Include photos. Especially yours; new patients are more comfortable when they know what you look like. Although some disagree, I feel family photos are also important; they help to present you as a person, as well as a doctor. Photos of your office – professional ones, not casual snapshots – will reassure prospective patients that they will be visiting a clean, modern, professional facility.
Dr. Joseph S. Eastern
Provide online appointment scheduling. Once searchers make an appointment, they stop searching. If they have to wait until the next day to call your office, they may keep looking – and might find a competitor with online scheduling. You should also have a separate “contact” page, listing all of the ways people can reach you, along with a map. Finally, list which insurance plans you accept as a courtesy to patients and to decrease unnecessary calls for your staff.
Dr. Eastern practices dermatology and dermatologic surgery in Belleville, N.J. He is the author of numerous articles and textbook chapters, and is a longtime monthly columnist for Dermatology News. Write to him at dermnews@mdedge.com.