Website design for physician

[Practice]

Agree. WiX and Squarespace are both easy to use platforms for a basic site.

FYI. If you use WiX, and don't want to spend the time DIY, you can hire good WiX designers to build the site for you for a much better cost. ~$500-$1500+ in the WiX Marketplace. https://www.wix.com/marketplace

Have you used Wix to build a site? If so, what did you think? I tried to build a site with them 3 years ago and it was just too clunky. But, I'm biased. I stick to WordPress, mostly because it's easy for me to use, and there are so many freelancers I can hire to work on my site. It's like a Toyota Corolla, there are millions of them so it's easy to find a mechanic that can work on it. That being said, if there is another way to build a website that is easy to use, with good support behind it, I'd be interested.

[Gold Medal Waters]

Have you used Wix to build a site? If so, what did you think? I tried to build a site with them 3 years ago and it was just too clunky. But, I'm biased. I stick to WordPress, mostly because it's easy for me to use, and there are so many freelancers I can hire to work on my site. It's like a Toyota Corolla, there are millions of them so it's easy to find a mechanic that can work on it. That being said, if there is another way to build a website that is easy to use, with good support behind it, I'd be interested.

Yes, I've created sites on all three - WiX, Squarespace, and Wordpress.

WiX was indeed a bit clunky in years past. It is very different now. Very intuitive platform to use, and they've worked out a lot of the bugs with browser reading and SEO. There are still some limitations, however. For example, if you don't want to use their custom blog design, you would need to have one developed on their corvid platform (an unfortunate name that they created a few years back). Support-wise, WiX support is now predominantly US/Isreal based and is much better than it used to be. Recently, they've even added some features that would allow for their sites to move past basic websites to apps and substantial e-commerce.

[litovskyassetmanagement]

While DIY might work for some who has lots of time on their hands, if you want a professionally designed website that is usable and is SEO optimized from the start (as well as cost-effective, portable and good looking), you can try http://ninainteractive.com/. Nina designed and currently maintains WCI website (look at the very bottom left of the blow page), and she specializes in building medical/dental sites exclusively (she also has access to copywriters who can write medical/dental content). She wrote multiple articles on how to build websites optimally. This article has a lot of good information on hosting and portability:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/best-website-hosting-medical-practice/

[ninainteractive]

We have built and are maintaining the WCI website. We also specialize in professional custom dental and medical websites. To address a few things in this thread:


1. A professional custom website doesn’t have to cost $8K. Our websites cost about half as much and include custom design, custom content writing (optional, or you can write your own content) and full SEO (search engine optimization). And unlike most companies, we do not charge any recurring fees.


2. We use Wordpress to build our websites. With Wordpress, our nontechnical clients can very easily make content updates on their own without having to come to us for every little change. Our websites are very editable. I don’t recommend Wix and Weebly or Squarespace for the following reasons:


a) These platforms are very limited compared to Wordpress. You can only use the features these platforms offer. And since these platforms are proprietary, you don’t have customization options beyond what the platform offers. Many of our clients want customizations. With Wordpress, you can build and customize things in any way you want. Wordpress is an open-source platform, so it’s much easier for developers to build a website to the client’s specifications and for clients to get what they want. Wordpress websites are a lot more scalable. You can set up a basic website and build it up with features and customizations along the way. With Wix and Weebly, you are very limited in that regard. It’s always a good idea to think long-term when you are investing in a website. So when choosing a platform, you must consider how easy it will be to scale your website, to build new features, and to do customizations. Wordpress clearly wins here.


b) At the time of writing, Wordpress offers much better SEO tools than Wix, Weebly or Squarespace. It’s also easier to build ADA compliant websites (websites for people with disabilities) with Wordpress rather than with Wix or Weebly because, as I said above, Wordpress developers have a lot more options and tools. As a doctor, you want your website to be as ADA compliant as possible. You also want good SEO so patients can find you online easier.


c) Wordpress websites can be hosted anywhere, so you have plenty of options for good and affordable hosting. You or your developer can choose the best hosting that provides high loading speed for your website (which is VERY important) and the best technical maintenance (backups, upgrades) automatically for you. There are plenty of very affordable, high-quality hosting vendors and they all host Wordpress websites. With Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, you can only host on that platform and nowhere else, so you can’t choose the best and cost-effective hosting options. Wix, Weebly or Squarespace websites aren’t portable. So if you decide you don’t like Wix, you can’t move your website to another hosting and you will have to rebuild your website like some of our clients did. On the other hand, a Wordpress website can be easily moved to another hosting.


