If your Senior Living Community website does not address commonly asked questions, you’re doing yourself a disservice in attracting, engaging, converting and closing new residents. An FAQ page can answer many burning questions to help build confidence in the capabilities of your facility and also help connect your facility to the leads who would be most suited for it.
When coming up with these questions, ultimately, you want to think about if you were considering an assisted living facility or senior living community for someone special in your life - what would you want to know to ensure their safety and happiness?
1. Where is Your Community Located?
The location of your facility could also prove to be an advantage. It could be close to the resident’s family, local attractions, activities, or their primary care physician. Emphasizing the positives of your location may be another way to win someone over who may be on the fence.
2. What is the Typical Cost and What’s Included?
A wide spectrum of people from all different backgrounds consider community living. Their financial situations vary greatly. When it comes to choosing a facility, costs are near the top of the list for most people, so help them get a breakdown of what their general costs would be.
They need to know if the cost of rent, housekeeping, utilities, meals, activities, yard work, medical care, transportation, and more will fit their means. If the basic monthly expenses for your community suit their needs, that’s another plus for your facility.
3. Do You Offer Help With Developing Payment Plans?
Alongside of costs are payment plans. Here, partnering with a financial institution specializing in senior care can be helpful, especially when it comes to developing custom plans, as these can make a difference in whether someone chooses your facility or not.
People are often willing to pay more for a custom experience. Also be sure to include any benefits or financial assistance your facility may offer, such as veterans benefits, deals, discounts, and tax deductions. Setting them up with a contact link for a consultation is another way to open the door for deeper conversation.
4. What Types of Care Programs Are Provided?
Some residents will need specific care programs and knowing what your community specializes in could be a major deciding factor for them. If your facility provides a program for Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Memory Care, Diabetes or any other specific conditions, be sure to emphasize that and discuss the specialized care involved.
5. What Are The Security Standards?
Talk about the security team as well as the precautions taken within the community itself. Let residents and their loved ones know that your facility has an emergency procedure game plan. Address any restrictions on housing standards, visitors, pets, and more. You can also discuss the protection taken when it comes to group activities and public outings.
6. What Do You Offer For Dining?
Show a preview of your meal plans, programs, and other restaurant or dining options available to give potential residents a taste of what they can expect while living in your community. If your meals consist of a variety, are healthy, or have any other standout qualities let them know. This is a great opportunity to mention whether or not you accommodate special diets, allergies, etc. Be sure to emphasize the times food will be available as well.
7. Qualifications of Staff and Leadership
Here you need to provide confidence that your staff can handle medical needs and emergencies quickly and are committed to the personal care of each and every resident. Explain if you have any doctors, physical therapists, psychologists, nurses on staff or if your community is partnered with hospitals or other locations that can provide this kind of assistance nearby.
Be sure to mention the training, qualifications and experience these professionals have and their availability, as these things can make a difference in whether your senior living community remains top of mind. Most children to seniors would feel more comfortable with their parents staying in a 24-hour care facility.
8. Can Residents Maintain Their Autonomy?
Your team should show that your community is capable of encouraging an independent lifestyle, while also being able to provide closer care for the residents in need. Whether that is retirement, independent, or assisted living.
There is often a fear that joining a senior living community or assisted living facility is the equivalent of signing one’s life away, but use this as an opportunity to show that this is not the case and that residents are still in control of their lives.
A senior living community is simply a new chapter and the adventure of life still awaits. Encouraging future residents to bring in their own personal touches, such as furnishings from home, as well as personally plan their daily activities, can help convey this.
9. What Activities Does Your Facility Offer?
You don’t need to name them all, but try to show the variety of your activities in order to appeal to different personality types or specific needs. Show activities that engage in mental strengthening, exercise, social activities, and other personal hobbies like group trips, plays, and group walks through the local park.
10. Can You Show Images of Other Residents Having Fun?
Images of active residents helps show how much they are enjoying their experience. Don’t rely on stock photos of smiling seniors. Every ALF website is filled with those. Show your residents engaged in everything your community offers, whether it be music lessons, yoga sessions, enjoying a meal or some quiet reading time. These images will also show how your staff interacts with residents. Any happiness found in these images can tell a glowing story of the community where words might fall short.
11. What Are the Rooms Like?
When describing rooms, include images for greater impact. People look for different things in their home decor, and some things just aren’t translated as well as seeing with your own two eyes. If your community welcomes pets, include some adorable pups or cats in some shots as well.
12. How to Book a Tour?
There’s nothing that builds confidence in a senior living community better than seeing it first hand. Making the process of booking a tour easier will encourage more people to take that journey.
Tours can show in real-time the friendliness and competency of your staff, how delicious the meals are, or how much fun residents have engaging in the activities. It gives possible residents and family members a true visualization of the value your community is offering for the money they'd be spending. Brief video tours can also be encouraging.
13. What Privacy, Amenities, and More Are Available?
Privacy is important, so emphasize that your community staff does not share private information and follows privacy laws on a state and federal level. It's important to showcase your compliance with HIPAA.
Don’t forget to sell the amenities of your community. If your facility offers a library, restaurant, salon, pool, coffee shop, housekeeping, fitness program or anything else that builds up the warm, fuzzy feeling of a one-stop-shop community, share it. Don’t sell your facility short. Make sure to observe and listen to your residents and their family members and make note of what they view as positives about your community as well.
By addressing your prospective residents concerns while they're researching, you help to build trust and authority online. As a bonus, if your website answers these commonly asked questions, your community is likely improve your organic SEO and show up in Google search results. If you're looking for tips on how to further improve your assisted living community's organic SEO, feel free to get in touch. :)
