by Jenn Riggle

Social media is all the rage with hospitals and healthcare systems. Everyone from the Mayo Clinic to Providence Alaska Medical Center have embraced blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even LinkedIn, with great success. At last count, some 600 hospitals are actively using social media to connect with patients and create a dialogue with their surrounding communities.

But before you jump on the social media bandwagon, it's wise to take a step back to assess whether your organization is ready. Keep in mind: The call to action for social media typically is to drive people to your website for more information. That's why, now more than ever, a hospital's first interaction with patients is through its website. And as you know, first impressions can make or break a relationship.

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The problem is that while many hospitals have invested considerable funds to build their websites, many are already outdated and function merely as glorified online brochures that are text-heavy and hard to navigate.

So before you dip your toes into social media, make sure your hospital's website is ready to make a winning first impression. This means:

Use a URL that's easy to remember: This is important, since it should appear on all of your marketing and advertising materials. And while Google and Yahoo can crawl complicated URLs, it's better to keep your URLs simple and avoid using long query strings.

Keep your web pages short and sweet: Since your website is often your first point of contact with potential patients, it needs to present you in the best light possible. Your web pages should include the information you want people to remember. Avoid placing too much text on the site; you don't want visitors to get fatigued just looking at it!

Make your site easy to navigate: Post information (or links to information) in multiple locations on your website. For example, if your hospital is performing a new cardiac procedure or has received an award for cardiac excellence, make sure this information appears on your Cardiac Services page, on your press release/newsroom page and on your home page.

Leverage your local news coverage: News stories perform an important function by serving as third-party endorsement. Posting your news coverage in one place makes it easier for people to learn about the new procedures your hospital is performing or awards you've received. Including video and online news coverage on your site will give it new media functionality, even if you don't engage in social media.

Add interactivity: Eighty-five percent of social media users believe companies should interact with their consumers via social media--and 56 percent feel both a stronger connection and better served by companies when they can interact with them. If your hospital doesn't engage in social media, consider adding a few interactive features to your website, such as an online version of an "Ask-a-Nurse" service, or post interactive tests that help people calculate their risk of heart attack or osteoporosis.

Optimize your site for search engines: Be sure you follow basic SEO guidelines, including posting video on your website, linking back to your own site and use key words.

Once your hospital has added Web 2.0 functionalities to its website, you'll be in a better to position to re-evaluate whether you're ready for social media.

Jenn Riggle is an associate vice president and social media leader of the Health Practice at CRT/tanaka. She has 20 years of public relations experience in issues such as health care marketing and public relations, social media in health care, national media relations and strategic communications planning. She regularly engages in social media, both on Twitter (@riggrl) and frequently blogs about social media and health care issues for The Buzz Bin, a PR and marketing blog.