Problem

In 2007 Dr Chris Pickard instructed a friend, who had trained as a graphic designer, to build a website for his practice, The Pain Relief Centre.  The site took around 3 months to build and, although it looked good, it became clear Dr Chris’ friend didn’t fully understand the intricacies of Internet Marketing.  Making changes to the site was both time-consuming and costly, as it involved both the designer and a 3rd person who actually implemented the amendments.  It was an inefficient way of managing the site. 

The Pain Relief Centres’ website had two objectives: to attract new patients to the practice, and to provide a resource for existing clients.  The site didn’t perform well on the search engines where the competition is fierce.  Dr Chris felt disappointed but pragmatic: it had been a marketing investment which hadn’t paid off. 

Solution

In the spring of 2008, Dr Pickard met Rob Umpleby of IRUN Bedford at a networking breakfast.  This was the start of a relationship which was to see The Pain Relief Centres’ Internet Marketing take off.  Dr Chris’ website objectives were unchanged.  He knew a strong internet presence would help him grow his practice.  After some research and a comprehensive meeting, a plan for the new website was drawn up.  The site was to include more than 40 pages, 2 separate download areas (one of which was to be password protected), and a sign-up facility.

Rob Umpleby constructed the new website and, along with Dr Chris, completed the copy for all the pages.  The site, which was 4 times larger than the old one and had considerably more downloads, took only 19 days to complete.  The site was very quickly indexed by Google and already has achieved a high ranking.  Optimisation work is still in progress to ensure The Pain Relief Centre’s website out-performs its competitors. 

Result

IRUN Solutions provided Dr Chris with online training, so he is now able to make changes and additions to the site himself.  He has asked some of his patients to review the site, with very positive results.  One person, who has a reputation for being critical, said he loved the new website.  He said ‘It is professional and friendly and makes me feel part of the team.’