, we want to make surethat again, we're the guide,
we're the resource for them.
So do you have extensiveinformation for them in blog content
showing that you're the expert?
Right?
That's what we want.
We want them to come to yoursite because they're looking at
10, 20 other websites, right?
(10:45):
They want to get to your site andbe like, wow, these people really
know what they're talking about.
They must be experts in senior living.
They must want to be aresource and a guide for me.
That's the feeling we want them toget when they come to your site.
So look at your content,look at your blogs.
Do you have downloadable content?
(11:07):
That's a great way to have a conversionpoint for them to put in their name
and their email to download content.
So it could be things likebrochures, right, of course,
that has your information.
But also you could have a life care guide.
You can have a guidebook on senior living.
You could have a pricing cost calculator.
You could just have informationabout dementia and Alzheimer's
(11:27):
and whatever you name it.
We can come up with what is a creativeoption for your community to help sell
you as a strength, but they reallywant to see you as that guide and that
resource and making sure that yourwebsite's informative, that it has
everything that they're looking for.
They have the answers that theyneed to be able to convert.
The next one is interactive.
(11:48):
So what I mean by that is kind of likeI was mentioning with user experience,
you want them to be able to easilyclick through your website as they're
scrolling their strong calls to action.
There's headlines theycan easily click through.
But what I also mean by thatis downloadable content, like I
mentioned and materials, but thingslike videos and photography and
(12:10):
floor plans, and site maps, and areamaps, and you know, you name it.
We now have the tools to make yourwebsite extremely interactive for
the prospect or the adult child.
Don't you like when you come to a siteand you can click on things, whether it's
surveys or a quiz or there's photos, andyou can really dive in and feel like
(12:32):
you can get a strong look, right, atabout what that website is selling you.
Same with our prospects, right?
They want to see thatinformation on your website.
So making sure you have, like Imentioned, videos, photography,
financial calculators, things thatthey can click through and fill out,
floor plans, site maps, area locationmaps, virtual tours, you know, 360
(12:54):
tours, or at least virtual tours.
They're so cool todayand so much easier to do.
Where prospects can actually tourthrough to get a feel of the community.
Especially if that's oneof your strengths, right?
If you're a newer community and you'vegot great grounds, outdoor space,
beautiful floor plan, layout, apartments,show that off, really showcase your,
(13:15):
your best features so they can see thatand want to come see it for yourself.
Think about when you'rein real estate, right?
And you're looking at homes for sale.
If the pictures don't look greator you don't have very many,
you don't want to go see it.
But when they're really staged well,bright, showing the grounds and the
land and the space, you want to thenconvert and go see that home, right?
(13:37):
Just like your community.
Now I know there's a lot more.
I'm not comparing seniorliving to real estate.
I realize it's very different becauseyou want to convey the lifestyle.
So let's have video.
Let's show that lifestyle.
Let's have resident videos andtestimonials and team member videos
and testimonials so that they can trulyget to know you before they even come.
(13:59):
You know, that's one of the strong thingsrecently is really honing in on that video
photography and making it more personal.
You know, you can do these nowadays,with tools where you can do resident
testimonials, family member testimonialsand videos that feel personal, like
I said, team members, it's great forprospects to see who works there because
(14:19):
that's going to be their life, right?
If they live there.
So getting that feeling, puttingyour reviews, your star rating, all
those trust signals is showing thatyou are transparent and honest with
your prospect and your adult child.
We are laying all of it out there for you.
We want to help you be a resource,a guide, assist you in this process.
We're not hiding anything.
(14:40):
We're showing you our pricing.
We're showing you all the information.
We're making it interactive and easy foryou because this is a difficult process.
Think about the adult child that's doingthis late at night, trying to figure
out what to do with, their parents.
The easier we can make this, the moreinformative, think about that process.
You've already affectedthem and who they are.
(15:01):
They already feel connected to you just bybeing on your website and making it easy.
The last thing with InteractiveI want to mention is tools.
