When it comes to health and caring for others, your service, competency and legitimacy are always at the forefront of people’s minds. 

However, running a successful practice that connects with its local communities and builds trust with new and prospective customers, needs to pay special attention to their ‘shop front’ and how their business is presented and received online.

For many of your customers, physically accessing your practice may be difficult, so their only experience outside of the doctors chair itself, might solely be through your website.

Are you now panicking about that outdated contact page and newsletter pdf from 2019? Don’t worry, we know running a website can be a full time job and can come with an endless list of edits and updates.

To give you a little direction and clarity, we have compiled our list of website ‘must haves’ for you to prioritise.

Here’s what we prescribe: 

1. “Contact your GP”

Got an itch?... Contact your GP. Unusual side effects?... Contact your GP. Finished googling your symptoms?... Contact your GP. 

More often than not, users of your website are trying to register as a patient, book an appointment, discuss prescriptions or check results. Ultimately they need your number, or they need to check your address for a personal information form. 

Help them along their way by displaying your contact number, email and address clearly and centrally on your home page… and the larger the font the better!

2. Clear and simple

Medicine, ailments and surgical procedures are far from simple. But save the details for the surgery. Your website needs to be concise, methodical and simple. 

Keep your copy short and to the point. Make sure that your menu bar is logical and your information is displayed where you’d expect to find it. Avoid jargon at all costs, this will hinder your website experience and just annoy your users.

3. A local service for local people?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a set of processes aimed at improving your website’s visibility in search engines (such as Google). All with the goal of getting more traffic to your website. 

One important process that is essential for any locally serving businesses is the implementation of a local SEO strategy. Check out our recent article to help get your Local SEO off the ground!

Some highlights include creating a Google My Business profile, featuring local based content on your site and having an impeccable ‘About Us’ page to make your website as localised and relevant as possible.

4. Patient Centric Website

You know your customers well. Health care providers are fantastic at putting their patients first, and this is just another great way to service them. 

To build a great website you have to really understand your customers and build your design, pages, copy and functionality around them, giving them the information they need… not always the information you want to give them. 

If you need a little help, Our trusty team of project managers and developers can create you something special, without charging you the world.

5. Accessibility 

Do you have a high number of disabled clients? If this answer is yes, then this function is a must! 

By making your website ‘accessible’, you are ensuring that all of your potential users, including people with disabilities, have a decent user experience and are able to easily access your information. Check out this government guidance on understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies as a place to start.

6. User Experience

Have a think about the capabilities of your site. Can patients make appointments through an online calendar? Can they order prescriptions through their account and can they update their records online? 

These functionalities can be costly, but it’s worth weighing up the benefits and the potential savings they could generate.

7. Reviews

Receiving health care is an extremely personal thing, that requires a lot of trust, and a little leap of faith when it comes to choosing a provider. Displaying your patient reviews is an easy way to bridge the gap between browsing and registering for your customers. 

In addition to the tips highlighted above, and regardless of your sector, getting your website listed on Google should certainly be a priority if you want to remain competitive and reach new customers. 

Once you’ve made your way through these initial steps, get in touch with Wild SEO Agency to see how we can take your site to the next level with SEO Strategies and Google Advertising campaigns.