5 Ways to Optimize Your Wellness Practice Website
Website optimization is vital to creating an online presence that not only shows up in search results, but also books more clients for your private practice.
No matter what platform your website is on, these 5 website optimization tips will help you to improve the design, functionality, and conversion rate of your healthcare website.
And if you want more tips on optimizing your website, listen to my episode of the Holistic Marketing Simplified podcast with Molly Cahill where we discuss all of these strategies and more.
1. Focus on Design and User Experience
"They know based on what your website presence says whether or not they're gonna trust you with their money and with their health."
The first thing everyone thinks of when we talk about website design is what your website actually looks like. And while that is important - we like pretty websites - it’s not the most important piece of the design puzzle.
Good design looks nice. Great design is a balance of aesthetics and functionality that makes it easy for leads to see your brand, learn what you do, and take action towards becoming a client.
Website UX Design Tips
Keep your website navigation, especially in your main menu, simple. You should have no more than 7 links, but I recommend only having 5. Most healthcare websites only need 5 visitor-facing pages: home, about, services, blog, and contact. This makes it easy for potential clients to learn everything they need to know about what you do and then get in touch or book an appointment with you.
Prioritize white space. While lots of overlapping images and bold graphics might feel fun, it’s usually not the vibe that you’re going for when you’re helping people to feel better and live healthier lives. Instead, make sure your website has lots of space (it doesn’t actually have to be white) between elements and sections.
Make your site easy to read. When thinking about design, you want to focus on creating a website that meets the needs of all of your potential clients. Choose fonts that are easy to read (yes, this means avoiding script fonts), and use different color backgrounds for each section so that your page is easy to skim.
Use high quality images. Images are one of the places my clients struggle most because they haven’t usually invested in a brand photoshoot yet, but they don’t want to use the same stock images every other practice is. Whatever you choose - stock images or branded photos - make sure they are high quality and evoke the feeling your clients want when they’re done working with you, not just pictures of your roller table and front desk.
2. Optimize for Your Website for Mobile
“We want to use the headline to really address what our clients are struggling with and the transformation they're gonna get…The type of service you offer is important, but that's not what's gonna draw them in and make you stand out from everybody else that they find in their area.”
At least 40% of your website visitors will be on mobile devices - more when you’re a local business that people are looking up at 9pm as they’re trying to fall asleep and just need help. That means that making sure your website is mobile friendly is crucial and will make-or-break for many potential clients.
Once you design your website on desktop, you need to go over the mobile design settings to make sure that you’ve updated everything there as well. There are a few main issues that I see come up over and over again when I look at a practice’s website on my phone instead of just on my desktop and most of them are quick fixes.
Tips for Improving Your Mobile Design
Make sure your buttons are large enough. This may not seem like a big deal, but if someone can’t click on a button to schedule an appointment, they won’t become a client. Make sure your buttons are large enough to click on a phone and have enough space around them that people aren’t accidentally clicking on something else instead. (This is actually something Google considers when deciding how to rank your website in search results).
Check your website on your phone. Don’t just rely on the mobile preview that your website platform shows you. You need to open your website on your own phone (and preferably look at other devices as well) to see if there are any issues that need to be fixed like overlapping elements or too much space around text blocks.
Check your page load time. Google reports that most people will leave your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load and even less on mobile. Make sure your website is loading quickly by optimizing your image sizes (TinyPNG is my favorite tool for this), removing any fancy code that you don’t need, and keeping the design simple.
3. Clarify Your Message
“We want to use the headline to really address what our clients are struggling with and the transformation they're gonna get…The type of service you offer is important, but that's not what's gonna draw them in and make you stand out from everybody else that they find in their area.”
One of the top mistakes I see healthcare professionals make on their websites is to use their practice name as the headline of their homepage. Your business’s name doesn’t tell me anything about what you do, who you help, or the outcome of working with you, which is what potential clients really want to know.
The other mistake people make when writing a headline is using generic language that no one would ever actually say. Things like “revitalize your health” and “wellness awaits you” don’t really mean anything (and no one is typing them into Google). Instead, write a specific headline that either addresses what you do. “Specialized speech services for infants, toddlers, and kids” and “treat fall allergies with acupuncture” are much more effective for improving your SEO and generating more leads.
How to Write a Good Subheading
Once you’re written a clear headline, you can decide if you want to expand further with a subheading. This usually includes things like the specific modalities or therapies that you offer or your location.
Just like the headline, the subheading should be specific and help to answer the main questions your leads are asking when they land on your website:
What do you do?
Who do you work with?
Can you help me with my specific concern?
Where are you located?
Choosing Your Call to Action Button
Once you’ve written your headline, make sure that you also include a call-to-action button underneath. This button should lead people to the next step in the process of working with you, whether that’s learning more about your services or booking an appointment.
Button text should be clear. “Get started” doesn't tell someone as much as “scheduled a consultation.” A quick rule of thumb? No one should be surprised by the page that opens after they click.
4. Plan Your Website Structure
"People are gonna get confused when they have to make a choice about where to go. So as much of that as we can combine, that really helps other people to easily navigate our websites instead of getting lost in the choices that they have to make."
Each click someone has to make on your website increases friction and decreases the chances that they’ll actually become a client. Instead of creating a complicated site filled with 47 pages and 7 choices on each page, keep things simple and make it quick and easy for someone to inquire about working with you.
I recommend having 5 main pages on your website, each with a singular purpose:
Home: Capture attention with a clear message and service overview.
About: Share your story and expertise while keeping it client-focused.
Services: Clearly explain what you offer and for whom.
Blog: Write content related to your ideal client and their concerns to improve your SEO.
Contact: Make it easy for visitors to book a call or send a message.
5. Improve Web Accessibility and SEO
"We like it when it's nice and small and dainty and pretty, but it's much more important for people to actually be able to read our websites."
It doesn’t matter how pretty your website is if people can’t find it (or they can’t read it).
When you’re optimizing your website to show up on Google, generate more leads, and book more clients for your health and wellness practice, you need to consider both SEO and accessibility.
The Basics of SEO
If you want to show up on Google and generate leads from search engines, you need an SEO strategy for your website.
Choose keywords that people are actually looking for and using those in your headlines, blog content, and SEO titles and descriptions.
Make sure your website is loading quickly, has a good UX (user experience), and meets accessibility standards.
Submit your sitemap to Search Console so that Google actually looks at your website. Learn how here.
Blog regularly with keyword-rich content to answer questions and build trust.
Learn more about what you can do if your website isn’t showing up on Google.
Quick Website Accessibility Tips
Accessibility is important, not just because it impacts your search engine ranking (which it does), but because you want your website to serve as many people as possible.
These are the quickest accessibility improvements you can make to your website:
Make sure you have enough contrast between the background and text. I like using WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to make sure my color palette meets accessibility standards.
Turn on captions for any videos. The more controls you have on your video or audio, the better. Make sure that visitors can turn on captions, choose their playback speed, and pause when they need to.
Choose the right font size. Your body text should be at least 16pt and headings will be larger. Anything smaller will make your site hard to read and will lose you potential clients.
Next time you’re reviewing your private practice’s website, check to make sure that you’re following these 5 website optimization strategies:
Focus on Strategic Design and User Experience
Optimize for Mobile Responsiveness
Clarify Your Homepage Messaging
Simplify the Website Structure
Enhance SEO and Accessibility
For a more in-depth look at these strategies, listen to my episode on the Holistic Marketing Simplified Podcast with Molly Cahill where I cover website optimization tips specifically for wellness practices.