Like I said, there's a few I'd alreadymentioned in terms of cost calculators
and things, but there's also surveys,Roobrik, those cost calculator
forms I was mentioning, furnitureplanners, site maps where you can
figure out if your furniture will fitinside the apartment, and chatbot.
(15:25):
You know, I think since adding chatbotsto our websites, we've increased leads
at least 40 to 50 percent becausenowadays we're just used to that.
We want to ask a question andget an answer when we want it.
So if an adult child only has 15 minutesafter they put their kids to bed to get
the information that they're lookingfor from your website, say they scroll
(15:46):
through, they find a couple things, butthey don't have a lot of time to navigate.
They're going to go to that chatbot.
You know, how many times do you dothat when you're, you know, looking
for something on a website, right?
We go to that chatbot because wewant to quickly get information.
We don't always have the timeto be able to speak to someone,
especially if it's after hours.
And a chatbot's a conversion pointtoo, which is going to take me to my
(16:08):
next point, is a strong conversionpoint, strong calls to action.
You know, the goal of your website, likeI mentioned, of course, first impression,
being informative, being a guide anda resource, showing you who they are
and helping you through the process.
But our goal is for them to convert.
Right?
We want to get a prospect who's onyour site to convert into a lead.
(16:30):
And so it's amazing some of these websitesthat I'll look at and do reviews on
don't have very many calls to action.
And if they do, they're hidden.
So look at your calls toaction and your forms, your
conversion points on your site.
Are they easy to find?
So say someone is coming to yoursite and they really just want it.
(16:51):
They want a tour.
Just right away.
You want to make sure above thefold, or right there on the fold,
they don't have to keep scrollingthrough the site, you have a form.
Get more information, come fora visit, whatever it might be.
Or it's download our free, youknow, complimentary guide to
walk you through the process.
Or our brochure.
Easy, right when they get to yourwebsite, right above the fold,
(17:12):
there's a button they can easilyclick and don't make it hidden.
Like sometimes some of the modern,designs of websites, they're beautiful
and don't get me wrong, I love them,but we also need to make sure it's
easy for seniors and prospects andtheir adult children to find the
information and find the forms.
We don't want to make them hidden.
So let's make sure it's clear.
What the call to action is, whatthey need to put in to get it.
(17:34):
That's another point, you know, I knowin the old days in forms we would have
their first name, last name, email,phone, address, everything, right?
There would be a box for a message.
Would you fill all that out if youwere looking at, you know, real
estate property, or you were lookingat whatever it is you're buying?
No, right?
You're gonna put your name and your email.
I know we want a phone number.
I think we should have those as options,but at least a name and email, and we
(17:58):
can have phone number as an option.
It's just, unlikely that the adultchild wants to give away their
phone number right away, right?
So having that as an option, butmaybe making just name and email
required, that's also going to helpincrease your conversion rate.
Events.
We want to make sure we haveevents listed throughout our site.
Making it easy for them if theyare RSVPing for an event that
(18:20):
you, first of all have the eventvery easily on the homepage they
can see come to our event, right?
That's the best way to get someone tocome to your community if they're not
ready yet for that tour, that visit.
So having events listed with avery easy RSVP form, that's a
conversion from your website.
So let's get that on there.
Chatbot, I already mentioned.
So strong forms, downloadablecontent, event RSVP forms.
(18:45):
And then I mentioned you can havesome tools that I mentioned earlier,
like surveys or cost calculator guidesand things that are gated content.
So you do ask for a name andemail to get some of that.
You do want to be careful.
You don't want to haveeverything gated, right?
Because people will get frustrated.
But they may say, okay, I understandto take a survey or take a quiz or
(19:06):
to fill out a cost calculator form.
You know, I have to put in my information.
I think.
You know, think of yourself as aconsumer, in the mind of the prospect
or the adult child, they're morelikely to put their information if
they're getting something, right?
If they know they're gonna downloadthis guide or content or brochure
or fill out a survey, they knowthey're getting something from you.
