Website Consolidation for Senior Living Communities

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Driving Improved User Experience, SEO, and Growth

In the senior living industry, a website is often the first point of contact for potential residents and their families. Consolidating multiple community sites into one can significantly impact how your communities and brand are perceived and how you engage your audiences.

For many senior living communities, multiple websites create inefficiencies, such as duplicated SEO efforts, fragmented branding, and inconsistent user experiences. A significant improvement often lies in SEO, where separate sites result in conflicting efforts, leading to diluted authority and inconsistent rankings. Search engines treat independent sites separately, meaning efforts to enhance one site’s authority won’t benefit the others.

A unified approach addresses these challenges and sets the stage for growth and scalability. Consolidating websites streamlines SEO, enhances user experience, and better aligns brand messaging across communities.

KEY BENEFITS OF A WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION

• Improved User Experience: Simplified navigation helps users explore different communities within the same site, with a customized UX for each community.
• Enhanced SEO: Consolidated authority, improved content depth, and reduced duplicate content boost traffic and rankings.
• Unified Branding & Messaging: Communities retain unique characteristics within a cohesive structure, ensuring a unified message.
• Improved Reporting: Centralized analytics provide deeper insights into user behavior and performance, guiding strategic decisions.
• Cost Efficiencies: Managing a single domain is more cost-effective, leveraging economies of scale.
• Cross-Promotion Opportunities: A unified platform facilitates cross-promotion between communities, enhancing engagement.

 

While the benefits are significant, consolidation can present risks. At Orchard, we ensure a smooth transition by deploying tailored strategies that mitigate risks across UX, SEO, content, technical infrastructure, analytics, and branding. We start with an in-depth discovery process to understand your needs, creating a roadmap for a successful consolidation.

KEY FACTORS FOR A SENIOR LIVING WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION

1. Prioritizing User Experience (UX) and Information Architecture (IA)

We believe that a focus on UX and IA are foundational to any successful website consolidation. Combining multiple sites requires a seamless experience for users—whether potential residents, families, or caregivers—so they can easily navigate the new site and find relevant information across all communities.

We begin by developing user stories that help prioritize key features and ensure the site remains user-centric. These user stories also guide the information architecture, helping us structure content that aligns with how users naturally explore the site. Card sorting and tree testing validate navigation paths and ensure content is intuitively organized.

Early and frequent user testing gathers feedback, uncovers friction points, and validates decisions. During past consolidations, we uncovered insights such as:

• Difficulty finding contact forms on mobile devices, emphasizing the need for mobile-first design during consolidation.
• A demand for pricing transparency which can build trust and improve engagement across the unified site.
• A strong interest in immersive visuals of floor plans, highlighting the importance of incorporating rich, interactive media to enhance decision-making across different communities.

 

By addressing UX issues early, we prevent costly rework post-consolidation. If user testing isn’t feasible, Orchard leverages techniques like heuristic evaluations or tools like Hotjar to analyze user behavior and ensure a smooth, intuitive experience on the new site.

2. SEO Implications and Strategy

Search engine visibility is essential for senior living communities, as many families begin their search online. Integrating SEO into every stage of the consolidation process is critical to ensure each action supports your goals and drives traffic.

Our process begins with a comprehensive SEO audit, where we identify high-performing pages, valuable keywords, and optimization opportunities. This audit forms the foundation for decision-making throughout the consolidation process, ensuring that valuable SEO equity is preserved and enhanced. Our strategy includes:

• Content Optimization: Refining content with targeted keywords and SEO best practices.
• 301 Redirects: Ensuring users and search engines are directed to the correct URLs to preserve rankings.
• On-Page SEO: Optimizing metadata, title tags, header tags, alt text, and internal linking.
• Technical SEO: Enhancing site speed, mobile responsiveness, XML sitemaps, structured data (schema markup), URL structure, HTTPS, and clean architecture.
• Ongoing Monitoring: Continuously tracking SEO performance to adjust strategies as needed.

3. Refining Content Strategy and Messaging

Consolidating websites offers the chance to refine your content and strengthen your messaging. In senior living, where decisions are deeply personal, your content needs to resonate with your audience on both an emotional and informational level. A well-executed consolidation allows you to streamline content while using powerful storytelling to highlight resident testimonials, community success stories, and the unique qualities of your community. This helps create a deeper emotional connection with your audience.

At Orchard, we conduct a systematic Content Inventory Audit to evaluate existing content, using analytics data to gain insights into user behavior. This process allows us to:

• Identify content gaps and optimization opportunities.
• Determine what content should be kept, updated, or removed.
• Align messaging with your community’s values and the needs of your audience.

 

By refining and organizing content, we ensure it remains purposeful, relevant, and easy to find. A clear IA supports this process, ensuring users can navigate the site smoothly and access important details quickly.

4. Technical Infrastructure for Senior Living Sites

The technical side of website consolidation can be complex, especially in the senior living industry, where websites often include various features, such as virtual tours and inquiry forms. Ensuring your new consolidated site is technically sound and optimized across devices is essential. Key considerations include:

• Content Management System (CMS): Ensure your platform can handle the new site’s demands for scalability and functionality.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure the site is optimized for all devices.
• Third-Party Tool Integration: Test and update all integrations for functionality.
• Performance Optimization: Ensure fast load times and functionality.
• Comprehensive Testing: Conduct thorough testing to identify and resolve issues.

5. Ensuring Brand Consistency and Visual Appeal

In the senior living industry, where trust and consistency are key, your website must reflect your community’s values and aesthetics while maintaining unique community identities within the overarching structure. A consolidated website offers the opportunity to present a unified brand experience.

During consolidation, Orchard helps align the new site with your brand guidelines, ensuring consistency in elements like color schemes, typography, and imagery. This is also a chance to refresh your design, creating a cohesive look that resonates with your audience and strengthens the parent brand’s credibility across individual communities.

6. Data and Analytics Integration for Informed Decision-Making

During a website consolidation, centralizing data and analytics allows for better insights into user behavior and performance. Orchard ensures that your data is migrated from previous sites into a single analytics platform to provide a comprehensive view of performance.

We help adjust strategies and KPI frameworks to align with the goals of the consolidated site. Centralizing media, ad, and analytics accounts allows for streamlined tracking and reporting, making optimizing your digital efforts post-consolidation easier. Key steps include:

• Data Migration: Consolidating data from previous sites into a unified analytics account.
• KPI Tracking: Monitoring key metrics like conversion rates and engagement
• Centralized Reporting: Offering a comprehensive view of performance across the entire portfolio, enabling strategic adjustments to improve user experience and marketing.

Conclusion

A successful website consolidation is about more than just merging pages—it’s about creating a seamless digital experience that strengthens your brand, enhances user engagement, and drives growth. By focusing on user experience, integrating SEO and content strategy, ensuring a robust technical foundation, and maintaining brand consistency, Orchard helps you build a platform for long-term success.

Ultimately, your consolidated website should reflect the unique values of your senior living communities and act as a trusted resource for families during a critical decision-making process. With the right strategy, your digital presence becomes a powerful tool for growth and long-term success.

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