For the most part, developing websites is pretty much a straightforward project: you gather information, do a competitor analysis and research, and attempt to make a website stand out from the rest of the competition. Most of the time, it doesn’t make a difference what business a company is in, developing a website is the same.
However, when in certain niche areas like the medical field, veterinarians, dentists, and attorneys, your clients or customers will have certain expectations, and if they are not met they will go somewhere else.
Here are some key to developing websites for these particular niches.
Keywords Matter
We all know that keywords matter whatever industry you are in, but for certain niches, ranking for keywords, especially in local searches, can be the difference between the success and failure of a website. Keywords not only include the niche you are ranking for, whether that is a dentist or an attorney but more specific sub-niches as well.
For instance, your client might want to rank for sedation dentistry or divorce attorney. They also want to rank as close to number one as possible in their area for common queries. However, it goes beyond ranking for a query. Keywords bring the customer to the site, the use of those keywords in the right kind of content is what keeps them.
Using the right keywords and gaining links both help with rankings, good content with those keywords keeps users engaged.
The Psychology of Color
Certain colors inspire caution or even fear. They signal danger and cause a customer to pause. This is a good strategy if you are selling security systems, but it is a horrible idea if you are a doctor trying to win over patients.
Colors matter, and while a personal injury attorney might benefit from cautions on their site that emphasize to readers the danger of doing things on their own, a vet will want soft, comforting colors instead that make patients want to trust them with their pets.
When looking at the design, you can never ignore color: background, text, and even the color in the photos you add to your site. The wrong color can do a great deal of damage, the right color offers a great advantage.
Designs and Themes
The same design that works for a family practice doctor’s office will not have the same effect on a website for attorneys. It seems like this would be a no-brainer, but there is a constant trend of websites that look the same even if they don’t represent the same things.
So, if you are designing a site for a veterinarian, you should be looking at the best veterinary web design templates rather than just general website themes. The differences can seem subtle, but happy pet owners and pet photos make a potential customer feel confident. The wrong theme will do just the opposite.
The primary thing to remember is that your target is not Google or other search engines, but the end-user, so the patients, pet owners, clients, or whoever the ideal target audience is. The design should be pleasing to them, and doing competitor research of other successful sites can give you some great ideas.
Specific Features Customers Want
The thing about designing niche websites is that the specific customers of those sites are looking for certain features. For instance, a website for a doctor’s office should have a portal that allows the user to make an appointment, cancel a current one, or otherwise contact the office staff easily.
An attorney’s website needs to have a portal where a user can email about a consultation, and that has a Frequently Asked Questions page that explains the attorney services and what they might cost. These features are important to the user of the website, and result in conversions and lead for the site owner.
The features the user wants will vary greatly depending on the niche. It is important to understand and incorporate those features into a niche site design.
Reputation Management
One of the most important things for many niche websites is customer and client reviews. Gathering these reviews, curating them on their website and others, and trying to prevent negative reviews is called reputation management. It’s a vital component of this type of website.
Incorporating forums, contract opportunities, and automated review requests sent to customers right after office visits makes these sites not only more functional but even more valuable to the client.
When you are creating a niche website, you have to take things into consideration that are not typical for other websites. From the right keywords to colors and the right design and theme, how you work from the ground up will mean a lot to the client and the end-user.
More importantly, though, it can build your reputation as a savvy developer, one that can be up to any challenge.