Connect with More Ideal Patients With Your Clinic’s Website

Today, I’m going to show you how to attract more ideal patients with your clinic’s website.

Your website is an opportunity to make a great first impression and can be the difference between someone becoming a long-term patient and someone who never steps foot in your clinic.

The problem with many podiatry clinic websites lies in their reliance on generic stock images and comprehensive yet impersonal pages covering every foot and ankle issue.

They fail to engage an ideal patient or effectively showcase the podiatrist’s expertise, resulting in a significant missed opportunity.

Creating a personalized, expertise-focused website will resonate with and attract more ideal patients.

These are complex things to do, it just requires you to take a look at your website from the perspective of someone who’s never seen it before. I’ll show these simple but critical elements, including:

• Your clinic’s first impression is now digital
• Why you need to see your website as your clinic’s online home
• Understanding the patient journey
• Why your website shouldn’t be “set it and forget it”

How to make a great first impression

Which of these two images communicates expertise and builds more trust on a clinic website?

When people go from Google or another website to your clinic website, you only have a few seconds to show them that you are a trustworthy foot and ankle expert who can solve their specific problem.

Your website doesn’t have to be perfect, but it must connect with that prospective patient on some level.

It’s like Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The same holds true with a first impression on your podiatry clinic website.

If your homepage features a wall of text or stock images, this prospective patient will see you as just another foot doctor.

However, by:

• showcasing genuine photos of yourself, your team, or interactions with your ideal patients
• crafting headlines tailored for a specific patient demographic
• clearly demonstrating how you can address their specific needs
  

your message will more effectively connect with and attract the exact type of patients you wish to serve.

Why you need to see your website as your clinic’s online home

Along with making a great first impression with authentic images, you want to ensure that your digital channels and the websites of others link back to your podiatry clinic website.

The longer visitors engage with your website, learning about the care you provide and getting to know you, the more you establish trust and reinforce your reputation as the go-to local expert for foot and ankle care.

So whether it’s patient emails, Google Ads campaigns, or live patient webinars, everything should direct people back to your clinic website.

Since you have Google Analytics installed (or should), you’ll be able to see what messages and services are resonating with patients in your local area. 

On your website, unlike being sidetracked by the endless stream of content on Facebook or YouTube, visitors have the chance to focus solely on your services, offering them clear and direct opportunities to schedule an appointment with you.

Understanding the patient journey

Being deeply immersed in the daily workings of your practice can make it challenging to view your clinic from a patient’s perspective. 

While you may initially encounter them when they appear on your schedule, it’s important to recognize the entire journey that brings them to your clinic. 

A well-built clinic website is an essential part of the patient journey. 

A great first impression, providing social proof to build trust, and then giving them an opportunity to take action on your website don’t happen by accident. 

Your clinic website can play a big role in taking someone from a stranger who found you via Google to a practice promoter who raves about your care and refers her network of family and friends.

Why your website shouldn’t be “set it and forget it”

Most podiatry clinics treat their websites like the tagline from one of my favorite 80’s infomercials: “Set it and forget it.”

This approach doesn’t work today. 

By making improvements like optimizing for mobile and creating easy ways for patients to make appointments, you’re extending the professionalism and trust you’ve earned in the real world to your online presence. 

Patients actively look for and judge who looks trustworthy and is their right-fit provider.

Taking a proactive approach in designing and updating your podiatry clinic’s website offers prospective patients an early glimpse into the quality of care they can expect from you. 

Conversely, a poorly designed or outdated website may lead them to make unfavorable assumptions about your clinic and the standard of care you provide.

What to do next

With all this information, you can now start attracting more right-fit patients with your website by:

• Make a great first impression
• Transforming your website into your clinic’s online home
• Understand the patient’s journey to meet them where they’re at
• Update the design and functionality of your website over time

This is how successful practices see more of the work they love.

They don’t put images of footprints in the sand or medical devices front and center.

They tailor their website to the specific type of care they want to provide and the people they want to serve.

I hope you found this short lesson about clinic websites helpful.

I’ll see you next week.

On Tuesday, December 19th at 12pm Eastern, I will be hosting a live workshop, “Your 2024 Online Marketing Guide”. The purpose of the session is to help you construct a plan that builds trust with patients and grows your practice in 2024. Sign up today to reserve your spot.

If you can’t make it to the live event or would rather explore building a custom plan with me, sign up for a free Practice Growth Session.