5 Website Mistakes That Could Be Costing Your Clinic New Patients
Your website is often the first impression new patients have of your chiropractic clinic. But if your site doesn’t look the part, is slow, or not optimised for performance and user experience, you could be losing patients before they even book an appointment.
In my experience, there are five key components that go into good chiropractic websites. If any of these are missing, you could be losing potential patients.
Here are five common website mistakes and simple adjustments you can make to boost website performance.
Mistake 1) Slow website speed
A slow website is frustrating. You may know this if you’re experiencing a page that won’t load or when shopping online. Slow sites frustrate visitors and increase the likelihood that they’ll click off your site.
In fact, Google reports that:
- 53% of visits are likely to be abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load
- One out of two people expect a page to load in less than 2 seconds
- 46% of people say that waiting for pages to load is what they dislike the most when browsing the web on mobile devices.
Even if you have the patience to wait for a site to load, many other people don’t, including some of your patients.
What can you do to improve website speed?
This isn’t the easiest website mistake to fix, as it takes a bit of technical knowledge and some work to fix the issues. Here are some of the best ways you can improve website speed:
- Optimise images by compressing them without losing quality. Try Squoosh before uploading images to your website. This online tool reduces file size while maintaining high quality.
- Use a reliable hosting provider with fast server speeds (try to avoid budget hosting companies). In my experience, you end up paying more to get the speed and service you really need. I use Siteground.
- Enable browser caching and minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files (yes, can get a little technical).
- Reduce unnecessary plugins if using WordPress. Each plugin adds extra code, which can slow down your website. Also, plugins from different developers may not work well together, causing conflicts that can bring down your site.
Find out how slow or fast your website is. Run a Google PageSpeed Insights test to check your website’s load time and receive specific recommendations for improvement. You can do that here: https://pagespeed.web.dev/
The image below shows a Google PageSpeed Insights performance and speed scan. This website scores pretty well, with a 94 performance score. If there are issues, the report details them.
Mistake 2) Lack of clear calls-to-action
Your website should guide patients towards taking action. It may be to book their appointment online, to call your clinic, or to sign up for your newsletter.
Your website needs to clearly tell visitors what to do, because as the saying goes, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
If your calls-to-action are unclear, hidden, or nonexistent, you may be missing out on new patient enquiries.
How can you make your calls-to-action stand out?
This screen shot, from Sydney Spinal Care, shows multiple calls-to-action on their custom made orthotic page. In the blue header at the top, you can see a phone number call-to-action, which is ‘sticky’ and stays at the top of the page when you scroll, both on desktop and mobile. You can then see two call-to-action buttons, for their phone number and ‘book now’. This makes it easy for existing or new patients to contact the clinic.
Place clear and compelling calls-to-action throughout your website, such as “Book Your Appointment Today” or “Please call us on the number below to make an appointment or book online today.”
Use contrasting colours and larger fonts to make buttons stand out.
Ensure your calls-to-action are above the fold (visible without scrolling) on key pages like the homepage and service pages.
Mistake 3) Not being mobile-friendly
More than 60% of searches come from mobile devices, and this is increasing every year. If your website lacks mobile optimisation and responsiveness, you run the risk of frustrating potential patients and losing leads to competitors who have mobile-friendly sites.
All our websites are mobile responsive by design, meaning they look great on your mobile phone or tablet, all the time!
Here are some things to consider when it comes to responsive design.
- Use a responsive website theme that adapts to different screen sizes. This may mean investing in a new website. Most new websites are responsive and designed for mobile by default.
- Test your website on multiple devices to ensure text, images, and buttons are easily clickable and readable.
- You can try this responsive test tool to see what your website looks like on different devices: https://responsivetesttool.com/
Mistake 4) Poor SEO structure with missing keywords
If your website isn’t optimised for search engines, potential patients may never find your clinic online. Common SEO mistakes include missing local keywords, keyword stuffing, duplicate content, and lack of meta descriptions.
How can you improve your SEO?
Use local keywords
Incorporate relevant chiropractic keywords:
- “chiropractor Boston” should be your SEO page title and H1 tag if you’re located in Boston
- Use “back pain relief in Boston”) in your headings, page titles, and content
- Use “back pain treatment” or “chiropractor for back pain” on a dedicated back pain condition page. And repeat this strategy for a range of other condition pages.
Create suburb pages
Create location-specific pages or mention your service areas throughout your site.
- Publish individual local suburb pages, targeting adjacent suburbs, helping to expand your presence while showing up in Google for people searching for a chiropractor in their suburb.
Show up on Google Maps
Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile to improve local search rankings.
Keep website content updated
Regularly update your website with fresh, high-quality content such as blog posts and FAQs.
Google’s updates favour websites that stay current, so refreshing blogs, optimising outdated pages, and publishing new content helps maintain visibility and engagement with users.
Mistake 5) Not Having an Easy Online Booking System
Patients expect convenience, and if your website lacks an easy-to-use online booking system, they may go elsewhere.
How to fix this.
Integrate a user-friendly booking system that allows patients to schedule appointments online.
Popular online booking and patient management systems include:
- Cliniko
- Setmore
- SimplyBook.me
- ChiroSpring
Ensure the booking button is prominently displayed on every page, such as in your header and footer.
Offer multiple contact options, including click-to-call buttons for mobile users.
Key points
- Five common website mistakes that could be costing new patients include slow website speed, lack of clear calls-to-action, not being mobile-friendly, poor SEO structure with missing keywords, and not having an easy online booking system.
- Your website should be a powerful tool that attracts and converts new patients, not one that drives them away.
- By addressing these common mistakes, you can improve user experience, increase conversions, and grow your chiropractic practice.
If you’d like help with your chiropractic website, feel free to reach out—I’d love to assist!
