What can I add to my basic profile to make it more attractive to care seekers?

Your homecare.co.uk profile is your opportunity to show care seekers the services you offer and why you stand out from other home care providers in your area.

Your profile is more than just a listing, but a great marketing tool. Homecare.co.uk has fantastic SEO, which means it ranks at the top when people search for home care on Google. For people searching for home care for the first time, homecare.co.uk profiles are the first thing they’ll see, so it’s always worth making the most of yours, even if you have a website of your own.

Enhanced, premium and platinum subscriptions offer more features to make your profile stand out, but there is still plenty you can do with a basic subscription to inform care seekers about your services and encourage enquiries.

Information you can add to your basic profile includes:

• Base data – this quickly shows visitors to your profile basic information they’re looking for at a glance. Having as much base data as possible gives visitors to your profile a fast, well-rounded understanding of what your service is about and if it suits their needs. Including some base data, such as type of agency, also means that you’ll be included in searches if they choose to use that as a filter.

Base data includes:

1. The type of agency you are (home care or nursing)
2. Whether you provide services to the general public
3. Whether you provide housing
4. Directions to your office and any parking or visiting information that would be helpful for them to know
5. Any languages other than English that are spoken by members of your team

• Care/services offered – this tells potential clients what services you offer. Having this on your profile can reassure them that your team is trained and experienced in accommodating their needs, and encourage them to enquire about how you could support them. There’s a huge list of care categories and services that you could include, from commonly searched for categories such as mental health and dementia care, to specialities.
• Covid-19 information – this feature was added to help care providers keep clients updated on how they were managing the pandemic’s effects on care. You could include updates on any new policies and procedures, PPE, support with receiving vaccines and how care workers eliminate contaminants between visits. Keeping this information updated is great reassurance for current and potential clients and their families that you are taking every possible step to keep clients and your team safe.
• Fees info – including your fees is optional, and many people choose not to as costs are so variable depending on each client’s needs. However, including an idea of your fees (such as £15-£20 per hour) can help you to stand out and inspire care seekers to get in touch. Fees articles on the homecare.co.uk advice section consistently perform the best, as it is a top priority for many care seekers. Being transparent about fees can help to begin building a trusting relationship with potential clients.

A basic subscription allows you to reach up to 50% profile completeness. Your account manager will be happy to discuss upgrading and your options with you.

How do I update my profile?

To add information to your basic profile:

1. Access your homecare.co.uk dashboard.
2. On the menu on the right, you’ll see content options to improve your profile completeness. Select which section you would like to add to and click Add Content (or Edit if you already have some information there). 
3. Input the information you wish to provide.
4. When you’ve finished, scroll down and click Update. 

If you’d like to add Covid-19 information to your profile, this article has step by step instructions.