(19:27):
They're more likely to fill out theirinformation than just put in your
information to get more information.
There are a lot of times less likelyto do that without getting things.
So think about what you can have, whatkind of calls to action and conversion
points you have throughout your site tomake sure that your leads are converting.
So that's it.
I know there's a lot more that I'm notgetting into, but you know, in the 20
(19:50):
minutes we've been talking, I wanted tojust hit on the highlights, the top tips
so that you can now play this again.
I'll give you a quick recap, but playthis again and list as you're listening.
Look at your website at the same time.
And as you're looking through yourwebsite, you know, number one,
does it feel like you in brandand tone and message and voice?
(20:13):
Is that how you talk toyour prospects on a tour?
This is their first impression.
So right off the bat, before youdig into all the other items,
that's what's most important.
Look at your site.
Does it feel like you?
Or do we need to update ourbrand and our positioning?
Maybe we do.
Maybe we need to refresh it.
Are the photos updated?
And well, I didn't mention that earlier.
Your, your photography, as I mentioned.
(20:34):
Yes, you should have photography.
It needs to be updated.
And it needs to be alifestyle of your community.
We really need to stop with so muchstock photography and truly give them
the feeling of, of your community.
So does it feel likeyou, is it updated brand?
The second one is user experience.
Is it easy to navigate?
(20:55):
Is it very clear?
You can click through links to get tothe information you're looking for.
It's not hard.
You don't have to search for formsor search for the information.
It's very clear and has olderadult accessibility for them to
be able to read it very clearly.
So you don't have to white fonton a gray background, right?
Is it easy to read?
(21:15):
And not a lot of copy, right?
We want strong headlines,strong calls to action.
And of course it's informative,but not a ton of copy, especially
on the homepage, right?
People don't want to read through that.
They want to, when they get to thedownloadable content or they get to the
blogs, they get to the detailed pages.
But especially on our homepage, let's makeit really easy for the user to really get
(21:38):
experience to get through your website.
The third one is informative.
How informative is your site?
Does it have everything thatthe prospect, the adult child
is looking for, like pricing?
The fourth one is interactive.
Does it have clickable links?
Does it have downloadable content, floorplans, 360s, virtual tours, videos,
things for them to click and play andlook to get a feeling and a vibe of your
(22:02):
community, just like some of those toolsI had mentioned, testimonial videos.
Let's make sure it's very interactivefor the prospect to be able to guide
themselves through your website.
And the last one is the strong callsto action and conversion points.
The goal is to convert leads on your site.
So let's make sure, while, yes, yes, thebrand is great, the user experience is
(22:24):
clear, it's very informative, it feelslike us, we're a guide, we're giving them
this information, we're doing incredibleyou know, blogs, we're truly an expert
in this industry, but do we have strongconversion tools and points in different
ways to convert, not just a form totour, but all these other ways that the
(22:44):
prospect can download content, can RSVP,can fill out a chat bot, whatever it might
be, that we have a lot of easy to find,easy to navigate conversion points and
forms throughout our site so we can helpincrease our conversions from our website.
Okay, well that is it for today.
I hope that helped answersome of your questions about
(23:06):
how to do a website review.
And hopefully you can nowdo that yourselves at home.
Thank you for joining us forthe Drake Insights Podcast.
I look forward to seeing you next time.
Bye.
If you enjoyed watching the podcasttoday, please follow me and subscribe
so you're notified for the next podcast.
And if you have any questions or wantto talk after about anything that Drake
Strategic can provide for you, pleasereach out to me, call me, email me, or
(23:28):
visit our website at drakestrategic.
com.
This is the Drake insights podcast,your weekly dose of cutting edge
senior living marketing insights.
Join me, your host, Natasha Drake for boldideas, proven strategies and inspiring
stories straight from the experts.
Tune in and let's conquer the seniorliving marketing landscape together.
Hey guys, welcome back tothe Drake Insights Podcast.
I'm your host NatashaDrake from Drake Strategic.
