What Elements of an Orthopedic Website are Crucial to Incorporate Into Your User Experience?
In today’s digital age, having an effective and visually appealing website is crucial for orthopedic practices and surgeons. A well-designed orthopedic website not only enhances your online presence but also establishes credibility, attracts potential patients, and improves user experience. Design trends are changing rapidly, so, it’s essential to stay updated with the latest design trends to make sure your orthopedic website is helping you get more new patients in the door. Here are seven top trends we are excited about for 2023.
1. Minimalistic and Clean Layouts
Simple is better, and 2023 has seen a rise in these types of websites. Minimalistic layouts with clean lines, plenty of white space, and good typography, help users focus on the most important elements of your orthopedic website. By decluttering the design, you can create a visually appealing and user-friendly experience that allows visitors to navigate effortlessly and find the information they need without distractions. If your website is simple and easy to use, potential patients assume the experience in your office will be simple as well. You create likeability in their minds before the first visit.
2. Mobile-First Design for Orthopedic Websites
A whopping 67.81% of website visitors are mobile users in 2023. Making your orthopedic website easy to use for mobile is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Mobile-first design ensures that your website is responsive, adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes, and provides an optimal browsing experience on smartphones and tablets. Making sure your content has fast loading times and intuitive navigation also helps improve the mobile experience for your users.
3. Quick Access to Important Patient Information
The deeper the patient interaction is with your orthopedic website and the longer they spend on it not only helps you as a search engine ranking factor, but it also helps with conversion. It’s important to enhance your website with the information that matters to the patient. This includes:
- Orthopedic surgeon profiles
- Office locations with information on the surgeons at that location
- Patient forms and policies. Digital and HIPAA compliant online patient forms are a plus
- Pre-Op and post operative instructions
- Comprehensive list of orthopedic conditions and procedures by specialty
- Patient testimonials or success stories of athletes getting back to what they love
- Interactive elements and micro-interactions to engage your website visitors and create a memorable user experience
4. High-Quality Visuals and Multimedia
Visual content plays a crucial role in conveying your orthopedic clinic’s professionalism, expertise, and patient care. In 2023, high-quality visuals, including photographs, videos, and illustrations, will continue to dominate orthopedic website design. Video is more important now than it has ever been. Almost 70% of adults spend time online watching videos. Consider incorporating videos introducing your orthopedic doctors or leverage patient testimonials, as they can effectively communicate your expertise and build trust among potential patients. In addition incorporating videos on pages related to orthopedic conditions or procedures will help keep potential patients on your website, improving user time on that page, which search engines like Google love. One example where this is done well is on Texas Spine Associates.
5. Personalization and Customization
Personalization is becoming increasingly important in web design as it helps create a tailored experience for patients. The more potential patients feel that you understand their needs, the more likely they are to come visit you. You can customize your orthopedic website based on the preferences and needs of your target audience, by covering specific concerns based on the types of patients you most often see in your practice. Implement features like location-based services, language preferences, and dynamic content based on user behavior and interests. For instance, if you see a lot of sports injuries, include photos that have people playing sports in them. If you treat a lot of elderly patients, consider including people who look like the most common patients in your photography. Finally, elaborate within your content about your experience and why patients would be willing to drive such as number of surgical procedures per year, years of experience serving the community or fellowship trainings. By providing personalized experiences, you can more easily strengthen user engagement, improve conversion rates, and establish long-term relationships with patients.
6. Accessibility and Inclusivity
We recognize this is less of a trend and more of a requirement, but it is important to mention! Creating an inclusive website design is not only a legal requirement but also an ethical responsibility. You will need to ensure that your orthopedic website meets accessibility standards, which will allow people with disabilities to access and understand your website content effectively. You’ll need to make sure you incorporate features such as alt text for images, proper heading structure, keyboard navigation, and color contrast optimization. It’s always important to prioritize usability and readability to make your website accessible to a wide range of users, regardless of their abilities, but the number of lawsuits filed for non-compliant websites increased by 12% in 2022 over 2021, so it’s important to stay on top of this.
7. Privacy and Legal Information
Protecting your orthopedic practice against lawsuits and reducing risk is important now more than ever. It’s one thing to include a privacy policy and terms of use, and any necessary legal disclaimers to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and protect the privacy of visitors to the website. Beyond that your orthopedic website should meet the requirements of CCPA, CPRA and HIPAA, Section 1557 and Section 508 of the Department of Health and Human Services. Implementing protective measures up front will allow you to focus more on what matters most, growing your orthopedic practice.
Make Sure Your Orthopedic Practice Website Is On Trend
By embracing these seven orthopedic website design trends for 2023, you can enhance your online presence, attract potential patients, and differentiate yourself from other practices in your area. The bottom line is to remember to keep your website simple, responsive, and visually appealing, and use content that is easily understood by the clients you hope to attract. By staying up-to-date with the latest design trends and incorporating personalized and accessible elements, you can create a compelling online presence that reflects your orthopedic clinic’s expertise and care.
Want to see how your orthopedic website can improve? Practis can help!
Contact us for a free site analysis.
