Ready to create your first osteopath website, or is it time to refresh your existing one? There are things you need to nail from a patient’s perspective to build the ultimate easy to use osteopathy website.
We all know the problem with assumptions… but I’m just going with it and making some – about you.
I bet you became an osteopath because; you are curious, you like spending time with people and helping them, you’re smart (that medical training is full on!) and because you are empathetic.
Drawing on those empathy skills – the ability to understand and share the feelings of others – is a great way to approach designing your website.
Put yourself in a potential patient’s shoes
If someone is looking for an osteopath, they are probably in pain, or at the very least uncomfortable. How’s your attention span and patience when you feel like this?! You just want simple!
Websites for osteopaths must be easy to use and contain all the right information
Ease of use is the difference between a good and a great website. And not just for those people who are searching whilst in discomfort, for absolutely everyone. A Time article in 2014 said that people only give 15 seconds of their attention to a webpage and other research suggests that we take only 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about a website.
What do potential patients want to see on websites for osteopaths?
It’s pretty safe to assume (sorry, doing it again!) that someone planning to visit an osteopath wants the following. So, your job, website design-wise, is to give it to them.
An osteopath that gives a great first impression
How? An attractive home page, modern, up-to-date home page that loads quickly, is mobile-friendly and that immediately and accurately describes who you are and what you do. Use high quality images, easy to read fonts and clear calls to action throughout as well as clear and visible navigation.
An osteopath that is accessible
How? An easy to find contact page that includes your address, a map, concise directions, walking or driving distances. Your email, phone number, contact and booking forms should also be on this page, but probably not only on this page. Don’t forget your opening/working hours.
An osteopath that understands their problem(s)
How? Share common symptoms and describe how you can help people, list your qualifications, and talk about your passions, specialisms, and areas of expertise. Offer free educational self-help material.
An osteopath that gives them confidence
How? Limit surprises with clear pricing and with photos of your studio or clinic – and you! Highlight evidence of your work with reviews and testimonials and share links to your social media accounts to help people get to know you. Make sure everything is well written, and the design of your website reflects your style and approach to osteopathy – no disconnects.
We work hand in hand with osteopathy professionals to create easy-to-use websites.
Following the actions above to create the right content and design for your website is half of what you need to do, the other half is making sure the right people find your website.
This, over 90% of the time starts with Google and is all about search engine optimisation or SEO. It’s not particularly easy – if you want to learn more about SEO, you can have a read of our ‘what is SEO’ blog
But the good news is that if you follow the guidelines above, you will be well on your way to good on-page SEO and your website appearing on results pages when someone is looking for the services you offer.
An easy-to-use website isn’t always easy to create
You can absolutely do all this yourself, because you know what your clients need. But web design takes time, research, practice, and patience. Many osteopaths find it more cost and time effective to work with a partner, like Evexus, to develop their websites. Our web design process keeps our customers’ unique attributes to the forefront, while we use strategies and techniques to ensure that the resulting website is easy to find, easy to use and easy to navigate.
Get in touch with us today for more information. We’d love to help make your osteopathy practice an online success – and give you more time to focus on your clients or your own wellbeing.