Approximately 76% of baby boomers who are searching for senior care are looking online, and they’re primarily using Google. We know that this Boomer generation is tech savvy and comfortable doing research on the web. So now that they are starting to search for housing options for their parents or elder family members, it’s important to put your community front and center in the search results.
Typically, families who are looking for senior care for a loved one go through three stages: online research, shopping around, and ultimately visiting a facility for a tour. Senior communities have only recently began expanding their digital footprint with a comprehensive website and wide-reaching online presence. With the recent increase of online searches for senior care has come the surplus of third-party referral sites to help consumers see concise information. While this is a good resource for consumers, these referral sites now dominate the search results and put an extra step between your community and a new potential resident. That means you’re not only dealing with competitors in your local area, but you’re also up against the referral sites online.
In order for Senior Care communities to create a clear path between them and their leads, it’s important to first understand how people are searching online for senior care services so you can optimize your digital presence and be found during each phase of the searching process.
Phase 1: Initial Research
When a person begins thinking about senior care for their family member, they generally start searching for specific housing options that their family member is dealing with — like assisted living or memory care for example. At this point, it’s about capturing their attention and keeping them engaged — you don’t want to be pushing for a tour of your facility, but instead you want to show yourself as a trusted source of information.
The easiest way to keep potential leads is by having an easy-to-use website with content about your facilities specific services, housing options and images of the facility. Content can include detailed explanations of the amenities you offer, or it can be testimonials from current or previous residents. A blog is also helpful when it comes to adding new content to the site to help improve search ranking. Seemingly small, value-added features like this will create a comfortable environment for the user before they ever set foot inside your facility.
Stay tuned as we will discuss the last two phases in our next post, Searching for Senior Living: Part 2.
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