How important will your website be when it comes to growing your veterinary practice? According to Forbes contributor Erica Anderson, small businesses are seeing an increasing need to account for online activity if they want to maintain and grow their companies.
She notes that 52% of small business owners don’t even have a website and asks, “Why are small business owners not using cheap technology to better establish and grow their businesses?” It’s a good question, and the likely answer is that many business owners don’t fully understand how the internet is changing the way businesses attract and interact with their clients.
Running a veterinary website is a unique challenge when it comes to the marketing you will engage in. Here are three tips to help you improve your website, and grow your practice.
1. First Impressions are Everything
Studies have shown that visitors will judge your website and decide whether to leave or stay within the first three seconds of arriving. For your website to pass this “blink test,” you will need to have an easy to navigate, appealing, and quickly loading front page in order to hold their interest. Speed is often an underrated aspect of web design, yet it impacts both search engine rankings and visitor bounce rate; 40% of people will abandon your site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Invest in vets website designers who can streamline your site, and make it faster.
2. Veterinarian Marketing Secrets
You’re a veterinary clinic website, and you want advice specific to your field. One thing worth noting is that visitors respond better to candid, real photos than they do to stock images. You might love those Shutterstock pugs-rolling-in-daffodils images, but they’re not going to resonate with visitors the same way. Showcase the care that is visible in everything you do with photographs of your practice prominently displayed on your website.
Another thing to keep in mind is the psychology of color. USA Today notes that 52% of people will only take their pet to the veterinarian if they are seriously ill; correspondingly, many of your visitors will be in a heightened state of panic as they search. Key in to this by keeping your website in calming shades of green or blue. Because the need for emergency care is so great, make sure you have a link to this information easily visible from every page.
3. What to Look for in Veterinary Website Designers
Many small businesses fall into the trap of configuring their websites like it’s still 2001. It’s not enough anymore to get your college-aged cousin to set up a quick website. What you pay in good design, you get back in great functionality and appearance. Hire an individual or company that has extensive experience working with veterinary website design, and look for a designer who will set up your website so that it is easy for you to update the content.
Have any tips for better veterinary website design? Let us know in the comments. Learn more at this link.