As we head into the festive season, one thing senior care providers can almost always count on is a spike in online traffic. Do you have holiday content that engages those families?
Adult children who are seeing an aging parent in person for the first time in a while might be caught off guard by changes they see.
A parent who told their far away family that they were “doing fine,” may not really be. It can lead a loved one to hop online to self-educate.
While it doesn’t often result in more phone calls until after the holidays, there are likely more visitors using your website to explore their options than you have in a typical week.
Before the holiday visits home kick in to high gear, you’ll probably want to take time to audit your website for some of the information families gravitate toward during the early search stages.
Do a Quick Holiday Content Audit of Your Website
Content audits are one of those tasks senior living marketers know we need to do at least once a quarter. But, let’s face it, most of us don’t.
In the course of a busy day, it’s easy to put the task off over and over. And then try to catch up in a hurry during what are traditionally peak lead months.
It’s kind of like flossing your teeth 3 times a day in the weeks before you see the dentist, instead of every day all year long.
So, what should you look for when you do a quick audit of your senior care content before the holidays?
Here are a few suggestions to confirm you have on your website:
- Are your Contact and Tour forms working properly? You’d be surprised at how often something breaks down with these forms, and you don’t even realize it. Do a quick test run of your forms to make sure leads are coming to you.
- Is your content answering key search questions? If an adult child hasn’t been through the process of searching for senior care before, it can be overwhelming. The “how to” and explainer content drive SEO, as well as keep families on your site longer. For example, having content that explains the difference between home care and assisted living is a must. Ditto articles and guides that discuss options for financing care.
- Do you have a gated senior care guide or two? While you won’t want to gate all of your content, using a few guides and checklists to capture email addresses is another must. If you aren’t familiar with this process, this article on gated versus ungated senior living content will be of interest.
- Do you have a strong call-to-action (CTA)? A strong CTA is an important part of your content marketing strategy all year long. During the holidays, you might want to craft or revise yours to encourage tours and phone calls. Or to drive people to a gated piece of content designed to help adult children and aging parents navigate the early days of the search process.
This is obviously just a quick look at a few of the basics your senior care website needs to attract and engage holiday visitors. But it should be enough to get your audit started.
And to get you thinking about what older adults and their families ask you and look for during their early contacts. That’s what you need to create content around and make readily available online.
Learn More About the SCCS Blog Subscription Service
One of the best ways to attract adult children and seniors to your website all year long is with a thoughtfully planned blog.
From types of care to financing options and the benefits of senior housing, a blog is great for your SEO and for your visitor experience.
But we know many senior care providers lack the staff and talent to do this in-house.
If you need help, drop us a note. We’ll have an opening in our Blog Subscription Service later in the first quarter of the new year, and you can get on our wait list now!