(00:23):
Let's get started.
So on today's episode, we're goingto do a deeper dive into a website
review so that you at home can takea look at your website and see if
there's anything that you're missing.
So a few weeks ago, when I was givingmy top marketing tips, I mentioned
it's important for your websiteto be informative, interactive
and have strong conversion points.
(00:44):
I'm going to dig in a little furtherabout what I mean in each of those
categories and a few other things.
So let's get started.
So the first most important thingis to understand that in today's
digital world, your website isyour new real estate curb appeal.
You know, when we do a firstimpression audit, and we're looking
at the first impression of a visitorcoming to your community, right?
(01:06):
We're looking at what are they seeingwhen they pull up and they're parking
the front entrance and everything?
We have to start thinking of ourwebsite in the same exact way because
I would say at least 90 percent ofyour people that are coming to visit
are going to your website first.
So truly your website and the curb appealon your website is the first impression
(01:30):
all of your prospects, their influencers,their adult children are getting on you.
And does your websitetruly reflect who you are?
Is it giving them the vibe, themessage that you want them to get?
Just like when they're coming tovisit and tour your community, are
they getting that same feeling?
So that's the first thing you wantto think of is your website isn't
(01:53):
just a quick place for them to go to.
No, that's the first place they're going.
That's their first impressionof you as a community.
And I think as well in today's digitalworld, prospects and consumers expect
websites to have what they're looking for.
So, if they're having a bad experienceon your website, if they're not able
(02:13):
to find what they're looking for,unfortunately, we all do it, right?
When we're looking at buying thingsor looking at real estate or whatever
it might be and you're looking onconsumer websites, we compare them.
And so they may choose anothercommunity over yours just
because their website is flashy.
And I know you're probably thinking,okay, well, it's just a website.
(02:35):
When they get to mycommunity, they'll see it.
The problem is we want toincrease those quality leads that
are converting from your site.
And so if we're notfocusing on our website.
And that first impression, we're reallygoing to be decreasing the conversions,
the number of prospects you're getting.
And I'm sure you're spending alot of money on paid advertising,
SEO, blogs, and content.
(02:57):
So we want to make sure thatthat website is really strong.
The reason I'm bringing this to yourattention so that you can just take
a step back, take a look at yourwebsite, see if it's hitting all the
marks of the things I'm mentioning.
And if it's not.
It's just a great opportunity for you towork with your agency, or find a digital
agency, or work with me to see how wecan make maybe some small adjustments
(03:19):
to make your website be truly alignedwith who you are and really hitting all
of these points I'm about to mention.
So the first thing is, like I mentioned,your first impression and your brand.
So when you get to your site and you'retaking a look at that homepage, because
most visitors, that's where they spend amajority of their time is on the homepage.
(03:39):
And depending on your website,that can range from one second,
you know, to three minutes.
So we want to make sure it's hittingthe marks and has a lot of content.
So the first thing you wantto look at is your brand.
Does it feel like you?
Does it have an updated logo, a tagline,your brand colors, your brand positioning?
(04:03):
Does it sound like you?
In language and tone, you know,a lot of times we spend the
time figuring out our strengths.
Have you done a strengthand SWOT analysis?
Are those strengths clearlydefined on your website in
imagery and messaging, right?
So do the photos reflect who you are?
And does the tone and the messagereflect your strengths and who you are?
(04:26):
And is it clear for them, right?
You don't want to have to siftthrough and be like, Oh, well,
there's one photo that looks like us.
And there's one strong headline,no, right in their face.
When they first come to yourwebsite, does it really feel and
reflect who you are in your brand,your positioning and your tone?
Also, what is the transparencyand the tone in your messaging?
(04:48):
Are we a resource to them?
Are we a friendly relationshipguide like you are when they visit?
That should be the same tone inyour messaging on your website.
Just like when you are meeting withprospects and you're touring prospects,
right, and you're building that rapportwith them and that trust and that
relationship and you're guiding themas a resource through this process.
