WEBSITES FOR CLINICS
Common clinic website mistakes (and how to fix them)
Many clinics have good professionals, good premises and good reviews, but a website that doesn’t help them attract patients. Almost always for the same reasons. These are the mistakes I see most often when reviewing websites for dental, physiotherapy and aesthetic clinics and medical practices, and how to fix each one.
1. Talking about the clinic and its technology, not the patient
“A state-of-the-art clinic with the latest technology and a team committed to excellence.” It is the most common sentence on clinic websites, and it doesn’t answer the patient’s question: can they help me with what is wrong?
How to fix it: start with the patient’s problem and what they will find. Technology matters, but as proof that you can help, explained in terms of what it does for them: “a 3D scanner, so you don’t have to bite into impression paste”.
2. Treatments with technical names and no explanation
A list of “implantology”, “periodontics” and “clear aligners” on a single page forces patients to translate their problem into clinical language. And Google doesn’t know which searches that page answers either.
How to fix it: one page per important treatment, explaining who it is for, what it involves, how long it takes and what aftercare it needs, in the words patients would use.
3. Stock photos
Smiling doctors with folded arms, perfect smiles and waiting rooms that aren’t yours. Patients recognise them instantly, and they say nothing about your clinic.
How to fix it: a professional photo shoot of the team and the premises. It is one of the investments that adds the most trust to a clinic website.
4. Booking is difficult
A phone line that only answers in the morning, a booking button hidden in the menu or a form with no explanation. People looking for a clinic on their phone, often outside opening hours, put it off, and later call someone else.
How to fix it: a booking button visible on every page, several ways to get in touch, a short form and a promise of when you will reply.
5. Careless before-and-after photos and testimonials
Recognisable patient photos, without written consent or retouched, and testimonials used to promote a treatment. Besides reducing credibility, they clash with healthcare advertising rules, data protection and professional codes.
How to fix it: express written consent, unretouched and anonymous images whenever possible, and genuine Google reviews instead of selected testimonials. I explain it in healthcare advertising online.
6. Promises, offers and superlatives
“Pain-free”, “guaranteed results”, “the best clinic in town”, “2 for 1 whitening” or a countdown on a treatment page. They work in other sectors, but in healthcare they may be misleading or contrary to professional ethics, and they convey the opposite of what patients look for: care and caution.
How to fix it: replace promises with information. Explaining the treatment well, who performs it and what the first visit is like is more convincing than any discount.
7. Missing registration and professional details
Many clinic websites don’t show the centre’s health registration number, or the registration number and specialty of the people who treat patients. Regulations require or recommend these details, and patients increasingly look for them.
How to fix it: the registration number in the footer and the legal notice, and each professional with their name, qualifications, recognised specialty and registration number.
8. A form that asks for health data
Forms asking for medical history, detailed symptoms or medication, without a specific privacy policy. And treatment pages that tell Google or Meta what each visitor is looking at.
How to fix it: ask for the minimum (name, contact details and a general reason), review your privacy policy and cookie settings, and think carefully before installing advertising pixels on sensitive pages.
9. Outdated information
Professionals who no longer work at the clinic, summer hours in November, insurers you no longer work with or the latest news from three years ago. To patients, an abandoned website says something about attention to detail.
How to fix it: a quick monthly check of team, hours, insurers and treatments, and a fuller review once a year. The guide how often to update your website will help.
10. A slow, insecure or awkward website on mobile
A website that loads slowly, looks wrong on a phone or shows security warnings loses appointments. And a hacked website, common with unmaintained WordPress installations, is a serious problem for a centre that handles health data.
How to fix it: check the website on your own phone, measure its speed and make sure someone takes care of updates and backups.
Frequently asked questions about clinic websites
Can I fix these mistakes without rebuilding the website?
Many of them, yes: copy, photos, booking buttons, legal details or outdated information can be improved on the current website. Rebuilding makes sense when the structure or technology prevents those changes.
Which mistake is the most serious?
It depends on the clinic, but the ones that cost the most patients are usually a generic message, unexplained treatments and booking that is hard on mobile. Those related to healthcare advertising can also lead to penalties.
How often should I review my clinic’s website?
A quick check every month (team, hours, insurers and treatments) and a fuller review once a year, including copy, speed, security and regulatory compliance.
Want to know which mistakes your clinic’s website has?
The strategy audit (€295 + VAT) reviews your website, your message and your channels, and gives you a diagnosis with priorities for fixing them. If you then want me to take care of it, custom web design starts at €1,995 + VAT.
See the audit What a clinic website needs