Today most nutritionists, dietitians and nutrition clinics have a website. We have analyzed the most successful nutritionist websites but not only and have identified seven key elements that every nutrition website should have.
The reasons for having a website are pretty simple and I believe you can resonate with at least one of the following:
1. It will bring more patients to your practice;
2. Will build your image as an expert in nutrition;
3. Will make the world a better place because it will educate people;
4. It is your business card on the internet.
Building a website might be confusing and most people think that if you build it they will come (the clients). It might be true, but the overnight success most of the time requires a lot of work.
There are two main steps in a visitor’s journey. Step one is arriving on a website which can happen through direct traffic (the person types the address of the website in the browser), an ad, has found the website on Google Search, has seen a Facebook post about the website and so on). We call this step “user acquisition”. The next step which we call “conversion” is convincing the user to become a client. This is strongly related to the quality and content of the website. We will talk in this article mostly about the second part, how to have a website that converts and will cover the acquisition part in a different article.
The 7 elements every nutritionist, dietitian or nutrition clinic website should have are:
1. Simplicity. If the nutritionist or dietitian website is too complicated without a clear structure of the pages and of the information in the pages, users will usually “drop” (will leave the website). If it takes more than 2 clicks to get from homepage to any part of the website it is too complicated and needs to be simplified.
2. Clarity. The visitor should understand in the first 10 seconds what the website is about and what are you offering. People will leave in the first seconds if the message on the website doesn’t clearly respond to the questions: What are you offering? What can they get from you? We recommend you to work with a professional copywriter but even without one it shouldn’t be too hard to write a clear message. A small tip: try to remember what was your answer when someone asked you about your activity.
3. Images. It is said than an image is worth a thousand words. Use quality images. If possible, use your photos not stock photos. People want to see you. Make some good pictures of yourself. If it is the website of a clinic show pictures with every dietitian / nutritionist or doctor.
4. Home page. It should respond to the question: do I need what you are selling? Include a promise in this page. Should not be only about yourself but about what the visitors can get from you. Instead of “I am the best dietitian in London” should say “I am the best at helping you succeed with your diet because…”.
5. Pricing. A lot of people are afraid to display their pricing because people might be scared. But this is a good way of filtering the visitors. Some people want something cheap and you might offer a high end service. You don’t want to consume your time dealing with people who are not in your target segment.
6. Contact info. Create a dedicated contact page and give people multiple contact methods. Nutrition coaching can be done on-line but some people prefer to have a human touch with their nutritionist. Have a phone number where people can contact you. If you are a nutrition clinic or you have a physical location where people can meet you, display the address and include a map. We have met a lot of people who were choosing their dietitian or nutritionist based on the distance between their job or home to the nutritionist office.
7. Blog. Write about nutrition in general, about the diets that you believe in, the diets that you don’t believe in. Don’t be afraid to polarize people. Some will love you some will hate you. Just make your voice be heard. Write constantly and share your ideas. People might not agree with you but they will see that you are a nutrition expert.
Take a few minutes today to analyze these 7 elements and as yourself if you can improve any of them. If there are more things that we should include in this article, please let us know.