(05:12):
Your website shouldreflect that same tone.
So, does it have a tone of transparencyand friendly and warm, inviting,
I'm a guide, I'm a resource for youto get you through this process?
Or does it sound likeyou're just selling to them?
And you're in advertising,you know, an ad.
So, Look at those things again to recap.
(05:34):
Is it showcasing yourbrand, your positioning?
Does it have your strengths clearlydefined and in tone and voice?
And does it have that resource guide,transparent relationship building,
you know, friendly voice and tone?
The next thing is user experience.
I'm not going to get into all thedetails that these UX specialists
(05:55):
that exist in the digital agency worlddo, because they do a lot of little
finite details, but the main thing Iwant to say is user experience, right?
What is the experience your prospectsand their adult children are
getting when they come to your site?
Is it easy to follow?
Does the website flow and make sense?
Can you easily click through links andget to the places you're looking for?
(06:19):
Is it easy to read?
You know, especially for older adults,is there other accessibility options
on the websites that they can read itmore clearly or have it read aloud.
Again, easy to navigate, easy to whatthey're looking for, strong headlines.
They're not searching going, well,I was just looking for pricing or
I'm just looking for floor plans.
(06:40):
I can't find it.
You don't want them to get frustrated.
You want it to be clear and easyfor them to scroll, see images,
strong headlines, minimal copy.
Links to, to get throughout the site, youknow, maybe you want to highlight a blog
or some content or photos and videos.
What do you want them to look at?
Just like again, when they cometo tour your community, what is it
(07:04):
you want to show them and you wantthem, you want to explain to them?
Let's create that same journey and thatexperience on the website in that ease of
navigation and have the user experiencejust like you want them to experience
a good and successful and strong visittour when they come to your community.
Let's have them have that sameexperience on your website.
(07:27):
The next three I'm going to go throughare what I mentioned a few weeks ago.
So, informative, interactive,and has strong conversion points.
So, informative.
You know, we want to make sure again thatwe're being a guide and a resource, just
like you are when you're doing that tour.
So, does your websiteclearly define who you are?
Are they able to findeverything they need?
(07:49):
They're coming to your website becausethey are looking for information,
and if we're not providing thatinformation, they're going to
leave and find it somewhere else.
It's just like when you're doingresearch or searching for some
kind of consumer product, right?
If you're not getting whatyou're looking for, then you're
going to go to the next option.
And in today's competitive worldwhere everyone's searching digitally,
(08:10):
we want to make sure that everythingthey're looking for is there.
Amenities, the services, the carethat's provided, the team members,
the floor plans, the pricing isvery important to have listed there.
So that's another thing Iwant to mention that I talked
about as well a few weeks ago.
I know there's some contention aboutlisting your pricing and that can be
(08:32):
scary and I totally understand it.
I've been there.
I've been on the sales side whereit's scary going, well, I want to be
able to explain that in person so theyunderstand, you know, what's included.
There are more options and tools nowthat we can list at least starting rates.
We want our prospects to know, are we evenin the range of what they're looking for?
(08:54):
Otherwise, you may be gettingunqualified prospects, right?
That can't even afford you.
Or you're going to leave yoursite because they want pricing,
they're going to get frustratedand they're going to just drop off.
So at least listing starting pricing.
And I know that's difficult sometimeswhen it comes to the life plan,
CCRC communities, because thereare contracts and it's hard to
(09:16):
explain all of that on a website.
But if we can give a briefoverview of what that means.
Maybe have some downloadable guide towalk them through that content structure.
Some videos of someonetalking about that content.
And now there's theseawesome cost calculators.
There's a lot of great options forpeople to be able to look at the costs.
(09:39):
Costs understand them and makea decision for themselves.
Now of course you want themto convert, so you also have
some conversion points there.
So say, you know, you do have some kindof cost calculator where they can put
their information in and see how itcompares to what they're spending at home.
Or there's some kind of calculator tofigure out if they know what a life plan
community is and how they would fit in.
