Effective Cosmetic Surgery Website Design: A Checklist for Plastic Surgeons

Did you know that the average user spends 15 seconds on a website? Fifty-five percent of all users spend 15 seconds or less on a webpage before deciding whether to leave a website or read on. While this statistic impacts nearly every industry somehow, a plastic surgeon’s website design can either turn a potential patient away or help them decide whether or not they want to learn more about a cosmetic procedure they’re interested in.

Several key elements impact whether a user sticks around, including ease of navigation, load times, and visual elements. Therefore, by learning more about optimizing cosmetic surgery website design, you can increase your website’s foot traffic and the amount of time users remain on the site.

What Makes a Plastic Surgery Website Different From Others?

Your cosmetic surgery website design will convey a lot about your practice. For example, is your practice organized and knowledgeable? How professional is your practice? And what message do you hope to convey to potential patients?

Cosmetic surgery requires patients to place their trust in you. Procedures can be standard or risky, but patients are putting their trust and self-esteem in your hands either way. Therefore, if your website cannot convey the right messages, patients may seek help elsewhere.

5 Tips to Have an Effective Cosmetic Surgery Website Design

Are you planning your cosmetic surgery website design? Here are five ways to build a website that engages and converts visitors into patients.

1. Make It Mobile-Friendly

There are currently two billion people who exclusively access the internet on their smartphones. That number is only projected to increase, with estimates as high as 72.6 percent of internet users by 2025. That means that making a mobile-friendly website is crucial to the success of your practice. When creating a mobile-friendly website, implement these best practices:

• Use a Collapsible Navigation Menu: Collapsible navigation menus let mobile users quickly view the various pages of your site.
• Keep Your Homepage Simple: Avoid homepages that contain large amounts of text that mobile users will need to scroll through. Instead, keep it short, sweet, and informative to help keep potential patients engaged.
• Click-to-Call Options: One of the best reasons to use a mobile device when accessing the internet is click-to-call options. Click-to-call options let users quickly contact your office without jotting down the phone number.

2. Make Sure Your Cosmetic Surgery Website Design is Easy to Navigate

A large part of creating an effective website design is the ease of navigation. Have you ever visited a website only to find that you couldn’t locate the information you wanted quickly enough? If you’re like most people, you likely became frustrated and looked at a competitor’s website instead. Ease of navigation is a crucial element that should be included in your website’s design.

When creating a cosmetic surgery website design, keep these navigation tools in mind:

• Simple, Easy-to-Access Menus: Your navigation menus should be easy to use and understand. Make it clear what information will be provided by the name of the navigation option. For example, a contact page should lead directly to that. In addition, every navigation title you use should be simple, clear, and concise.
• Utilize Call-to-Action: Navigation menus aren’t the only thing driving patients towards another page. Call-to-actions can provide potential patients with clear directions. Examples of good call-to-action buttons include appointment scheduling and patient portals.

Don’t Skimp on Visual Elements

Strong visual elements can help keep potential patients engaged when viewing your website. Sometimes, an attractive look can be more fruitful than the website’s content. Additionally, visual elements can help extend that 15-second average.

Visual elements can be especially important for website design. High-quality photos, including before and after pictures, can help convey the services you offer and the results that patients may expect. When creating a cosmetic surgery website design, strive to stand out with striking visual elements like:

• Original Photos, Images, and Videos: Stock images and generic videos may not resonate with your visitors if they’ve seen them on all of your competitors’ websites. As a plastic surgeon, you need your website to stand out to garnish more engagement from potential patients.
• Make Sure Visuals Are Not Distracting: Have you ever been to a website that was cluttered with too many photos, had several videos trying to load and play automatically, or had jarring or distracting text fonts or colors? Visuals are perhaps one of the most important things that a cosmetic surgery website design company can help you with. These companies understand what visual elements will be most appealing to your target audience.

4. Do Everything You Can to Cut Down on Load Times

Long load times kill customer engagement. No one wants to sit and wait for a website to load, and websites with long load times can be distracting and cause users to click the back button on their browsers.

Remember, the average consumer spends just 15 seconds or less on a website. You can improve the load speeds of your plastic surgery website by:

• Limiting Image Sizes and the Number of Images: Excess or large imagery can make it longer for a website to load, especially on mobile devices. Instead, limit the amount of imagery you use and compress your file sizes to optimize load times.
• Cleaning Up Your Website’s Content: Similarly, too much content can slow your website down. Ensure that the content you’re providing is valuable and avoids any unnecessary characters, punctuation, or unused code that may clog your website.

5. Adhere to ADA Website Compliance

As a plastic surgeon, your website design should always convey that your practice adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This act prohibits discrimination towards disabled individuals in any setting. There isn’t a law ensuring that websites and virtual content make it clear that a practice is adherent to ADA, but doing so can create a more inclusive environment for patients with disabilities.

Find a Cosmetic Surgery Website Design Company You Can Trust

Many elements of a website design impact your users’ experience and bring in new patients. If your design isn’t up to par with your competitors, you may lose business. In many cases, finding a trustworthy cosmetic surgery website design company can be vital for optimizing your practice’s website. Website design companies are the experts in their field, just as you are in yours, and their expertise should always be considered when crafting or improving a website.