What does your website design say about your veterinary practice? Your online presence is the digital version of your business, and it’s often a new client’s first impression of your clinic. 94% of first impressions are influenced by your site’s web design, and users will leave or distrust a site with a poor design. In short, your professional website can make or break your image to potential clients.

Do you want more veterinary clients to visit your clinic? Don’t settle for a bland veterinary practice website that might cost you, visitors, and patients. It’s time to invite pet owners to your digital practice and convert them into appointments. Use these nine tips to help you create a more engaging veterinary website and take your veterinary website design to the next level.

9 Expert Tips to Make a Veterinary Website More Appealing

1. Make Your Website Mobile Responsive

Can you remember when you had to pinch and zoom in to see anything on a shrunken version of a desktop site on your mobile device? It wasn’t the most convenient experience. Now, we can easily read text without zooming in and no horizontal scrolling. A responsive layout guarantees that any user on any device will have the best experience possible on your veterinary website.

If your site isn’t optimized for these smaller screens, you might see a drop in search engine rankings. This means pet owners searching for veterinary services like pet dental, vaccinations, wellness exams, pet surgery, and grooming may be unable to find your practice online. This is disliked not only by users but by search engines as well.

Website responsiveness is another great way to refine your site’s content. This ensures those using a mobile device see only the most important elements. It will boost your search rankings, too. The most recent Google algorithm update makes responsive web design more visible on search engine results, favoring more mobile-friendly websites.

Learn More: Common Mistakes to Avoid on Your Veterinary Website

2. Choose a Color Scheme that Fits Your Brand

One of the most challenging parts of creating a stellar veterinary website design is the color scheme. Instead of simply adding colors you like to your graphics, you should be strategic with the colors you use and how they work well together.

Is there a perfect or ideal color scheme for veterinary practices? No, there is no fool-proof formula that would entice every pet owner to explore your website. To encourage visitors through color, you should keep it simple. Your veterinary website should have one to three primary colors for your design.

Moreover, you should consider that each color has a unique meaning. For example, blue means trust, peace, and competence, while green signifies healing and freshness. White represents simplicity and cleanliness, while gray conveys authority and timelessness.

3. Add Educational Content & Graphics That Appeal to Pet Owners 

Now that your users can view your veterinary website on any device, it’s time to keep them engaged. You’ll need to add high-quality, visually appealing veterinary graphics with resourceful content. Make sure your content:

• Answers common questions pet owners search for online, like how to clean my pet’s tooth at home, best exercises for my canine, how to give my cat a bath, etc. 
• Educates current and potential new clients about the services you provide and specialize in like spay and neuter, heartworm, puppy vaccines, cat vaccines, flea and ticks, microchips, dermatology, etc. 
• Resonates with pet owners. Use eye-catching images consistent with your brand, and attract pet owners. Studies show that people remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read. Be sure your images are veterinary-friendly and represent your practice. 

Read on: Website Content Writing for Beginners

4. Have an Easy-to-Use Navigation Menu

With all these elements in place, you’ll want to ensure it’s easily accessible. Create a simple and well-organized navigation menu. First, define the different sections of your veterinary website — imagine them as the signs above each aisle in a pet store.

Here is an example of a veterinary navigation bar: 

1. Services 2. Online Store 3. Patient Center 4. About Us 5. Resources 6. More 

Under each tab, add short descriptions. Here’s an example of services: add bloodwork, dog training, microchipping, preventive care, radiology, and more. Under the patient center, you can add your online forms, what to expect, payment options, and a pet wellness program if you have one. You want to make your veterinary website navigation seamless, stress-free, and intuitive. If you’re interested in seeing more website navigation menu examples, then click here. 

5. Maximize the Power of Search Engine Optimization

If you want your veterinary business to rank high on search engines and attract potential customers, you should harness the power of search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is a fundamental element in any effective marketing strategy because it can help your business grow organically in the long run.