(10:01):
You could have that gated ifyou'd like, where they have
to put their name and email.
You know, you don'twant to keep doing that.
If things are too gated, they'realso going to get frustrated.
. But there are ways now that we shouldbe able to list pricing confidently
with strong interactive tools togive prospects and adult children at
least a feeling, a range, a realm ofwhere we are in the pricing world.
(10:24):
As well as in terms of informative,having blogs and content.
You know, we want to make surethat again, we're the guide,
we're the resource for them.
So do you have extensiveinformation for them in blog content
showing that you're the expert?
Right?
That's what we want.
We want them to come to yoursite because they're looking at
10, 20 other websites, right?
(10:45):
They want to get to your site andbe like, wow, these people really
know what they're talking about.
They must be experts in senior living.
They must want to be aresource and a guide for me.
That's the feeling we want them toget when they come to your site.
So look at your content,look at your blogs.
Do you have downloadable content?
(11:07):
That's a great way to have a conversionpoint for them to put in their name
and their email to download content.
So it could be things likebrochures, right, of course,
that has your information.
But also you could have a life care guide.
You can have a guidebook on senior living.
You could have a pricing cost calculator.
You could just have informationabout dementia and Alzheimer's
(11:27):
and whatever you name it.
We can come up with what is a creativeoption for your community to help sell
you as a strength, but they reallywant to see you as that guide and that
resource and making sure that yourwebsite's informative, that it has
everything that they're looking for.
They have the answers that theyneed to be able to convert.
The next one is interactive.
(11:48):
So what I mean by that is kind of likeI was mentioning with user experience,
you want them to be able to easilyclick through your website as they're
scrolling their strong calls to action.
There's headlines theycan easily click through.
But what I also mean by thatis downloadable content, like I
mentioned and materials, but thingslike videos and photography and
(12:10):
floor plans, and site maps, and areamaps, and you know, you name it.
We now have the tools to make yourwebsite extremely interactive for
the prospect or the adult child.
Don't you like when you come to a siteand you can click on things, whether it's
surveys or a quiz or there's photos, andyou can really dive in and feel like
(12:32):
you can get a strong look, right, atabout what that website is selling you.
Same with our prospects, right?
They want to see thatinformation on your website.
So making sure you have, like Imentioned, videos, photography,
financial calculators, things thatthey can click through and fill out,
floor plans, site maps, area locationmaps, virtual tours, you know, 360
(12:54):
tours, or at least virtual tours.
They're so cool todayand so much easier to do.
Where prospects can actually tourthrough to get a feel of the community.
Especially if that's oneof your strengths, right?
If you're a newer community and you'vegot great grounds, outdoor space,
beautiful floor plan, layout, apartments,show that off, really showcase your,
(13:15):
your best features so they can see thatand want to come see it for yourself.
Think about when you'rein real estate, right?
And you're looking at homes for sale.
If the pictures don't look greator you don't have very many,
you don't want to go see it.
But when they're really staged well,bright, showing the grounds and the
land and the space, you want to thenconvert and go see that home, right?
(13:37):
Just like your community.
Now I know there's a lot more.
I'm not comparing seniorliving to real estate.
I realize it's very different becauseyou want to convey the lifestyle.
So let's have video.
Let's show that lifestyle.
Let's have resident videos andtestimonials and team member videos
and testimonials so that they can trulyget to know you before they even come.
(13:59):
You know, that's one of the strong thingsrecently is really honing in on that video
photography and making it more personal.
You know, you can do these nowadays,with tools where you can do resident
testimonials, family member testimonialsand videos that feel personal, like
I said, team members, it's great forprospects to see who works there because
(14:19):
that's going to be their life, right?
If they live there.
So getting that feeling, puttingyour reviews, your star rating, all
those trust signals is showing thatyou are transparent and honest with
your prospect and your adult child.
We are laying all of it out there for you.
We want to help you be a resource,a guide, assist you in this process.
We're not hiding anything.
(14:40):
We're showing you our pricing.
We're showing you all the information.
