10 Dos and Don’ts for Your Medical Practice Website

Follow these tips to create a website that spotlights your unique practice

Having an effective website allows your practice to establish an online presence, making it easier for patients to find and connect with you.

Patients today rely heavily on the internet to search for healthcare providers. In our 2022 Patient Experience Report: What Patients Really Think, 69% of respondents reported that they placed importance on the availability of a modern-looking website.^*

By developing your website to serve as an informational resource, you can showcase what makes your practice unique to attract new patients. For practices that already have a website, a content refresh or search engine optimization (SEO) may result in stronger performance, too.

ModMed^® AMP provides healthcare website solutions to enhance your practice’s digital footprint and design. Discover our dos and don’ts for creating a medical practice website with the potential to expand your reach and help grow your practice.

Do focus on user experience

User experience refers to the quality and effectiveness of your website when users visit it.

User experience is typically determined by a set of best practices that include things like responsive design that fits equally well across devices and clear messaging, including easy ways to contact your office.

Medical websites are typically required to be ADA compliant to provide accessibility for differently abled populations.

When you work with experienced website creators, like the ModMed AMP team, they can help make sure your site provides a streamlined, effective user experience.

Don’t skip mobile design

Take the time to develop a mobile version of your website. While your mobile site may not be entirely different from your desktop site — that’s the type of website you usually imagine when starting the process — there are certain website design elements that work better on different screens.

For example, your web developer may optimize web forms or specific sections for mobile devices to make the information easier to consume on a smaller screen.

Do include targeted content

Create a calendar of content designed especially for your audience to post to your website’s blog or other resource section.

Producing this kind of content can help spotlight what makes your practice unique and showcase the individual contributions of your staff. Use different types of content to inform and educate potential patients, communicate key messages and maintain patient engagement.

The amount of content your medical practice needs on its website may vary by specialty, practice size, geography and search engine competition. Your ModMed AMP team can advise on your content needs and help you produce search-friendly content on an ongoing basis.

Don’t use medical jargon

Throughout your website, your messaging is vital to building a unique brand within your market. For physicians, this may naturally veer into medical jargon or other forms of communicating that make more sense to other medical professionals than prospective patients. So-called “medical-ese” can be confusing or off-putting for some patients. Stick to simple language for greater impact with most site visitors.

Do optimize for search engines

There’s no point investing in an amazing website if no one sees it. Search engine optimization is the art and science of boosting your site’s visibility on search engines like Google, Bing and others when users search terms that relate to your medical practice. It includes research and analysis and specific creative production and coding techniques.

SEO usually requires trained professionals to structure your website and its content for visibility. ModMed AMP team members have the experience needed to perform this work.

Don’t forget social media

Another way to grow your online presence is through social media. By connecting your website and social media strategies, you can magnify the impact of your marketing efforts. When you provide a steady stream of content to audiences through multiple channels, you improve your chances of building a pipeline of prospective new patients and engaging current ones.

The traffic your website may receive from social media may also signal to search engines that your site is valuable, supporting your SEO strategy.

Do feature patient reviews

Patient reviews can be highly convincing to prospective patients. When you work with ModMed AMP, you can develop a reputation management strategy. This may include uploading your practice information to search engines and directories, monitoring and responding to reviews and nurturing a stream of new reviews through patient engagement methods, like surveys and other feedback requests.

Select the strongest reviews you’ve received and showcase them across your website in key places, like your home page or specialty pages — or create a separate section for them.

Don’t make it hard to contact you

Don’t forget the point of your website: to attract and engage patients. That means you need to make it easy to contact you. Make it obvious to find your address, phone number and email address. If you plan to offer self-scheduling, make it easy for users to find your calendar.

Your web development team is likely to recommend web elements like buttons, links, forms and more.

Do work with website specialists

Creating a new medical practice website can be time consuming and confusing for anyone without the appropriate experience. As the technical and creative skills required for website creation evolve, physicians and their staff can’t be expected to develop and maintain high-performing sites while running a busy medical practice.

That’s why it’s crucial to work with website specialists. A ModMed AMP website is built specifically for your practice and maintained by a trained team of web developers, content developers and other marketing professionals.

Don’t stress about your new site

Setting up a new website is an exciting milestone for your medical practice. Make the most of the opportunity to highlight your career, your practice, its staff and what makes you special. When you work with web professionals as part of ModMed AMP’s solutions, you can expect a positive and even enjoyable experience growing your practice. Learn more to get started.

*ModMed 2022 Patient Experience Report: What Patients Really Think, (2022 July). 

See survey question 29 in the Appendix. Data reflected is a combined stat of “very important” and “somewhat important,” “very likely” and “somewhat likely,” or “strongly agree” and “somewhat agree,” as applicable.

This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice. Please consult with your legal counsel and other qualified advisors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards.