Medical website builders: your patients’ gateway to your practice

In many cases, the decision as to which doctor you go to is not necessarily made depending on how close the practice is to your home, or if you just happen to pass by one on a walk. Instead, lots of people prefer to research their medical practitioner online and find their website. Creating a medical website is therefore important in today’s digital world.

In fact, the first points of contact with a medical practice are most often online views, as a result of a simple Google search. Recommendations will also mean people look up a medical practice’s website, or will stumble across ratings on online platforms. Each of these points must therefore be taken into consideration when creating a medical website.

Even today not all medical practices have their own website. There are many reasons for this – worry about the costs of a medical website builder, having to put too much effort in, as well as legal concerns. These are the main reasons why many practices don’t make a medical website.

In principle, the legal requirements of a website are not that difficult to comply with for a medical practice. The costs and effort for creating a medical website are manageable, and there are lots of benefits to having a medical website of your own.

Advantage: The practice admin is reduced through a website

Using a medical website builder to create a medical website can take the admin stress off of the entire practice. Essential information such as consultation hours, house calls, or emergency hours can be displayed clearly on a website. If this information is clearly visible, this will reduce the amount of work that a reception team has to deal with, since potential patients can easily find the information themselves instead of having to call the practice.

Advantage: Booking appointments online

It is now possible to make an appointment directly online without needing too much tech. This can be done, for example, via external providers or via a simple system directly on the practice’s website, which allows electronic appointment scheduling. This is not only convenient for patients, it also reduces the strain on reception staff, who would otherwise spend most of the working day coordinating appointments.

Advantage: Easier for patients

Modern practices offer a function to let people know how long their waiting times are. There are also medical integrations for practice websites which help patients view the information they need. Although this takes a bit more effort during set-up, it also brings great benefits in the long term – both for patients and the practice’s team.

Advantage: Introduce yourselves!

A good relationship between a doctor and their patient is very important. You can create a good first impression online by uploading a friendly photo to your website, and introduce your team, too!

Advantage: Present what you offer clearly

Patients will choose to go to a doctor not only because of acute, emergency complaints, but also because of the type of services they offer – whether specialist or complementary. These can be innovative treatment methods, for example, that not every doctor will offer. Creating a medical website can help show your patients what your strengths are, and what special services you offer.

Advantage: One-stop solution

It is really helpful for anyone who needs medical advice to be able to find contact information quickly. Your telephone and fax numbers, email address, and the address of your practice should all be visible on your website. Potential patients also benefit from knowing information about nearby public transportation and parking. Information on accessibility should be clearly displayed, too.

Advantage: Stand out from the competition

If a practice is hygienic, modern, and well-designed, your clients will feel comfortable and happy visiting. The same applies to your medical website. If you display your certificates, awards, and memberships to medical or scientific organizations online, you’ll be setting yourself apart from the crowd. As a doctor, you can also stand out from the competition by regularly publishing articles on specialist topics on your website.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on our private and public lives. Whilst a lot of people are struggling with financial uncertainty, medical practices will more likely be struggling with over-filled practices. In terms of appointment management and general workload, the pandemic poses a huge hurdle for doctors and staff, which is difficult to overcome both mentally and physically. A good medical website can work wonders at this point and take the pressure off the entire team in various ways.

A medical website is the perfect platform for presenting current information about the coronavirus and more. If you have adjusted your opening hours in the course of the pandemic, you can announce the new times on your website. If you have not had systematized opening times or appointment bookings, now is also the perfect time to switch to a medical website builder for managing patient appointments. The more you automate your admin, the less your team will have to focus on that, and you can get down to the important business.

Of course, IONOS would like to support you and your medical practice in any way possible. We have a broad range of online services on offer for you, whether you need a website builder for your medical practice, or Office365 for daily admin.

When considering how to make a medical website, there are essentially four options:

• Website builder
• Content management system (CMS)
• DIY programming
• Web design services

This option does not require you to hire a developer or for you to have extensive knowledge of HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. A simple medical website can be created with ease, as long as you find the appropriate provider.

Website design can be chosen from templates, and then you can customize the pages and insert your own content. With this option for creating a medical website, you’re not looking for a huge deal of customization, and you’ll be able to present your own practice simply and effectively.

Most offers include hosting, domain registration, and a suitable email address. It is also practical that a lot of tools which increase website visibility are already integrated, or optional – such as search engine organization tools.

A content management system (CMS) also offers ready-to-use templates – but more individualization options. Most functions can be added via plug-ins, for which no or only simple programming skills are required.

One of the most popular content management systems is WordPress. Creating a WordPress page for you.

The cheapest option is in some ways expensive, too, and one which requires the most IT knowledge. Designing and creating your own website takes a lot of time and expertise, but you won’t need to pay anyone to do it for you. You’d have the most control over how you want your website to look, and you’d have to update SSL certificates yourself.

Hiring an agency or freelancer to build your medical website is the most expensive solution. You should only consider this option if you have high demands, which are worth the additional expense.

If you have time and programming experience, you can create your medical practice website yourself. If you do not have the time but are willing to pay a bit more, you can alternatively hire a web design service. In most cases, it will be enough to use a CMS or a website builder for your medical website.

