A Checklist for Building Your Own Medical Practice Website

Web designers are experts at constructing websites, but with certain web building services, anyone can build a website in a few easy steps, even a physician. Every medical practice website has a few core elements it should include, but making your page stand out from the rest is the key to attracting new patients. Aside from basic contact information, a medical practice website should provide potential and existing patients with original, valuable information. Here's a checklist for building your own medical practice website.

Organized Main Menu

Websites without a clear and directly labeled main menu lose traffic quickly. Page visitors that can't find what they're looking for are inclined to quickly move on to another website. Each tab or button in the main menu should be literal, as well as include a working link. Some suggestions on what to include in your main menu:

• Meet The Doctor(s), provide site visitors with biographical and educational information about the doctor(s) of the practice. Patients enjoy reading a physicians credentials to gauge their abilities and standards of care.
• Contact Information. Include a map, directions, a photo of the building, telephone, fax and e-mail address.
• Patient Forms, include a section that offers your patients convenience. Allow them to download and print new patient forms and schedule appointments directly from your website.
• Accepted Insurance
• Electronic Health Record (EHR) Patient Portal access
• Visual Tour and/or Photo Gallery of the office. Include photos of the building, waiting room, front desk, examination rooms, equipment and procedure rooms when applicable.
• Conditions Treated or Services Offered
• Testimonials or Reviews. Patients enjoy reading about a physician's bedside manner.
• Practice News, Appearances in the Media, or Blog

Relevant Visuals

• Every medical practice website needs a logo. The logo should be visible at the top of the screen on every page throughout the website.
• Each page should include a photo, chart or graphic that you own the rights to. Downloading images from Google, or any other website and republishing them on your own website can lead to copyright infringement.
• A design "rule of thumb" is to include one image for every 500 words of text.
• Use lists and bullet points to break up large blocks of text.

Call to Action

• Every page, especially the homepage, needs to include a "call to action." Calls to action are phrases, or buttons on webpages that direct site visitors on what they should do next.
• Good calls to action read naturally. For example a call to action on the "Patient Forms" page may read, "Book an appointment with Dr. Smith today." Included in that text, will be a link to a page where patients can easily make an appointment online, or link them to the contact page where they can get the practice's telephone number.

Interested in Building Your Own Medical Practice Website? Dr. Leonardo Can Help.

Dr. Leonardo is a website builder designed for medical practices. In three easy steps, you can have your medical practice's website live on the Web. For more information on where to start, visit our help center.