The Top 7 Mistakes Clinics Make On Their Website

We’ve spent a lot of time looking at clinic websites, and over the years we’ve noticed there is a trend of mistakes that many clinics make on their website. It’s important to remember that your website is often the first point of contact you have with a customer, so making sure it’s up to date (in terms of both content and design) is important to make a great first impression.

So, in an effort to help you improve your website, we’ve listed the top 7 things to avoid:

1. Too Much Information

‍Make the essentials of your website easy to navigate to and properly organized. Most clients are going to want to see your office hours, location, contact information, a brief description of the services you offer, and a little note on each staff member.

Make those sections the core of your website, and leave the detailed treatment related information for your blog, allowing patients to easily browse headlines to decide what they are interested in reading.

If you haven’t yet started a blog, check out our 3 Tips for starting a blog for your clinic.‍

2. Using Ugly Or Hard To Read Fonts

‍Believe it or not, you are being judged by the fonts that you use on your website. This is not the area to try and get fancy, so avoid using cursive fonts because they can be hard to read and avoid unprofessional fonts like Comic Sans MS. We suggest Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana.

‍

3. An “Enter” Page

‍An “Enter” page serves no purpose. It’s frustrating for your client to have to wait for an extra page to load and have to click to enter your website. If the client is trying to get to your website, of course they want to enter it – be respectful of their time and remove the “Enter” page.

Additionally, an “Enter” page usually has very little content, so it’s going to be very hard for Google to know what your homepage is about and rank it accordingly.

‍

‍4. Playing Music

‍In 1996 music may have made your website stand out by having a new feature that people hadn’t seen before, but now it is considered the #1 most annoying feature. I could list a whole bunch of reasons why music on your website is a bad idea, but someone has already done a great job of that. If you need more convincing, read the Top 9 Reasons Not To Play Music On Your Website.‍

5. Using Reverse Type

‍Having a black background with white text on your website is going to give your reader a headache. Although it will work in some cases it’s a very uncomfortable read which puts strain on the eyes – not something you want for your clients.

Use reverse type sparingly – the bulk of your content should be dark text on a light background.‍

6. Using Low Quality Images

‍It’s a really nice touch to have photos of the office and staff on your website, but make sure the images are high quality (not blurry or pixelated). As we discussed earlier, your website is often the first point of contact with a client – so you want to make a great first impression with quality photos.

You likely have a photographer in your network of friends – ask them to come into the office one day to take some professional photos that you can use on your website (and in your brochures/flyers).‍

7. Not Booking Appointments Online

‍It’s 2024. 99% of your clients use the internet and email. It has made their life more convenient in every aspect of their life – they book hotels, flights, haircuts, and more online.

Make your website more functional by including online appointment scheduling. Your clients will love the convenience, your staff will love the time they save by avoiding telephone tag, and you will love the increase in appointments booked.

If you’re still concerned about the look of your website, feel free to email us a link to your site, and we’ll be happy to give you some personal feedback.

‍

Need help running your wellness business? ClinicSense is your all in one practice management solution with tools and features that make running your business easy. Start you free trial today!