No medical practice can get by without a website. However, a patient’s experience with your brand online will dictate how likely they are to schedule an appointment.

Patients have a number of options to choose from online and it’s certainly not difficult to find information, which is why your website needs to tick some important boxes.

When used correctly, a website can be a secret weapon for your clinic or medical practice, but it starts with keeping your patients’ needs in mind.

We’ve outlined some of the most important requirements your site should meet if you want to win more patients.

Winning more patients using your website

Convenient appointment scheduling
Talking over the phone seems to be a thing of the past, which is why it’s important to give your patients more options when it comes to scheduling appointments. Practices that allow patients to schedule appointments online automatically receive more bookings. This is purely because they can make an appointment at any time of the day. With this feature becoming increasingly common, it should be a key consideration for your website. Especially because patients now expect to be able to do this.

Feel-good media
Imagery is a must-have on any medical website but using feel-good imagery and media is even more important. When the images on your website convey positive emotions and experiences, it changes your message to potential patients. They feel like they can trust you more and can look forward to a positive experience. Close-ups of internal organs, sick people and wounds or infections are no-go images. Before and after images are fine but all other images should portray health, happiness and vitality wherever possible. If you can hire a photographer to assist you with quality images. Otherwise, there a number of quality stock photos available online, both paid and free.

Mobile accessibility
The majority of web searches take place on a mobile phone. And even though your website might pop up in Google’s search results, if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re going to lose that traffic. Not only is a mobile-friendly site fast but it makes it easy for visitors to find the information they need. In fact, the information should always be easy to find. Your menus should be simple and clean and so should your pages. This is applicable across both mobile and desktop. Below is a sample of Azuri Group work:

Insurance details
Patients search for very specific information when they visit a medical website, including the insurance plans that are accepted. Make any insurance details clear and easy to find. This will go a long way in convincing a potential patient to get in touch about an appointment.

Clear and concise messaging
What is the message patients would receive if they had to spend about 20 seconds on your site? Is it clear who you are and what you offer? Having a clear value proposition might seem like a simple tactic but it’s an effective one. The medical and surgical field can be confusing and intimidating as it is. You should aim to make your patients feel comfortable and confident when navigating your site. If you don’t feel you have a clear value proposition, now is the time to create one. The images and calls-to-action that you use should also fit in with your copy.

Engaging content
Engaging and informative content that’s posted on a regular basis can do a lot for your site. For one, posting interesting content on a regular basis will help establish you and your team as experts in your field. It shows patients that they can rely on you to provide them with the best information and advice and that you can be trusted. As an added bonus, regularly posting and sharing content will help boost your SEO rankings. This is especially true if you use the right keywords and provide the best answers to user search queries. And if your content is really good, the more traffic you receive, the better it is for SEO and your appointment calendar.

An SSL certificate
With cybercrime being more prevalent than ever, online users know to make sure that a site is secure before they use it. If your medical website is still HTTP instead of HTTPS, there’s never been a better time to purchase an SSL certificate.

In Conclusion

By putting in the effort to make your website informative, convenient, visually-appealing and accessible, there’s no reason why you won’t see a boost in traffic and appointments. The internet isn’t going anywhere and your website is always going to be one of your most important marketing tools. This is the ideal time to evaluate your website to make sure your patients are getting what they need, whether they’re engaging with your brand online for the first or tenth time.