We're making it interactive and easy foryou because this is a difficult process.
Think about the adult child that's doingthis late at night, trying to figure
out what to do with, their parents.
The easier we can make this, the moreinformative, think about that process.
You've already affectedthem and who they are.
(15:01):
They already feel connected to you just bybeing on your website and making it easy.
The last thing with InteractiveI want to mention is tools.
Like I said, there's a few I'd alreadymentioned in terms of cost calculators
and things, but there's also surveys,Roobrik, those cost calculator
forms I was mentioning, furnitureplanners, site maps where you can
figure out if your furniture will fitinside the apartment, and chatbot.
(15:25):
You know, I think since adding chatbotsto our websites, we've increased leads
at least 40 to 50 percent becausenowadays we're just used to that.
We want to ask a question andget an answer when we want it.
So if an adult child only has 15 minutesafter they put their kids to bed to get
the information that they're lookingfor from your website, say they scroll
(15:46):
through, they find a couple things, butthey don't have a lot of time to navigate.
They're going to go to that chatbot.
You know, how many times do you dothat when you're, you know, looking
for something on a website, right?
We go to that chatbot because wewant to quickly get information.
We don't always have the timeto be able to speak to someone,
especially if it's after hours.
And a chatbot's a conversion pointtoo, which is going to take me to my
(16:08):
next point, is a strong conversionpoint, strong calls to action.
You know, the goal of your website, likeI mentioned, of course, first impression,
being informative, being a guide anda resource, showing you who they are
and helping you through the process.
But our goal is for them to convert.
Right?
We want to get a prospect who's onyour site to convert into a lead.
(16:30):
And so it's amazing some of these websitesthat I'll look at and do reviews on
don't have very many calls to action.
And if they do, they're hidden.
So look at your calls toaction and your forms, your
conversion points on your site.
Are they easy to find?
So say someone is coming to yoursite and they really just want it.
(16:51):
They want a tour.
Just right away.
You want to make sure above thefold, or right there on the fold,
they don't have to keep scrollingthrough the site, you have a form.
Get more information, come fora visit, whatever it might be.
Or it's download our free, youknow, complimentary guide to
walk you through the process.
Or our brochure.
Easy, right when they get to yourwebsite, right above the fold,
(17:12):
there's a button they can easilyclick and don't make it hidden.
Like sometimes some of the modern,designs of websites, they're beautiful
and don't get me wrong, I love them,but we also need to make sure it's
easy for seniors and prospects andtheir adult children to find the
information and find the forms.
We don't want to make them hidden.
So let's make sure it's clear.
What the call to action is, whatthey need to put in to get it.
(17:34):
That's another point, you know, I knowin the old days in forms we would have
their first name, last name, email,phone, address, everything, right?
There would be a box for a message.
Would you fill all that out if youwere looking at, you know, real
estate property, or you were lookingat whatever it is you're buying?
No, right?
You're gonna put your name and your email.
I know we want a phone number.
I think we should have those as options,but at least a name and email, and we
(17:58):
can have phone number as an option.
It's just, unlikely that the adultchild wants to give away their
phone number right away, right?
So having that as an option, butmaybe making just name and email
required, that's also going to helpincrease your conversion rate.
Events.
We want to make sure we haveevents listed throughout our site.
Making it easy for them if theyare RSVPing for an event that
(18:20):
you, first of all have the eventvery easily on the homepage they
can see come to our event, right?
That's the best way to get someone tocome to your community if they're not
ready yet for that tour, that visit.
So having events listed with avery easy RSVP form, that's a
conversion from your website.
So let's get that on there.
Chatbot, I already mentioned.
So strong forms, downloadablecontent, event RSVP forms.
(18:45):
And then I mentioned you can havesome tools that I mentioned earlier,
like surveys or cost calculator guidesand things that are gated content.
So you do ask for a name andemail to get some of that.
You do want to be careful.
You don't want to haveeverything gated, right?
Because people will get frustrated.
