When was the last time you revamped your ketamine clinic web design? You probably tweak your pages every so often, checking for errors when you post a new blog article or photo. But have you dug in recently and completed a top-to-bottom overhaul?
Your website, which is how 75% of new patients find you, is the gateway to your treatment center.1 First impressions matter. And your patients see your website as their first (and sometimes only) introduction to your center. So you need to make the most of their time and attention.
There are very few, if any, components of your marketing strategy you can set and forget—and your website certainly isn’t one of them. This marketing tool requires constant vigilance to update best practices, share critical information, and ultimately connect patients with the care they need.
Is Your Ketamine Clinic Web Design Outdated?
When it comes to psychedelic treatments, the landscape is constantly changing. New research and the results of long-term studies are constantly being published, changing the perception of these potentially life-changing therapies. State, local, and federal regulations around psychedelic therapies, including ketamine therapies, are evolving as law-makers, providers, and the public gain a deeper understanding of what these treatments are and what they can realistically offer to patients in need.
Best practices and trends in the digital marketing space are also constantly in a state of evolution, driven by a multitude of factors such as changes to Google’s algorithms, new technologies (like AI), and the public’s sophistication around digital content.
Keeping your ketamine clinic’s website design current and line with best practices takes time, and requires a commitment to routine audits, error fixes, updates, and new content. But the results are worth it. Optimized websites are more attractive to Google’s algorithm, which boost your presences on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Easily navigable websites encourage visitors to browse your content and learn more about the benefits of ketamine therapy and whether this psychedelic treatment may be the right fit for them. Clean, modern design with new content demonstrates that your clinic is current, committed to sharing information and resources with the public, and trustworthy.
These are the benefits of keeping your website design current. But what does updating your ketamine therapy web design mean in practice?
1. Sliding Headers are Off-trend
For a time, sliding headers were the height of homepage technology. When users visited your website, the TV-like slides captured their attention. But not anymore.
Internet users are tired of sliding images with vague, useless text. They want to get to the point and find the information they seek as quickly as possible. In fact, only 1% of visitors actually click rotating carousels.2
When designing your ketamine treatment clinic’s website, think about the ways that visitors to your site are accessing the internet. Outdated best practices would have you focus on visuals and functionality optimized for desktop usage, with the mobile experience an afterthought. But today, emphasis is placed on responsible design that’s optimized for mobile. Sliding headers not only are off-trend and no longer have the same resonance with users, they’re not best practice for responsive and mobile-first designs.
2. The Wrong Images Alienate Users
The images that you select for your ketamine treatment clinic’s website play a large role in the visual look and feel of your brand. Images have always been an important part of digital marketing, but their use has changed over the years. In the past, big, splashy images were the height of web design. But today, users respond to something different.
Instead, make your images proportional to the rest of your content—neither too big nor too small. To give prospective patients a glimpse into your world, use actual photos of your behavioral health center, clinicians, and (with a signed release) patients. These personalized graphics invite trust, so be sure to use them wherever possible instead of relying on generic stock photos.
3. Hamburgers Don’t Belong on a Desktop
Some designers put hamburgers right on their desktops—and not the kind you eat! An easy way to spot outdated web design is a site using the three-lined navigation button on their desktop version.
While hamburger navigation is the way to go for mobile web design, this element has no place on your ketamine clinic’s desktop site. Desktop users are looking for a little more. So give them what they came for—a well-thought-out, clear navigation pane with no hamburgers in sight.
How to Update Your Ketamine Clinic Web Design
Keeping up with web design best practices can feel like running a marathon. But there are a few tried and true methods for freshening up your behavioral health center’s website. Remember, updating your site gives visitors a better experience and contributes to your rankings on the SERP. When you deliver a strong first impression and help users find the information they’re looking for, they are more likely to become patients down the road.
1. Clean Up Your Navigation
Patients and their families come to your site for information, so let information take the lead when planning your ketamine therapy web design. An intuitive navigation pane clearly communicates the information available on your site. Visitors spend less time looking and more time learning!
2. Add a Creative Touch
Enhance your site’s content with your creativity. Buttons with 3-D gradients, engaging (but legible) fonts, and thoughtful images and videos paint a vivid picture of your behavioral health center. But make sure the visual elements complement, not outshine, the content.
As always, ensure that your creatives display well and load quickly and error free both on desktop and mobile. Strong branding is important in sharing your treatment center’s story, but poor function, slow load times, and errors negatively impact the user experience.
Your website is the public face of your center online. So don’t waste this opportunity to show patients and their families what you’re all about!
Looking for help refreshing your ketamine therapy clinic’s website? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Schedule a strategy session with us by calling 888.307.7304.
For a list of references, please contact us.