Putting Our Best Foot Forward: Building SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle’s Website

SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle first opened its doors in 2016, serving Central Virgnia’s community with its holistic approach to foot and ankle treatment. With the goal of providing personalized care for every patient, SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle has taken numerous steps to ensure people of all ages and abilities receive quality treatment from their providers.

Because of their mission, it was essential that the company had an approachable, easy-to-navigate website. Today, local businesses cannot rely on word of mouth as their only marketing and advertising tool. According to 2023 data, 82.8% of patients use search engines like Google to find a healthcare provider. An outdated website is a surefire way to lose out on new patients and an opportunity to build your brand within the community and beyond.

As we began developing our relationship with SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle, we quickly found that their website struggled in terms of user-friendliness, nor was it comprehensive of the services they provided. Our first task was to create a custom plan to enhance their website and ensure it worked for them rather than against them.

Finding the Achilles’ Heel

SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle’s old website did not allow the business to evolve. The website was quite old and built on an outdated version of WordPress that was no longer compatible with the plugins in use. It was also difficult for them to manage and maintain the site over time, making it hard for the organization to share updates, such as new doctors joining the team, expanded services, recent technology, practice news and more.

Another area of weakness we spotted was security. With all our clients, we closely monitor the website’s risk factors. Considering SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle’s website was running outdated plugins that were no longer compatible with the current version of WordPress it had security risks.

Last but certainly not least, we always consider the overall brand image and how it is conveyed through the website. Is the logo up to date? Does the imagery need a revamp? Is the website reflecting the current mission and vision of the company? Our web and graphic designers presented a fresh look and feel not only for the website but for the company overall.

Website Refresh from Head to Toe

A key component of our approach requires us to get to know our clients beyond the surface-level needs. We spend the time genuinely developing a relationship with our partners and understand their short-term and long-term goals, as well as any frustrations or issues they deal with, to relieve them of these problems over time.

When it comes to a website rebuild, we start from scratch and take the following steps to cover our bases:

• A complete digital consulting and requirements gathering session.
• Brand development to incorporate a new vision.
• Full website assessments.
• API and web integrations.
• Content management strategies.
• Information architecture.
• Responsive web design.
• Accessibility standards and security measures.
• Application development and processes.

As we began the website build for SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle, we discussed aligning their brand with new imagery, typography and color theory. Our new strategy included a soft blue to convey understanding and mirror their positive, compassionate and patient-centered approach. The web design also features various shades of blue to evoke a welcoming, safe and reliable feeling. Our intent with the typography was to make it easy to read while creating a harmony with the imagery and overall website design.

Our developers reconfigured the website infrastructure and coded five fixed responsive breakpoints so that the site performs properly on all resolution screens. We also expanded the imagery throughout the site using NexGen formats to help with site load times. Our team also focused on information architecture so we could write and develop all content areas throughout the website, making the site search engine friendly and compliant. Through this, the website also was validated WCAG and W3C compatible with the innovative design and architecture.

Another element of our strategy is to ensure the website will be easy to maintain and update over time while also working to pull pertinent data for the client. To do this, we integrated the website into third-party systems for conversion tracking and analytic monitoring. To ensure the website worked effectively, we set up redirects from old URLs to the new URLs for proper experience handling and SEO. Our team verified that the site was cross browser compatible with the latest browser and operating system configurations.

Nearing the finish line, we installed the website and monitored site performance during a stabilization period. Currently, we manage and monitor the website to keep it up-to-date and increase traffic while improving the user experience.

One Foot in Front of the Other

Our work is not complete yet. We have many plans to further enhance the website over time and are looking forward to beginning digital advertising with SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle to help them grow now that their website aligns with current consumer trends and expectations around a proper online experience.

Our approach with SynergyHealth Foot & Ankle is an excellent example of how we take on website builds for all our clients. We take a personal and custom approach in getting to know our client’s current website build, identify areas for improvement, listen to our client’s wants and needs while also making suggestions to help them grow over time and continue to collaborate with them to maintain and elevate the website.

If you have been meaning to update your website or undergo a full rebranding, reach out to us to learn about our capabilities, processes and more.