But they may say, okay, I understandto take a survey or take a quiz or
(19:06):
to fill out a cost calculator form.
You know, I have to put in my information.
I think.
You know, think of yourself as aconsumer, in the mind of the prospect
or the adult child, they're morelikely to put their information if
they're getting something, right?
If they know they're gonna downloadthis guide or content or brochure
or fill out a survey, they knowthey're getting something from you.
(19:27):
They're more likely to fill out theirinformation than just put in your
information to get more information.
There are a lot of times less likelyto do that without getting things.
So think about what you can have, whatkind of calls to action and conversion
points you have throughout your site tomake sure that your leads are converting.
So that's it.
I know there's a lot more that I'm notgetting into, but you know, in the 20
(19:50):
minutes we've been talking, I wanted tojust hit on the highlights, the top tips
so that you can now play this again.
I'll give you a quick recap, but playthis again and list as you're listening.
Look at your website at the same time.
And as you're looking through yourwebsite, you know, number one,
does it feel like you in brandand tone and message and voice?
(20:13):
Is that how you talk toyour prospects on a tour?
This is their first impression.
So right off the bat, before youdig into all the other items,
that's what's most important.
Look at your site.
Does it feel like you?
Or do we need to update ourbrand and our positioning?
Maybe we do.
Maybe we need to refresh it.
Are the photos updated?
And well, I didn't mention that earlier.
Your, your photography, as I mentioned.
(20:34):
Yes, you should have photography.
It needs to be updated.
And it needs to be alifestyle of your community.
We really need to stop with so muchstock photography and truly give them
the feeling of, of your community.
So does it feel likeyou, is it updated brand?
The second one is user experience.
Is it easy to navigate?
(20:55):
Is it very clear?
You can click through links to get tothe information you're looking for.
It's not hard.
You don't have to search for formsor search for the information.
It's very clear and has olderadult accessibility for them to
be able to read it very clearly.
So you don't have to white fonton a gray background, right?
Is it easy to read?
(21:15):
And not a lot of copy, right?
We want strong headlines,strong calls to action.
And of course it's informative,but not a ton of copy, especially
on the homepage, right?
People don't want to read through that.
They want to, when they get to thedownloadable content or they get to the
blogs, they get to the detailed pages.
But especially on our homepage, let's makeit really easy for the user to really get
(21:38):
experience to get through your website.
The third one is informative.
How informative is your site?
Does it have everything thatthe prospect, the adult child
is looking for, like pricing?
The fourth one is interactive.
Does it have clickable links?
Does it have downloadable content, floorplans, 360s, virtual tours, videos,
things for them to click and play andlook to get a feeling and a vibe of your
(22:02):
community, just like some of those toolsI had mentioned, testimonial videos.
Let's make sure it's very interactivefor the prospect to be able to guide
themselves through your website.
And the last one is the strong callsto action and conversion points.
The goal is to convert leads on your site.
So let's make sure, while, yes, yes, thebrand is great, the user experience is
(22:24):
clear, it's very informative, it feelslike us, we're a guide, we're giving them
this information, we're doing incredibleyou know, blogs, we're truly an expert
in this industry, but do we have strongconversion tools and points in different
ways to convert, not just a form totour, but all these other ways that the
(22:44):
prospect can download content, can RSVP,can fill out a chat bot, whatever it might
be, that we have a lot of easy to find,easy to navigate conversion points and
forms throughout our site so we can helpincrease our conversions from our website.
Okay, well that is it for today.
I hope that helped answersome of your questions about
(23:06):
how to do a website review.
And hopefully you can nowdo that yourselves at home.
Thank you for joining us forthe Drake Insights Podcast.
I look forward to seeing you next time.
Bye.
If you enjoyed watching the podcasttoday, please follow me and subscribe
so you're notified for the next podcast.
And if you have any questions or wantto talk after about anything that Drake
Strategic can provide for you, pleasereach out to me, call me, email me, or
(23:28):
visit our website at drakestrategic.
com.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com