Images on a Midwife Business Website
Images on a Midwife Business Website
Images on a Midwife Business Website
I have seen hundreds of midwife websites. Some are very inviting, impressive, and professional. MANY are down right sad. Most clients are going to find you through referrals (word of mouth) or website searching for you. Do you want your first impression to show scattered, poor quality flow and pictures? When I see some of the pictures midwives put of themselves and team, I cringe. Quite a few are off centered, terrible setting choice, just look like they got out of bed in the morning, or need to go to bed from being up too long!
What do you want your website to portray? Go back to your business plan and mission for your midwifery practice. Many midwives wants high quality, professional care to be given to the community. Your website should sync with that mission statement. Try to not to pick controversial pictures, informational topics, or unprofessional looking pictures. Your website should shine I know what I am doing and will take great care of you and your family. When I can’t even find a picture or name of the midwife on the website with limited contact information, I wonder how old she is and can’t use a computer to set up website, how busy is she that this website doesn’t really matter to her business model, or if she is this sloppy with her website, what is she like during a birth with care? Those are all the thoughts that go through my head and I am sure quite a few women visiting websites looking for a midwife in their area.
A website doesn’t have to be fancy to be professional. Have simple tabs discussing your services, area of coverage, educational background and skill set, team present with midwife practice, contact information, and resources for families to use supporting midwives, natural birth, and empowering women about birth options. Make sure contact information is clearly written in many different places. Pictures should be crisp, support your style of midwifery, and professional. Any photo of yourself, birth, or person should be done by a photographer with excellent lighting. Your image is your brand and it should make people think, “Wow, she is the midwife I want at my birth!”
Take some time looking at other midwife’s websites, there are many good and poor examples to look at. Find a simple website program like GoDaddy or someone you know to run your website if you aren’t technologically savvy. Websites are very important in today’s fast information age. Let the community know your high quality care from moment they click on your website. Provide easy to flow through tabs and beautifully taken pictures that draw a client to versus cause fears and doubt. Spend some time looking through many images and layouts for your website before publishing. Have friends, family, and other midwives critique your format and image choices.
I see the biggest challenge on websites as the midwife’s photo. Some have the head cut right off, off centered, poor lighting, and very poorly planned choices. Spend the extra money and have a photographer come to your office, birth center, or home birth with you. Get the staff to dress up one day and get group pictures and single shots of team for the website. The photographer will know the best lighting, angle, and color scheme that will shine professional and high quality care is offered at this midwife business.
Your office and birth center is such a unique space in the medical community and should be bragged about your website. Stress the uniqueness of what is offered compared to competitors in area. Most kids can’t come to the prenatal visits in a typical doctor’s office. Get gorgeous pictures of your waiting area, birth rooms, and prenatal exam rooms. Show how family focused you are with toys and home like environment.
I urge you to spend some time looking at your website and analyzing every page and photo. Have people critique things and see what image your website is really putting into the community. If you haven’t started a practice yet, having a blank slate to work with is sometimes easier than fixing a broken website. Marketing your website with phenomenal photos and flow are one of the most important things you can do for your online presence. First impressions are crucial in today’s fast pace society. Most women will choose their midwives from recommendations and how their website’s look. Make your website wow women, versus concern them.
