Veterinary practice websites five biggest mistakes - a picture is worth 1,000 words
YOUR WEBSITE CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND
Life in practice is busy. It’s chaotic. There’s so many things you want to do to grow your business, but the clinical strain means you just don’t have the time.
Well I’m here to tell you that a top notch website can do the work for you.
But only if you get it right.
I’ve been writing about the five biggest mistakes I commonly see with veterinary practice websites.
So far we’ve covered websites that don’t ask enough of our clients, and those that aren’t pushing their recruitment with enough vigour.
Say hello to today’s offering.
MISTAKE NUMBER THREE: PHOTOGRAPHY THAT ISN'T VERY PHOTOGENIC
I was recently talking to a videographer who with no prior knowledge came into our industry, and they told me they were blown away by the passion and energy of our teams.
We tend to forget how unique this is.
Our people really care about what we do, and that translates into images and video, and it translates into telling stories.
I’ve always said that something amazing happens in our practice every single day.
But we get fatigued and numbed to the fact that we’re saving lives and going above and beyond to nurse pets back to health.
Our website – and the photography we use to furnish it with – is our chance to reflect on that and to highlight our people and the great work they do.
MY BIG NO NO'S
Black and white imagery: does it look stylish?
For me, it looks like memorial photography of pets who have crossed over the rainbow bridge.
We need to be bringing our website to life with vivid imagery, showcasing the joy of pet ownership.
Stock photography – it’s so obvious. It looks staged.
We need to go to any lengths to avoid using stock, because it’s a total waste of your greatest strength – your team.
We have this amazing resource and it’s crazy to waste it by opting for staged photos of actors who have no connection to our fantastic industry.
We absolutely can not be including graphic pictures of blood and innards and complex surgical procedures on our websites – and this is non-negotiable unless you’re a referral hospital.
Of course it’s amazing that our teams are capable of carrying out these procedures. And our clients may well one day be delighted that’s the case.
But scalpels and blood are not selling points for our practice – we want to showcase positive, happy outcomes.
Finally, sticking text over images doesn’t work. What do you want a user to be looking at, the text or the image?
If they’re on top of each other, it’s likely you don’t know yourself, so what chance does a user have?
If you're blessed with beautiful surroundings, show them off.
ONE VERY BIG YES YES
As we discussed last time out, your practice has a great story to tell.
Every practice does. Whether you’ve been in your community for generations or you have the best equipment on the market to provide a high level service, you stand out.
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And even if it isn’t the personality of your practice you want to highlight, the personalities of your people are what keep your clients returning.
So be authentic to that. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to select photography of your practice and your team that reflects the experience your clients will receive when they walk through your doors.