How can you make the most of SEO? You can establish your authority in veterinary medicine by writing a price website description, using keyword research, injecting them into your content, integrating SEO practices with social media, and using credible backlinks.

It should be highlighted that SEO is a long-term marketing strategy. Your veterinary clinic won’t enjoy an avalanche of new clients overnight. However, with a stellar SEO campaign, you can entice more pet parents to visit your veterinary practice website organically. Yes, SEO is FREE!

6. Include a Testimonial Section

Do your existing clients have nice things to say about your veterinary services? Ask them to write about their experience and show them off! Customer testimonials can be compelling in driving potential clients to book an appointment with your clinic. Why? Your current clients would be able to vouch for you and your team.

However, not every pet owner would think of going out of their way to write kind words about your clinic. That’s why you should encourage your patients to share their thoughts on your clinic. A testimonial section on your veterinary website design allows you to show more people what animal owners think of your business. You never know who might end up scrolling through your website, and their positive experience might just drive more people to become your future customers.

Learn More: A Simple Recipe for Site Navigation

7. Make Compelling Veterinary Videos

Videos and images hold viewers’ attention better than text alone—landing pages with videos can boost conversions by over 80%. Video marketing for healthcare professionals is imperative to attracting more clients and giving them an insight into the work you and your staff do at your veterinary practice. 

The videos you create can be added to your veterinary website under the blog section, landing pages, newsletters, social media pages, and emails. This will help raise awareness and increase engagement. To get you started, check out these veterinary videos ideas you can add to your website:

• What to Expect: Meet our Veterinary Team (give a practice tour) 
• Short Tutorials on Teeth Brushing
• How to Properly Bathe My Dog at Home
• Tips for New Pet Parents 
• How to Train a Shelter or Rescue Dog 
• Puppy Vaccines: When to Get Them & Why

Learn More: Veterinary Video Marketing Ideas for Your Practice

8. Use Clear Calls to Action on Your Website

What do you want your website visitors to do when they visit your site? Schedule an appointment? Buy a pet product? Sign up for your email newsletter?

It’s essential to think about your calls to action. Call-to-actions (CTAs) can easily prompt your website users to take action and is a key design component on your veterinary website. Before writing your call to action, determine what you want to accomplish. 

Ensure the text on your buttons is short and direct, like, unlock the offer, learn more, click here, etc. If you use buttons in your design, make them visible to a visitor looking at your website. Here are some CTAs and special offer examples you can use on your site: 

• $15 Discount on Any Service – Claim Offer 
• Rescues Only, Free First Exams – Click Here 
• New Client Special – $35 Off – Redeem Offer 
• Spay and Neuter Specials- Learn More 
• 50% Off Microchip Implantation – Microchip My Pet 
• Join Our Veterinary Community- Sign Up or Subscribe Now 
• Call Us Today!
• Request an Appointment

The best call-to-action phrases are clear and specific. They create an urgency that inspires users to act. Do not overload users with too many call-to-actions. You can also place a pop-up banner message to inform people about any urgent matters relating to your practice. This is an excellent way to inform all website visitors about any changes, special offers, or discounts.

9. Update Your Website Regularly

It’s not enough to change your veterinary website design once. You must regularly update your website to ensure it’s mobile responsive and everything goes well. If your website has outdated information, you should ensure this is tweaked accordingly.

But how often should you update your veterinary website? As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to update your website at least once every quarter. This will allow you to remove broken links, check the performance of your web pages, and search for ways to improve them. If there are irrelevant web pages on your website that do more harm than good to your website, you shouldn’t hesitate to delete them to optimize your website.

Let Us Audit Your Vet Website for Free! 

We understand that you’re busy working at your veterinary practice and may not have time to make all these website updates on your own. But don’t worry, we can help you with that! 

Call us today for a free website audit and a beautifully designed veterinary website. To learn more about our veterinary marketing services, click here or call us at 800.792.8384.