10 Ways To Make Your Website More Awesome
Does your website leave you feeling less than inspired? Or maybe you're looking to make sure it's the absolute best it can be?
Making your website awesome doesn't have to be complicated. There are plenty of simple tweaks you can make to your site that will make it easy to use and more likely to attract your ideal clients!
10 Ways To Make Your Website More Awesome
Match your colours & images
When most practitioners start out, they may be DIYing their branding – if they have any at all! But as you grow as a practitioner, you start to understand the importance of branding and consistency online.
Now is a great time to review your branding. This includes using the same group of colours and similar style images throughout your site.
For colours, it’s best to focus on 1-2 colours that are your primary colours. You might also include 1-2 secondary colours that are used as a contrast. For example, you might notice on Tech For Pracs, the primary colour is a shade of burgundy!
When it comes to images, you want your professional photos and any stock images you use to be similar. You might prefer images that are light, airy and minimalist, or perhaps bright, vivid images. There is no ‘right’ style to use, as long as it appeals to you and reflects who you are as a practitioner.
It’s also best to use images that have your colours in them, even if it’s only a hint of colour. This is why I recommend wearing clothes or accessories in your brand colours for photoshoots.
Don’t have any branding for your business yet? Head here to learn about my branding service.
Give your SEO a lookover
Have you moved clinic locations since you first created your website?
Are you offering online services or even products?
Changed or narrowed down your ideal clients?
If the answer to any of these is yes, your SEO could do with an update. This ensures that your website reflects what you’re offering.
Have a look through the back-end of your website, and check each keyword or keyphrase for each main page. Ask yourself if they are still relevant, and tweak if needed.
While you’re at it, check through any blog posts you have. If they could be improved or if you have a new offer that would suit a previous blog, update accordingly.
Once you’ve updated your SEO, you want to force Google to recrawl your site. That way, the changes take effect quickly! To learn about how to do just that, here’s a handy link.
Check for dead links
There’s nothing more frustrating for clients than clicking on a link and getting an error page!
Dead links are part of having a website – no one is immune. You might update a page URL, take something off your website or make a spelling mistake. If you link to someone else’s website, they might do the same.
The good news is that checking for dead links is easy, thanks to the free tools available online.
Give Broken Link Checker a go. You never know what broken links you might find! In fact, the last time I ran this test, I found 3 broken links on my home page alone!
Include your legals
If you don’t have legals for your website – think terms & conditions and privacy policy – you’re leaving your business exposed. Having a thorough and specific set of legals will help not only to protect you, but also the people who visit your site.
Looking for legal templates you can confidently tailor to suit and protect your business? My go-to templates are from Michelle Whitehead.
Michelle is a lawyer who works with small business owners and health practitioners. Her templates give you much more protection and confidence than using other people’s documents (I don’t recommend that!), but they also are more affordable than hiring a lawyer to write them for you.
To see Michelle’s range of template options, head here.
Already have legals in place? Give them a read and make sure they are still relevant.
Have a cancellation policy in place
Another important legal doc to have on your site is your cancellation policy. That way, if someone cancels with you last-minute, they understand the consequences!
Every prac is different with their approach to a cancellation policy. But if you don’t have anything at all, there’s nothing to stop people from no-showing, constantly rescheduling 20 min before a session, or using a gift voucher that is years old!
Create more content
Be honest - has it been a while since you wrote a blog? If so, it’s time to get back into the swing of creating fresh content for your website!
The more content you create, the more that Google can crawl and understand your areas of interest and expertise. It also allows visitors to see that you know your stuff when it comes to those topics.
If that wasn’t enough of a reason, you can also reuse tips and advice from your blogs across social media and newsletters!
Not big on writing? You can embed videos into your blog and simply have a transcription or dotpoint form of the video below it for those who prefer reading.
Review your copy
Your business will grow and mature over time. You might have refined your niche, pivoted your offers, or simply become more confident in who you are as a practitioner!
Your website copy on every page needs to reflect these changes. Make a date with yourself at least once a year to review your copy and make sure it’s up to date.
Hate writing your own copy? Consider outsourcing it to a health copywriter.
Embed your booking system
Having a booking system is a must for any prac. It means that clients can book themselves in for an appointment, even if you’re working, relaxing or even sleeping!
But if you’re still linking people to an external page, it’s one more step they have to take to work with you.
Instead, embed your booking system into your services or booking page on your site. That way, clients can book straight in to see you. Easy peasy!
Have more pics of your face
Looking for an easy way to make your website more appealing? Make sure you have at least 2-4 pictures of your beautiful face!
The more that people feel that your face is familiar, the easier it is for them to trust you and work with you. And one of the best ways to make your face familiar is to have it on your website.
I recommend having your face on your Home and About page as an absolute minimum! Ideally, your face will be on each main page, either with a different image for each or with the one image as the header across each page.
Simplify it!
What's one critical requirement for an amazing website? It has to be easy for people to navigate and find what they need!
The easier it is for people to learn about what you offer, the easier it is for them to become paying clients. Make sure that the layout and content of your website are easy to navigate and use.
If you're not sure, ask a friend who isn't very tech-savvy to have a look at it, and get some feedback on their experience.
Don’t even know where to start when it comes to making your website the best it can be?
My website audit might be for you!
A website audit helps you to understand how Google sees your website, what your client’s experience of your website is like, and how to optimise your site for both.
You'll walk away with clear steps that will make your website easy to use and easy to find.
To book a website audit, click here.