This is one of those questions that we get asked a lot. I would say that one of the biggest struggles people have when creating a website, besides the design and technical aspect of setting it up, is what content to put on it. Over the many years that we have been helping acupuncturists create websites and market their practices, we have learned a few things about what works and what doesn’t work. We will go through some of the pages that you definitely should include on your website. (Disclaimer: Everything we will discuss in this or any article we write is all about providing value to your potential clients while at the same time marketing your acupuncture clinic to the search engines).
The Home Page
The homepage can sometimes be a bit tricky because it can be difficult to decide what content you should put on it. What we have found works very well is to first introduce yourself with a short blurb about who you are (don’t overdue it here as we will have a more in-depth practitioner bio page later on). Next, you want to discuss acupuncture, the history, as well as the benefits. Put some known ailments that acupuncture can help. People may be exploring acupuncture as a remedy for a problem they have and if they happen see it in a list of ailments that acupuncture can treat, they may be more apt to visit your office.
It is important that you have your phone number and office location somewhere on the home page. You want people to be able to contact you the second they decide they want to. I have seen a lot of acupuncturists make this one simple mistake. They forget to put their phone number on their website… don’t be one of them! Put your phone number on your website and make it prominent.
Practitioner Bio Page
We are social people, and we want to know who we will be working with when it comes to our health. This is true for dentists, physical therapists, acupuncturists and really any service related industry. Spend a little time introducing yourself to your potential clients. Include a picture and share a little about yourself. Maybe tell them how many years you have been practicing, where you are originally from, what school you attended, etc.
The biggest thing with the Bio page is just to let your website visitors get to know you a little bit. You have a personality, we all do, let it come through on the page.
Acupuncture Services Page
This is a big one, and will probably be one of the most visited pages on your website. If people visit your website looking for acupuncture, they are going to want to know what services you offer. They are also going to want to know what the price is of those services too, so don’t hide it from them, share it! Today’s younger generation is all about getting access to information the second they want it. They don’t want to have to call your office to ask how much an acupuncture therapy will cost them. Put it on the website. If the price can change depending on their insurance, then put a side note next to the price.
People in their 20’s, 30’s and sometimes 40’s will often leave a website and go to the next one in the search results if there isn’t any pricing info on the site. A lot of times if they are calling your office, they have already decided to give you a shot.
Intake Forms
One of the best ways to streamline your intake process for new patients is to provide downloadable PDF intake forms on your website. By doing so, patients can download the form, print them, and have them filled out prior to coming to the office. This saves you time and money on printing, and saves your patients wasted time sitting in the waiting room filling out forms.
One thing to note is that if you provide downloadable intake forms, make sure that you provide them in PDF format, not Word or any other format. The PDF format is the standard on the web for documents and just about every device (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) are able to open them.
Contact Us Page
Again, this is one of those no brainer pages that acupuncturists sometimes forget. Make it easy for patients and potential patents to contact you. Put your office address location, phone numbers, a map to your office. You would also want to include a contact form so that people can fill it out and email you.
I would shy away from putting your email address on your website. In today’s wild wild web, there are all kinds of bots scouring the web looking for email addresses to spam. Using a contact form hides your email and dramatically cuts down on spam.
So there you have it, my list of pages you really should have on your acupuncture website. This is in no way an exhaustive list, but it should give you a starting place getting your acupuncture website up and running.
Do you have a specific question you would like to know about? If so, please leave a comment below. We are always looking for topics to write about. If you don’t have a question, that’s ok too. We love hearing from you, so if you just want to say hello, feel free to post a comment!
