What a clinic website needs to attract patients

What patients need to understand in five seconds

The first screen has to answer three questions before visitors scroll: what you treat, where you are and how to book. If they have to read the clinic’s history or guess what the name means, many go back to Google.

“Your health, our priority” could belong to any clinic. “Family dental clinic in the town centre. First assessment with X-ray included and a written quote” tells patients exactly what to expect.

That sentence is more useful than any photo of a perfect smile. It names the specialty and the area, and promises something that depends on you: how you will look after them, not the outcome of the treatment.

One page per treatment, explained for patients

Many clinic websites list services with technical names: “endodontics”, “periodontics”, “dry needling”. But patients don’t search for “periodontics”: they search for why their gums bleed.

Give each important treatment its own page and write it around your patients’ real questions:

• Who it is for, in the patient’s words: “it hurts when I chew”, “I’m missing a tooth”, “I’ve had back pain for months”.
• What it involves, step by step and without jargon.
• How long it takes and roughly how many sessions it usually needs.
• What aftercare it requires.
• Frequently asked questions: does it hurt, is it covered by insurance, roughly how much does it cost.

This helps twice: patients recognise themselves in what they read and arrive less anxious, and Google better understands which searches each page answers.

The team, with names and faces

In a clinic, trust is placed in people. A website without real photos of the team, or with stock images of smiling doctors, wastes its best argument.

• Real photos of the professionals and the premises, taken by a photographer if possible.
• Name, qualifications and registration number of each professional, with their recognised specialty. It is what patients want to know, and it reinforces the clinic’s credibility.
• Languages spoken, if you have international patients.
• A personal sentence about how each of them works. It helps more than a list of courses.

Booking in two clicks

Most patients arrive on their phones, and many outside opening hours. If the only option is calling during the morning, some of them are lost.

• A booking button visible on every page, including on mobile.
• Several routes: phone, a short form or online booking if you use it.
• Explain what happens next: “We’ll confirm your appointment within one working day”.
• Opening hours, address, directions and parking, easy to find.
• If you work with insurers, say so clearly and say which ones.

Explain the first visit

One of the most reassuring sections is also one of the least common: explaining what happens at the first visit. How long it lasts, what tests are done, what patients should bring, whether there is a fee and when they will receive a quote.

It is the principle of the StoryBrand method: the patient is the hero and the clinic is the guide who gives them a clear plan. Three simple steps (“1. Book your appointment. 2. We assess you and explain your options. 3. You decide with a written quote”) take a lot of fear out of the first step.

In my book La página web perfecta (in Spanish) I explain this method applied to small businesses and adapted to web design. And the guide StoryBrand for small businesses covers the seven elements with a complete example.

What healthcare advertising rules don’t allow

A clinic can advertise, including on its website, but healthcare advertising has more limits than almost any other business. In Spain, the most important ones for a website are:

• Showing the centre’s health registration number and only advertising the services it is authorised for.
• No promises or guarantees: “pain-free”, “guaranteed results”, “the best clinic”.
• Before-and-after photos only with written consent, without retouching and keeping patients anonymous whenever possible.
• No real patients or celebrities used to promote treatments, and no “2 for 1” style offers on medical treatments.
• No advertising of prescription medicines, such as botulinum toxin, or their brands.

Other countries have similar rules. I explain them in detail in healthcare advertising online: what a clinic can and cannot say.

Regional rules and professional body criteria vary. For a specific campaign, check with your professional body or health authority.

Mobile, Google and privacy

• Designed for mobile. That is where most patients come from, often in a hurry or in pain.
• Google Business Profile complete and consistent with the website: hours, phone, real photos and the right category.
• A careful form. Ask for name, contact details and a general reason. Clinical details are better discussed in the consultation.
• Be careful with advertising pixels on treatment pages: what someone visits on a health website already says a lot about them.
• Fast, secure and maintained. A hacked clinic website is a reputation problem and a data protection problem.
• Several languages if you see foreign residents or tourists, with treatments explained in their language too.

See website maintenance ↗

Quick review of your website

Check whether your clinic’s website covers the basics:

• Is it clear within five seconds what you treat, where and how to book?
• Does each important treatment have its own page, explained without jargon?
• Are there real photos of the team, with names and registration numbers?
• Can patients book from their phone without searching?
• Do you explain what happens at the first visit?
• Is the health registration number shown?
• Have you checked there are no promises, offers or testimonials used as hooks?

Frequently asked questions about clinic websites