Choosing the Right Template for a Niche Website

So you are building your website, but you have some unique needs. Of course, every website is different, but if you are in the medical field, the legal field, or other areas your customers will have certain expectations of your website.

If your website is actually going to generate leads for you and be a useful tool, you will need to be very particular about picking your theme and any templates you use for your web pages. How do you decide what the right ones for you are?

Think of Plugins

When it comes to picking a template or theme, you need to think about the plugins you will use, and what they may or may not do to the appearance of your website. Some of these plugins may be necessary for security or certain functions you want your website to have.

For instance, on nearly every page of a dentist web design, you need to have the ability for your patient to contact you to either become a new patient or set an appointment.

The reason is that this is your call to action in nearly every case. You want the internet user to become your "customer” or your patient, and to get them to do that, you need their contact information. While you may also want to build up your newsletter following, that should be done primarily from your patient list or new patient list.

This means that no matter what the content of your page, you need to leave room for this, and incorporate the design of that call to action into the design of the rest of the page. If a template does not have room for or somehow accommodate this, you need to choose a different one.

Typically, this CTA can be created with a plugin, much like search and contact us links, another important portion of your site. It will, however, alter the way your content looks, so be sure to incorporate that into the templates you use.

Compile the Information You Want to Share

The amount of information and the type of information you want to share will have a big impact on the template that you choose. For instance, you content on your home page and landing pages should be a pretty specific length and follow certain formats depending on what your goal and call to action is.

The templates you choose need to be structured around and designed for that call to action. This means if this is an invitation for a new client or patient inquiry, it needs to lead quickly and clearly to a form that is easy for the user to fill out, that has certain required fields clearly marked so the individual knows what information they need to provide.

At the same time, as personal privacy and security is a concern, your template needs to have a place to disclose what information you gather, exactly how you use it, and what you are doing as a practice to keep it secure.

To Blog or Not to Blog

One thing that can affect your website template is your decision to blog or not to blog. This is an ongoing discussion in many niche websites. You need to weigh the pros and cons of each in your industry: not every website will benefit enough from a blog to justify the time and expense you are spending.

●Are your customers searching for answers you can provide?

●Is there enough content in your niche to justify a blog?

●Are your competitors blogging?

●Does your target audience read blogs?

●Do blogs influence the behavior of your target customers?

The answer to these questions can be different for every practice. The answers depend on where you live and who your target is. If you are a plastic surgeon, your readers may have a lot of questions and do a lot of online research before they come to you. The same could be said of an oncologist. However, most general practice physicians don’t need a blog, nor do family dentists. In the area of cosmetic dentistry, however, a blog may have great conversion benefits.

Whichever you choose, be sure both your theme and the templates you choose accommodate a blog if you find it necessary.

User Needs

Despite how important it is for niche websites to rank well in Google, especially in local results, it is not your goal to please Google and other search engines. The real goal is to please your user, and reach the right customers at the right time with the right message. These are the things that lead those prospects from web visitors to patients, clients, and customers.

Regardless of how intricate or simple your design is, be sure you are appealing to your users not just to keywords or Google requirements. As search engines become smarter, they respond to your website in a similar manner to the user anyway, and appealing to users will result in better search engine rankings anyway.

Choosing the right template for your website is important, but especially in certain specialty niches, it is vital to your success. Your website can simply be a placeholder and contact form, or it can be a dynamic and passive lead generation tool that keeps customers coming to you, and brings you new prospects all the time.