One thing I did forget to touch on is the use of a patient profile/story to also enhance trust. A patient story coupled with exciting language and impressive statistics can establish enough trust to encourage the visitor to make the call.

I say sell.

But Neal makes a good point (he always does) … people’s purchasing resistance goes up when the content smells of promotional hype. I think you’re best to stay clear of superlatives. Instead, aim to make claims and support them with proof. Say things other can’t say… in turn, you’re helping the consumer make an informed decision (where they can make their own decision) about their health care.

Fortunately, at our hospital, we (marketing and communications) own ‘what’ we say on our web site and ‘why’ (strategy and the actual content written and created). IS decides how (servers, server softwares, content management system, etc.).

One more note: when writing content for a hospital web site, I think it’s important to keep in mind what you’re actually selling. Jay Abraham once said, “you’re not in the business of selling drill bits… you’re in the business of selling holes.” In the same light, as a hospital, we’re not in the business of selling hospital services (heart surgery, radiation therapy, or transplants)… we’re in the business of selling a patient “a chance to return to the world and enjoy life to its fullest.”

But the bigger issue, in my mind, is the number of entities that have responsibility for the web in IS. My own organization is wrestling with that issue as we speak. I’ve always said that having IS be responsible for your web site is like having the print shop be responsible for your annual report. You can’t do it without them, but imagine how different your annual report would look if the print shop was the group responsible!