3. Be careful with freelancers that you find on Fiverr. We’ve seen some clients who hired freelancers to build a website and the freelancer abandoned the project, or did a poor job, or never answered the phone when the client needed help later on. A website is an investment so again, you need to think long term. You should hire a reputable and reliable company that will not only build a high-quality website but will also be around for you should you have any questions or need help going forward.


I will be happy to answer any more questions. I am not here frequently so it’s best to contact me at my email: [email protected]


If you want to learn more about what we can do for you or view samples of our medical websites, visit our website at https://ninainteractive.com/

Since Jim trusts us with building and maintaining his WCI website, we can do a good job for you as well.

[Bonez]

I just noticed that I had some responses from the post I made ~3 years ago I did register a domain name I wanted and toyed around with WordPress, but I ended up talking to the "business end" of my practice and they have a contract with a marketing company that makes personalized websites and I ended up going that route. It didn't cost me anything out of pocket as it is part of our shared overhead expenses haha. Plus it fits in with the theme of our practice's general website.

[Dont_know_mind]

I just noticed that I had some responses from the post I made ~3 years ago I did register a domain name I wanted and toyed around with WordPress, but I ended up talking to the "business end" of my practice and they have a contract with a marketing company that makes personalized websites and I ended up going that route. It didn't cost me anything out of pocket as it is part of our shared overhead expenses haha. Plus it fits in with the theme of our practice's general website.

The website would be for business but also so that patients can find you if you leave the group. If the group allows it, it would allow you not to be completely reliant on them in the event of a parting of ways.

I have a business card, with my website on it. I ask patients to refer to it if I mention a condition and they want information on it. It has maybe 5 pages. I set it up 5 years ago using godaddy or whatever was a cheap service at the time. It took me an afternoon to set up. I can change it if I change locations or fees. My wife used a web designer and it wasn’t very user customisable. I think I pay about $500/ year for ongoing fees. I’m sure there are cheaper but I can’t be bothered changing from the original hosting service.

If where you work allows you to have your own website or use your own phone line/number for appointments, then I would do that. Then if you move, you have the website and phone line that patients usually ring or go to in order to book in.

Wasn’t aware of the ADA issues. I might have to upgrade my website.

[ninainteractive]

The website would be for business but also so that patients can find you if you leave the group. If the group allows it, it would allow you not to be completely reliant on them in the event of a parting of ways.

That's a good point. It's best to have your own website even if you work for a group. We have physician clients who work for group practices/hospitals but still come to us to build their personal practice websites. If you have a personal physician website, you can really promote yourself, explain and describe your services in a greater detail, have your own blog, answer common questions from patients, have your own contact information, etc. If you ever leave the group, you will still keep your website. It's always best to think ahead and own your website your website since it's your most important online marketing tool.

[jacoavlu]

While DIY might work for some who has lots of time on their hands, if you want a professionally designed website that is usable and is SEO optimized from the start (as well as cost-effective, portable and good looking), you can try http://ninainteractive.com/. Nina designed and currently maintains WCI website (look at the very bottom left of the blow page), and she specializes in building medical/dental sites exclusively (she also has access to copywriters who can write medical/dental content). She wrote multiple articles on how to build websites optimally. This article has a lot of good information on hosting and portability:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/be...ical-practice/

yeah but how's her cooking

[Random1]

There are alot of good ideas, but for the ambitious, quite easy to do yourself for a limited expense , many hosting sites have generic web templates. Would recommend putting the following on the site.

general bio , procedures
directions
way to contact the office , for non urgent needs
new pt forms
release forms
any type of form pt info, diet , exercise that you use on a regular basis
vaccine information sheets
data tracker to see how many hits your site gets
spot for practice update , ie info about Covid updates