If you're reading this page it's likely that you either want a new website for your veterinary practice or you're looking to revamp an existing one to make it more modern, or to make it perform better and bring in more patients. As a visit to your website is often the first impression that visitors have of your office, it's a critical foundational marketing tool for your hospital or clinic. Regardless of your reason for being here, we have 14+ years experience helping professionals just like you drive traffic and new patients to your website,
We could go through a long list of items you need to check off while designing or redesigning your online presence, but we've covered these topics extensively in other parts of our website. Our original client base was made up initially of dentists, as our founder and COO, Dr. David Wank is a Harvard-trained general dentist. Thus, you'll see that much of our content is geared toward the dental field. Rest assured, however, that all of the concepts that apply to building dental, medical and any other professional-service based sites are virtually the same.
For key information about how we build websites and our philosophy about design please reference this page - and while the page references dentists, the content applies to vet websites in exactly the same way.
I'll let you in on a small secret -- all professional service-based websites at their core are exactly the same under the hood. So whether you are a vet, a dentist, or an attorney, your website structure will generally be the same. Obviously the design is going to be different, but the concepts we use to build websites for animal hospitals or your individual practice are the same.
The best veterinarian websites will be pet-owner centric, easy to use, aesthetic, and provide the functionality that your practice needs to make a lasting impression on new visitors and on existing pet owners. Remember, websites aren't just for potential new patients -- existing pet owners will visit to look for information such as your address, phone number and hours.
It's important to demonstrate how your practice approaches animal care with kindness and patience. As such, your content should focus on how your team provides care and how your team makes pet owners comfortable. Be sure to list relevant content such as payment information and expectations, as well as your hours and instructions for what to do in a pet emergency.
Your website needs to be easy to navigate, and if you are going to have sections on your website that discuss procedures, make sure you use graphics or illustrations and not actual procedure photos.
From a technical standpoint you want your site to load quickly and be easy to use. Many people make the mistake to trying to be overly creative or clever in the design, as deviating from web standards can actually make a website harder to navigate - so keep your website layout clean and informative and make information easy to access.
Your home page should have one or two CTAs (call-to-action) guiding your visitors toi take the actions you want. A great example of this approach is to have a "Learn More" CTA in the hero area (the top area below the navigation) along with a "Book Appointment" or "Get in Touch" button so that your new AND returning visitors can take action that's relevant to them. Remember, first time visitors to your practice's website aren't going to instantly make an appointment - they are going to want to learn more about your office and assure themselves that you are competent. Reviews are especially helpful in reassuring people and building trust.
As discussed earlier, a well written bio and a list of reviews or testimonials are great for building trust. In addition, consider adding office photos which highlight your office or clinic, as this approach is a great way to put people at ease and to show off any new technology you may have. Invite your visitors to contact you with a clear contact item or button in the main navigation and have a contact form that can easily be filled out.
We're often asked about the use of animation and we advise against it -- unless you are using it to explain a complex topic. Having text or images moving across the screen can be very distracting and it does not make your website more stylish or attractive.
There are a number of ways to market your website and the approach depends upon your specific situation (are you trying to keep your practice as it is now, or are you looking to get new patients?). Do you have brand recognition in the community, or are you a new clinic? Regardless of your answer to either of these questions, building a website to Google's webmaster standards is the first step in the process.
We develop and build with Google's Webmaster Standards in mind (they are SEO-ready and lightning fast) and as such are technically sound. But as we do not rest on our under-the-hood coding laurels, our sites are also beautifully designed and visually pleasing, employing proven established color theory concepts and the latest in modern user interface techniques. Visit our portfolio where you can see dozens of sites we've built for our clients.
Esthetics - it's critical for your presentation to be neat, free of grammatical errors, and to appear organized and planned. If visitors see that you've taken the time to create a quality site, it will reflect positively on your office and build trust with your visitor. You need to build trust with your visitors before you can get your message across to them and start to focus on the marketing aspect of their visit.
Technical Aspects - We'll make sure that your phone number is visible, and that it's easy for people to contact your office. And with Google Analytics (a free program we install for all of our clients), you'll be able to start to learn about how people found you online and begin to see how your site performs. And of course once you know how your site performs, you'll be able to use this knowledge to make your website more appealing to your visitors, and generate even more patient leads.
Trust is a huge factor in getting more patients from any healthcare website, and every healthcare provider should be online. But for veterinarians (like pediatrics) you need an "extra dose" of trust because of the unique nature of the patient-doctor relationship. Regardless of whether or not you are ready to move ahead in the process, make sure that you are aware of the steps that vets must be take in order to build trust with their audiences. Something as simple has having pictures of your staff and short bios that talk about how much the team members love working with people and their pets can go a long way to make visitors choose your practice or hospital over the competition. Read the steps that vets must be take in order to build trust with their audience.
Contact us today for a complimentary consultation with our founder Dr. David Wank.
Contact us today for a complimentary consultation with our founder Dr. David Wank.
