A website that gets a nervous first timer through your door.

What the site has to do

Say what the first visit looks like

Most people who find you have never been inside. They want to know what happens when they walk in, how long it takes, what to wear and what to bring. A short first visit page answers that in plain words and removes the biggest reason people put off booking.

Put the schedule one tap from every page

A gym or studio site lives or dies on its schedule. It belongs in the main menu, loads on a phone without pinching, and shows the class name, time, length and who teaches it. If the schedule is a photo of a printout, nobody can search it, zoom it or read it with a screen reader.

Make booking one tap into the tool you already use

Most studios and clinics already run bookings in something like Mindbody, Vagaro, Jane, Acuity or a dental practice system. The site shouldn't replace that. Every page needs one clear button that opens your real booking page, so a visitor doesn't have to call during business hours to get in.

Price it so people don't have to call to find out

A visitor who can't find a price assumes it's high and leaves. Memberships, drop in rates, a first session price, and whether you take insurance or offer a self pay rate all belong on the site. If a price depends on a consult, say that and say what the consult costs.

Show the real space and the real people

Stock photos of models on treadmills tell a visitor nothing about your place. Phone photos of your actual floor, treatment rooms, chairs and staff do. People want to see if it looks clean, how busy it gets and who will be working on them.

Explain how to get in the door

Address, a map link that opens in their phone, where to park, which entrance to use and what to do when they arrive. For a clinic, add which forms to fill out ahead of time and how early to show up. This cuts no shows and the front desk stops answering the same question all day.

Keep health details out of the contact form

If your business handles medical records, the HIPAA rules can reach your website too. The federal rule defines protected health information as identifiable information about a person's health, their care or payment for care. It covers that information when it's sent or stored electronically. A plain contact form that emails you is not built for that. It should ask for a name, email, phone and a short message, and nothing about symptoms, conditions or insurance.

Work for people with disabilities

ADA.gov says the Department of Justice has long held that the ADA applies to everything a business open to the public offers, including on the web. It lists poor color contrast, missing alt text on images, forms without labels and pages that only work with a mouse as common barriers. A health business has a bigger share of visitors who hit those barriers than most.