A good allied health website does two jobs. It helps new patients decide you are the right practice for them, and it makes booking easy. Whether you run a physiotherapy clinic, an OT practice, a psychology practice or a multidisciplinary clinic, the same essentials apply.
Use this checklist to review your current site or plan a new one.
1. Clear service and condition pages
Patients search for their problem, not your clinic name: “sports physio near me”, “paediatric OT Ringwood”, “psychologist for anxiety Geelong”. Give each core service, and the common conditions you treat, its own page written in plain language. Explain what an appointment involves, how long it takes and what happens next.
2. Online booking from every page
If your practice management software offers online booking, put it front and centre. Link or embed it from the header, service pages and contact page so patients can book in a couple of clicks, on any device.
3. Funding and fees, explained simply
Many enquiries start with “can I use my…?”. Say clearly which funding you work with, such as Medicare (with a GP referral and care plan), NDIS, DVA, workers compensation, TAC or private health insurance, and what a first appointment costs or how gap fees work.
4. Practitioner profiles
People want to know who they will see. Add a short profile for each clinician with a real photo, qualifications, areas of interest and languages spoken. For registered health practitioners, include registration details where appropriate.
5. Advertising rules for registered practitioners
If your practitioners are registered with AHPRA (for example physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, podiatrists and chiropractors), your website is advertising and must follow the AHPRA advertising guidelines. In short:
- Do not use testimonials about clinical aspects of care, including on your own site.
- Avoid claims that create unreasonable expectations of benefit, or that you cannot back up with evidence.
- Be careful with words like “specialist”, which have specific meanings.
- Show any prices clearly, including conditions and gap fees.
Some allied health professions, such as speech pathology, dietetics and exercise physiology, are self-regulated through their professional associations rather than AHPRA, and those associations have their own codes. If you are unsure, check the current guidance for your profession before you publish.
6. Location, access and telehealth
List each clinic’s address, parking, public transport options and accessibility (step-free entry, accessible toilets, lifts). If you offer telehealth or home visits, say which areas you cover.
7. Accessible, mobile-first design
Your patients include people in pain, people with disability, older adults and busy parents on their phones. Strong colour contrast, readable type, keyboard navigation and a simple layout help everyone. Designing with the WCAG guidelines in mind is the best place to start.
8. Trust signals that stay within the rules
Professional memberships, years of experience, a clear explanation of your approach and real photos of your clinic all build trust without relying on testimonials.
9. Privacy and health information
Your contact and booking forms collect personal and sometimes health information. Have a clear privacy policy, only ask for what you need, and make sure forms are secure.
10. Local SEO foundations
Most allied health patients come from nearby suburbs. Set up your Google Business Profile properly, create pages for each clinic location, keep your name, address and phone number consistent everywhere, and ask happy patients for Google reviews only where your profession’s rules allow it.
Need a hand?
We design allied health websites with online booking, accessible design and content written with the advertising rules in mind, from $3,499 + GST. For more bookings from local searches, see our local SEO service.