A medical website can be created quickly and easily if you think about the most important points in advance. The first step should therefore include planning the most important contents of the site. A medical website should definitely cover the following:

• Landing page
• Office hours
• News
• Appointments
• Contact
• Services
• Team introduction
• Imprint
• Privacy policy

Landing page

Your first impression is a big deal. The following rule applies to every website º no matter what industry, and no matter what purpose it was created for: Everything that a user wants to find at first glance should be on the first page. In the case of a medical website, these will be the consultation hours, a telephone number, and the essential services offered.

Further contact information, directions, or current news should be found easily via the main navigation menu. In short, if you want to create a medical website, it’s best to first think about how to design your landing page. Ideally, a medical website builder should allow you to provide an overview of all the essential contents of the site on your landing page.

Opening hours

Consultation hours are often the main reason why patients will look up a medical website. The hours should be listed on your landing page, but can also be given their own menu item and listed again in the contact section. There are also medical websites that create a footer with their office hours so that they can be found at the bottom of each web page.

Changes, cancellations, and differing consultation hours (e.g. during the holidays) must be clearly indicated on your medical website.

News

The “News” section can cover much more than new office hours or a change in the team. There are always new medical findings, and the medical community is constantly updating its research and attending training courses, conferences, and seminars. You can also inform your clients about these kinds of things under “News.” In most cases, short summaries are enough, because your website will most likely be aimed at patients, rather than at colleagues who are interested in medical presentations.

The patient simply needs to be given the impression that they will be given state of the art care, which will be achieved if you give them a good impression. This also applies to new medical devices, which you should also mention on your website.

Booking appointments

Interactive features won’t need to play a huge part when creating a medical website. You can avoid a user-centered design, and opt instead for a human-centered design – this will also provide the function to book and manage appointments.

An online function for making appointments can be easily integrated when creating a medical website. Ready-made systems that can be implemented directly into your own website are easily found, and don’t require a lot of tech knowledge. These differ in terms of price and scope of services, and some offer only a simple appointment function, while others are full-service tools that automatically remind patients of their appointments and can even manage findings and prescriptions online.

Contact

A modern practice will offer various contact options, including a telephone number, email, and possibly a contact form that helps to arrange inquiries thematically. A fax number is also still important, e.g. if a health insurance company needs to exchange information with the practice.

This kind of contact information is essential, and a precise description of how to get there is just as important. A Google Maps function with the exact location of your medical practice can be easily embedded into your medical website. Visitors to the site then only need to click on it to see how they can get to the practice from their location.

Services

A website for doctors should offer much more information than can be found on a business card. After all, patients want to learn more about the services of the practice in advance. A detailed breakdown of all the services you offer should be made available on your website – form routine check-ups to specialized care, or even complementary medical services.

Your team

This is where you can introduce the entire practice team – a lot of people will get an impression of your team via this page, so it helps to have a good introduction. Pictures say more than a thousand words – the photos you use should be bright and friendly, but professional all the same. It is often worth having the pictures taken by a professional photographer.

Imprint

An Imprint helps lend your medical website an air of increased professionalism. It confirms to your clients who is in charge, and how to get in touch.

Privacy policy

A privacy policy is so important nowadays. People want to know how their data is being protected, and this applies all the more to medical websites. Having a well written privacy policy is a must. Knowing about the HIPAA and HITECH acts is essential, and you may wish to consult an expert in order to ensure you’re compliant.

As mentioned above, knowing about the HIPAA and HITECH acts and implementing their requirements accordingly is a must. State medical boards will influence what you can and cannot do – and make sure you’re in line with regulations for medical websites, too. Depending on which state you’re in, you may have to follow different obligations.

Service descriptions should inform the patient objectively about the treatment. They must not be formulated in a misleading way that claims to achieve things it cannot.

Regardless of which of the four options you choose, you can use the following step-by-step guide to learn how to create a medical website

For the right domain, there are two main things to consider. Firstly, think about the search behavior of your target group, and how the domain name affects its rankings in search results.

A medical website should be easy to recognize by its domain name – and ideally it should also be easy to recognize where in the world it is located. Your profession and name are a good start, or the clinic name and location is a good option, too. Check whether your domain is available with the following tool:

Which look is appropriate for a medical website depends on its specialty. However, a clear page layout is important for all practices. The corporate identity of the practice must also be reflected in the homepage. For example, you should use the colors of the practice or logo on the website.

This is where you make your website truly your own. The content on your website should be informative and friendly, but most importantly show who you are – on a practical level as well as on a personal level. A pediatrician will want to opt for a different tone than cosmetic surgeons, in most cases, simply because their target audience is (probably) different. Think about where your medical practice is located, too. The community you serve will feel welcomed in different ways, so make sure you reflect on that, and fill your site with content according to your values and who you are.

Publish your website and then make sure that patients know about it. If your new website also offers new services, it’s a good idea to personally point this out to patients at the reception desk.

Most patients use their smartphone to find a medical practice close to them. Search engines such as Google automatically include the location in the search results. Extensive search engine optimization is usually not necessary; an appealing, informative, short text that appears in search results is enough in most cases.