After moving to Denver a few years ago, I went through over thirty websites before picking a veterinarian to take care of my two dogs. Why? The websites I was seeing were outdated and gave no indication of the type of practice and team that would be taking care of my family. This is why I built WhiskerCloud, I wanted to make sure the amazing veterinarians around the world that are not web designers were able to showcase their practice exactly how they want to showcase it.
As we notated in another blog post, we tested over 500 veterinary websites while building WhiskerCloud and the results were scary. About one in every five had a website that worked on mobile devices, had any type of SEO or analytics integration, and only two of five hundred had any security at all. While there is no way to rate website aesthetics, we felt that about 90% of these websites were outdated and didn’t showcase the essence of the practice.
We understand that not everyone has the budget or time to put together the perfect website, but today we do want to give some tips on putting together a veterinary website that will convey how amazing your practice is, attracting more happy patients that will be so excited to meet you.
1. Showcase Your Staff
Have a toothache? You go online and Google dentists in your area, looking at ratings, websites, and photos of the facilities you’ll be heading to, right? Guess what, pet owners are doing the same exact thing! Showcase your practice, your team, and be sure to really make your visitors understand what makes your practice special.
2. Highlight Your Contact Information
Your phone number, address, and email (contact form) should be on the front page and easy to find, no questions asked! If someone wants to schedule an appointment or call to ask questions, they’ll often expect to be able to find contact information on your homepage. We’ve seen a ton of websites that we had to search for contact information, your web visitors may already move on to the next veterinary website.
3. Mobile Responsive Is So Important
The mobile world means that 90% of people search at least once a month on a mobile device. If those people are searching for a veterinarian and come across your websites on their phone, what will they find? Have a website that looks great and functions beautifully on mobile devices is just so important. A couple stats to help this sink in: 87% of Millennials always have their smartphones within arm’s reach; they also check their smartphones about 150-times a day. 91% of smartphone users check their phones for ideas (and products/services) in the middle of tasks. Yes, having a mobile friendly website is very important.
