Increasingly, people are relying on the Internet to learn more about their hearing needs and providers, so it’s essential for your audiology clinic to have an informative, user-friendly website to attract prospects, engage with patients, and motivate people to act.  

Hearing clinics and providers must improve their online experience so people can digitally interact and learn more. In fact, four out of five people (80%) use the Internet to make a healthcare-related search, so be sure that your website is professional, attractive, up-to-date, and easy to navigate.  

Users want to visit sites that let them navigate easily and access essential information without complex industry jargon. 

• Pages should be attractive and uncluttered.
• Headlines should be clear and insightful.
• Critical information should be prominently displayed. 

Avoid anything that could turn visitors away, such as excessive advertising, cluttered pages, broken links, or outdated information. The three best practice examples that we’ve shared here are all well-organized, free from clutter, updated, and accurate to enhance the user experience.  

Ensure that your website prominently features key information, such as your phone number, address, email address, and directions to your hearing clinic. Make it clear how web visitors can book an appointment and be certain it’s easy for them to do so. 

Provide background information on your clinic and staff, including short bios and photographs of your audiologists and details about their extensive knowledge and experience. 

Offer straightforward tips and advice, like how to determine if someone might have hearing loss. Explain what to do if they are having hearing difficulties, such as “call us to book an appointment,” or “visit us for a free hearing screening”. 

Outline how hearing loss can lead to other problems or social issues, such as feelings of isolation and depression, to motivate prospects to act.  

Your website is an extension of your brand and should have the same look and feel as the rest of your marketing materials and clinic visuals. The language on your website should mirror the language and tone of your other marketing materials, like brochures, signage, and press releases. The colors, logo, fonts, etc. should be integrated with your brand so that it’s visually recognizable for the users.  It’s important to give patients and prospects a consistent brand experience. 

While your website should look good and be easy to navigate, it must also function well. For instance, it’s helpful to allow customers to book (or change) appointments on the website, email the staff, find answers to frequently asked questions, etc.  Also – be certain that your website is mobile-friendly, as many users (and prospects) are surfing the Internet and accessing websites from their phones.  

Alllow visitors to easily learn more about hearing screenings, earwax removal, hearing protection, tinnitus consultations, and even payment plans. Each of these topics should have their own separate “call out box” on the website, making it visually attractive and easy for users to find exactly what they’re looking for. 

Many people choose (or reject) healthcare professionals based on online reviews. Some will never even make it to your website if your public facing reviews on Google or Facebook are subpar.

More than 95% of people consider online reviews to be an important aspect of their decision-making process when selecting a healthcare provider, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 

Therefore, it’s vital to cultivate positive online reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook to demonstrate your outstanding service and solutions and differentiate your hearing center from the competition. 

Encourage happy customers to leave glowing reviews to help boost your visibility, reputation, and credibility – and attract new customers.  It’s also wise to spotlight positive testimonials and customer success stories on your own website, to reinforce your exceptional service, extraordinary providers, and outstanding results. 

Lastly, respond to all reviews left, whether they are good or bad. This shows you care about your brand image, your business and are actively working on your business.

You don’t want a stale, stagnant website, so make ongoing updates.  

• Post details about upcoming events, such as audiology screenings in your community.  
• Introduce new staff members, showcase new products or equipment, link to relevant news stories about audiology, etc.  
• Include short videos of your audiologists talking about hearing aid basics, like how to clean, store, and care for the devices.  
• Feature videos of your hearing care professionals explaining the signs of hearing loss and explaining what to do if someone is experiencing hearing difficulties.  
• Showcase innovative new products that your clinic carries and explain what’s amazing about them.
• Post frequently asked questions about hearing aids, hearing health, hearing protection, etc.   
• Write a blog (linked from your website) about compelling and timely audiology topics.  
• Keep the customer experience in mind – and don’t make your content too “jargony” or difficult to understand.  

When you keep your content fresh and interesting, key audiences will have a reason to keep visiting your site.  

Include prominent links to your social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) on your website’s home page so visitors can easily click to follow you on social. 

Increasing your social media followers will allow your hearing center to communicate directly with key audiences, including customers, prospects, referral sources, hearing aid manufacturers, etc. It will also allow you to gather feedback and engage with your followers. 

Social media helps promote your business, generate interest, and drive traffic to your clinics, so it’s in your best interest to constantly attract new followers. 

It’s important to communicate calls-to-action (CTA). 

1. What do you want your web visitors to do? 
2. Call for an appointment? 
3. Click to book a hearing screening? 
4. Visit your hearing clinic (or another community location) for a free hearing screening?
5. Buy hearing aids? 

Make it crystal clear what you want people to do – then make it very easy for them to do it. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial because it: 

• Makes your website more visible, which drives more traffic to your site and increases opportunities to convert prospects into customers.  
• Boosts brand awareness, builds relationships with prospects, and positions your clinicians as trustworthy industry experts.  

Research the most common search terms – such as hearing loss, hearing aids, audiology, etc. – and use these terms liberally throughout your site. When prospects Google any of these keywords, you want them to find (and visit) your site.  

SEO optimization is extremely important because it is a long-term investment, and studies have shown that organic searches are 8.5x more likely to be clicked while paid search results are 1.5x more likely to be converted through the search engine. If you need help with this, consider hiring SEO experts.  

An effective way to showcase your positive outcomes is to tell your customers’ success stories, including each customer’s problem, solution, and result. 

Perhaps you showcase someone who was having trouble hearing conversations in a crowded restaurant, explaining how they had an outstanding experience at your hearing clinic, with an easy hearing assessment, hearing aid selection and fitting.

They can discuss how your staff made them feel comfortable during every step of their journey, and how they’re so glad that they got hearing aids because now they can be more social, participate more fully in conversations, hear their favorite television programs more clearly, etc. 

These stories can reassure people who are considering your hearing centers, helping them see that your clinicians are professional, trustworthy, and helpful.

Pro Tip: Video testimonials work even better and grab more attention and traffic.