A medical website is one of the most important tools to attract new patients. Right from knowing about a particular disease to doing a background check of a hospital or clinic, people get to know everything with one click on the internet. It goes without saying that a good quality website will assure your patients’ trust and definitely fill up your appointment list. You have to see to it that your website not only helps your patients to book appointments, but also help your business grow. To help you with that, we’ve compiled a list of some important elements every medical practice website needs.
A medical practice website helps in reaching out to old and new patients and makes your practice more effective.
Easy-To-Navigate Web Design
One of the most prominent features your website should have is easy-to-navigate web design. If your website has lots of buttons to click and huge chunks of information or text, then your patients are most likely going to leave your site. Remember that the more complex your web design, the more chances of your patients leaving your site. That’s why we recommend having a structured navigation system on your website.
One of the key features of successful medical websites is the photographs of all the staff members. It will make your patients feel comfortable when they see familiar faces after visiting your clinic. Other than that, SEO is an important tool that can help you attract a lot of traffic to your website. Most people tend to look only at the first page of Google for results. So, see to it that all the content on your site is easy-to-navigate and SEO friendly.
Mobile-Responsive Website
If your healthcare website needs to be scrolled from left to right or zoomed in and out to decipher the content, your target audience will surely get annoyed. After all, everyone uses a smartphone to surf the internet and check out websites. So, if you want your patients to be engaged on your website, it has to be mobile-responsive.
The best thing to do is build up a website that can automatically detect the screen size of the viewer and change it accordingly. That will make things easier for your patient and anyone can book an appointment on your site without having to zoom in on the page.
Online Appointments and Contact Details
Your patients will browse through your website for several purposes. One of the chief reasons would be to book online appointments. That’s why your website needs to have clear calls of action with respect to scheduling an appointment, doctor’s information, map locations and most importantly, your clinic’s contact details.
To make things easier for your patients, you can have your clinic’s address at the top corner and footer of every page. See to it that you include the correct address of your clinic, phone number, and email ID under the contact details on every page of your website.
Patient Forms and Resources
There are several benefits of having a medical practice website. You can actually save up a lot of your time by having registration and other important forms; just make sure that you keep it simple and easy to understand. You can have these forms under a “New Patient” or “Welcome” tab on your website.
This will help your patients be better prepared before they visit your clinic, and it also helps save a lot of check-in time. There are several other resources you can include on your website like links to trusted resources, health-related facts, online bill payment, privacy policy, etc.
Services and Insurance
One of the things you need to be mindful of when making your medical website is to give a clear idea of all the services you offer. That way you won’t have to be worried about your patients getting confused as they will know about your policies and insurance through your website. In case you offer any special services, make sure you specify that on your website. The search ranking for those kinds of services will automatically increase, drawing more patients in need of that service to your site and eventually to your practice.
Testimonials
One of the best ways to promote your practice is through testimonials. If your patients have been pleased with your staff and the kind of services you follow, go ahead and put that on your website. There are several ways through which you can creatively put forth the testimonials of your patients.
You can have a video clip or small snippets of patient quotes on your website. Alternatively, you can have a completely separate page dedicated to reviews and testimonials. Don’t forget to include the links to your social media accounts which can actually serve as indirect testimonials! Another way to strengthen the credibility of your practice is to include professional accreditations from medical associations for your practice.
Blog
A blog can serve as the key element for your medical practice website. The only way your patients will engage more on your site is if you provide them with relevant content in the form of facts or blogs. Here you have to be mindful of having SEO-friendly content as that’ll increase the chances of your website landing on the first pages of Google.
If your content is unique and relevant, it’ll encourage your patients to come back and visit your website for any further information. To make your blog section more organized, you can have several categories of content or simply display blogs from the most recent and featured blogs. Another important thing to remember is to ensure that all your blog posts are easily shareable on different social media platforms.
Patient Portal
Booking appointments over the phone can get difficult especially when your receptionist is busy helping patients with their medical information. In today’s time, it’s best if you store all your medical records in a digitized format.
So, if any of your patients need access to their past medical records, you can make things easier for them by having a patient portal on your website. It can help you in educating them about their past illness, getting them involved in their treatment or assisting them in their further treatment options. A patient portal will definitely help strengthen your practitioner-patient relationship. Of course, you can also use an app like ImmunifyMe to keep track of your appointments. While the app brings this convenience to your smartphone, you can always explore a way to have it featured on your website as well.
Having a patient portal on your medical practice website will help communicating with patients much easier.
Conclusion
As a healthcare provider, a medical practice website will not only make your patients aware of your services, but also increase your credibility and revenue. That’s why you have to make sure that your website is efficient and professional. If you’ve read all the above elements every medical practice needs, you are ready to build your own. Your website will build a better relationship between you and your patients as it goes beyond the doors of your clinic. Make sure you also use the ImmunifyMe app to further bridge the connection between you and your patients.
FAQs On Elements Every Medical Practice Website Needs
How Can I Create A Medical Website?
You can create a medical website by seeking help from any healthcare marketing experts. Or, go the DIY way and create a website by yourself; it’s a fairly easy process! Make sure that it is easy-to-navigate and mobile-friendly. Also, your website should have features like online appointments and contact details, patient forms, and resources, services and insurance, testimonials, blog, etc.
Why Does A Doctor Need A Website?
A doctor needs a website as it ensures the online visibility of their medical practice. Other than that, scheduling appointments, patient registration, and forms put forth online, etc. make it easier for a doctor to manage the clinic.
How Can I Improve My Healthcare Website?
You can improve your healthcare website by adding the following elements to it:
- Easy-to-navigate web design
- Mobile-responsive website
- Online appointments and contact details
- Patient forms and resources
- Services and insurance
- Testimonials
- Blog
How Can I Get More Patients Online?
If you want to get more patients online, you have to make sure that your website is up-to-date and professional. The following things will help you get more patients online:
- Strong web presence
- Online Appointments
- Patient Forms and Portal
- Testimonials
- Blogs that are SEO friendly