According to a recent study, 80% of internet users (about 93 million Americans) search for medical information online. This means current and potential patients are already online looking to connect with professionals and practices. With so many searches and potential for exposure, wouldn’t it be better that their first impression of your practice be a professionally designed website rather than a generic Yelp page?
An Introduction to Optometry Website Design
The importance of optometrist marketing cannot be overstated, and a great website is the pinnacle of your online marketing efforts. It takes time, effort, and expertise to put together a website that is not only informative but engaging, that attracts and keeps the attention of potential patients. But it’s an investment worth making!
Important First Steps for Optometry Website Design
Before getting started on the actual website design, you’ll want to develop a clear messaging strategy. What is your optometry practice known for? Who do you serve and how? Come up with keywords and taglines and summaries that you can plug into different marketing materials, including your website. Having clear and consistent ways to describe who you are and what you offer will make the website design and copywriting processes not only easier but much more effective.
Additionally, you should work on your branding and design a great logo, color scheme, font, and other brand assets that you can easily and uniformly apply to your website and other marketing materials.
Finally, before starting your website design, it’s a smart idea to invest in some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) research and come up with keywords that will help attract traffic and potential customers to your website.
Key Considerations for Optometry Website Design
Once you have the groundwork for your website done, you can move on to the design phase. Below are a few best practices for optometry website design:
Keep it Simple: Don’t overwhelm your audience with overly technical or medical language. Instead, keep your language as clear and concise as possible. Simplicity is also important in terms of website layout. You want it to be visually eye-catching, but not distracting.
Tell a Story: Telling your potential patients a story with your website will pique their interest and keep them from clicking away. The more relatable the story, the better. Talk directly to them, empathize with the eye problems they’re having, and offer a solution to help them achieve their goals.
Mobile-Friendly Design is Key: More than 50 percent of all website traffic is generated from mobile phones, so make sure your website looks great both on a desktop and on a mobile device.
Make it Easy to Navigate: Make your website as user-friendly and easy-to-navigate as possible. If people can’t find what they are looking for in a few quick clicks, they’ll leave.
Provide Clear Calls to Action: Your website should incorporate clear and frequent calls to action. Eye-cathing buttons such as “Schedule an Appointment Now” will help bridge the gap between potential patients and new patients.
Optometry-Specific: Optometry websites often include features that you may not find on other websites, such as eye health articles, online appointment requests, patient education videos, and more. So if you do hire someone to help with your website, be sure they are specialized and knowledgeable about the field of optometry.
There are, of course, many more things to consider in optometry website design. Partnering with an optometrist marketing service will help ensure your website is as engaging and effective as possible.
The Importance of Optometry Websites
In today’s digital age, a well-designed optometry website is absolutely necessary in order to drive your optometry marketing effort forward. As the population becomes more and more tech-savvy, a website is becoming more like a practice’s phone number and no longer considered “extra”. Since websites are accessible 24/7, they act as an important source of information and means of communication, rather than pick up the phone and call your practice for general information, patients are far more likely to hop on your website for hours, directions and important information.
3 Ways Good Optometry Websites Can Boost Practices
1. Attract New Patients
Nowadays, consumers have high expectations for websites and marketing, in fact, when looking for new businesses or practices, many people start their search online. The initial search offers potential clients an introduction to your practice and this first impression is extremely important. If your competitors present a professional, well-designed website you must compete with their online presence or you’ll likely lose out on new business.
In addition to an immediate first impression, your website also presents the opportunity to show potential customers why they should choose your practice. A very simple and cost-effective way of providing social proof is by listing reviews and providing client testimonials. Reviews are one of the most important factors when potential patients are considering a new doctor or practice and by providing them on your homepage you can gain their trust and hopefully provide enough proof for them to reach out and schedule an appointment.
2. Build Patient Loyalty and Retention Rates
The next way an optometry website can boost your practice is by building patient loyalty. One incredible way of building loyalty is by providing your patients with regular, up-to-date updates through blog posts. Writing articles is a cost-effective way of communicating with current and potential clients about what’s important to them. This could be anything from “5 Eye Health Tips for the Summer” or “10 Frequently Asked Questions” etc. If you’re able to provide regular, relevant information, people will visit your website regularly and even better, share it with their friends or networks, further increasing your reach. This is also a great way to keep your patients’ attention, building loyalty over time, and establishing your practice as a great source of information and care.
3. Improve your Practice’s Professional Reputation
Not only does an optometry website attract new patients and build loyalty, it’s also a tool to establish credibility and build your reputation. When current or potential patients see a beautiful website with up-to-date information it will build trust much quicker than a poorly designed website or none at all. In fact, a practice without a website will likely appear as out-dated and behind the times. An informative website is not only building trust but promoting information sharing and credibility.
PECAA’s Approach to Optometry Website Design
With the many ways an optometry website can boost your business, we strongly recommend allocating the necessary time and resources to get your website up and running. In fact, at PECAA we even offer our members marketing assistance which includes Optometry Website Design & Development.
The websites we support our members with are mobile responsive and available in an infinite number of colors with an unlimited number of pages.
They also include:
- Patient Education Videos
- Eye Health Articles
- An Interactive Eye for Patient Learning
- Online Appointment Requests
- Unlimited Updates
- Unlimited Customer Support
If you have any questions or simply want to learn more about our website services or membership in general, reach out to us today!
