Healthcare Website Design

Healthcare website design is different from any other type of web design. Patients and carers often visit these sites in moments of stress or urgency, and the decisions they make there can directly impact their health. That’s why healthcare websites must do more than look impressive and work well. They need to instill confidence, guide users clearly, and remove any barriers to accessing care.

At KIJO – a website design company in London – we specialise in building websites that do exactly what they need to do depending on sectors. We’ve worked with private health clinics, leading teaching hospitals, the NHS, mental and senior healthcare providers, and psychology practices on their sites and applications to ensure they inspire trust and truly support patient journeys. 

Below, we share six strategies that make the biggest impact in healthcare web design.

Related Read: How to Master a Website Design for Therapists

What Makes a Good Healthcare Website?

At its core, a strong healthcare website answers the unspoken patient question:
“Can I trust this organisation with my health or the health of someone I love?”

That means design and development should prioritise:

• Clarity
  Patients need to know what services are available and how to access them without navigating confusing menus or unclear journeys.
  
• Trust signals
  Doctor credentials, patient testimonials, accreditations, and regulatory compliance badges are essential.
  
• Accessibility
  Your design should be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and host fast-loading pages, mobile-first layouts, and multilingual support if needed.
  
• Reassurance
  Your website should lead with a tone of voice and design that feels human, empathetic, and approachable.

What is UX Design in Healthcare?

UX (User Experience) design in healthcare focuses on removing friction and supporting patients digitally, ensuring patients can navigate digital systems with ease and confidence. That means:

• Clear pathways
  Obvious routes to booking, emergency contacts, and finding specialists.
  
• Accessibility features
  Screen reader compatibility, alt text for images, large fonts for older users.
  
• Simplified processes
  Reducing the number of clicks needed to reach critical actions.
  
• Patient-tested interfaces
  Conducting usability tests with real patients or carers to uncover pain points.

In healthcare, good UX is essential; it can literally determine whether someone seeks care promptly or delays treatment.

The 6 Most Important Tips for Healthcare Website Design

Here are 6 essential tips to consider when planning your healthcare web design. 

1. Lead With Empathy in Design and Messaging

In healthcare, empathy is essential. The words, visuals, and structure of your website should reduce stress and make patients feel understood. Depending on your service offering, transactional CTAs like “Book Appointment Now” may suit softer options such as “Schedule a time that works for you”.

This also extends to imagery: choose photos that reflect warmth and human connection, not sterile stock photography. Patients want reassurance that they’ll be cared for, not processed.

2. Build Trust Through Transparency

Healthcare decisions are typically high-stakes, so transparency is vital. Every element of your website should reinforce credibility:

• Doctor and staff profiles with qualifications, areas of expertise, and personal introductions. Ideally, high-quality images of the doctors, medical team and staff too.
  
• Clear policies on confidentiality and data protection (For example, GDPR and other privacy policies).
  
• Evidence-based content authored by professionals, with references to recognised medical bodies.
  

3. Simplify Navigation for Diverse Audiences

Unlike say a therapist website, healthcare sites often serve multiple audiences: patients, carers, referring clinicians, and sometimes insurers. Navigation must be clear, segmented, and prioritised by the most common patient journeys.

For example:

• A large, private hospital website might split navigation into “Find a Doctor,” “Our Services,” “Patient Information,” and “Contact Us.”
  
• A private clinic might prioritise “Specialities,” “Meet the Team,” and “Book an Appointment.”

Too many choices overwhelm, and the wrong choices frustrate. Mapping and refining your user journeys carefully is critical.

4. Optimise for Local and Speciality SEO

Most patients begin with local intent searches: “orthopaedic surgeon near me” or “private GP London.” Healthcare website development must therefore focus on:

• Local landing pages for each practice or clinic location.
  
• Consistent NAP details (Name, Address, Phone) across the web.
  
• Schema markup for healthcare organisations and medical professionals.
  
• Content marketing around long-tail conditions or treatments (e.g. “What to expect at your first physiotherapy appointment”).

Unlike general service businesses, healthcare patients are often restricted by geography — so ranking locally is non-negotiable.

Related Read: NAP SEO and The Importance of NAP Consistency

5. Make Booking and Contact Seamless (and Human)

Patients may be in distress when trying to book an appointment. Every extra step in your booking system risks abandonment. Therefore, consider:

• Multiple booking options: online forms, phone numbers, and integrations with patient portals.
  
• Contextual reassurance: “All bookings are handled securely and confidentially.”
  
• Clinician visibility: show who the appointment is with, including a high-quality, clear profile photo.

For multi-practitioner organisations, scheduling systems like Calendly or custom-built portals are likely more helpful. For single practices, a well-designed enquiry form may be more empathetic.

6. Write for Patients Under Stress

As mentioned, healthcare site visitors are often stressed, time-poor, or cognitively overloaded. Content should therefore:

• Use short, scannable sections with headings and bullet points.
  
• Provide clear next steps at the end of each page.
  
• Include FAQs that address common anxieties directly (“Do I need a referral?” “Is my insurance accepted?”).

Whilst internally technical language might be commonplace, externally it isn’t the place for heavy jargon or long essays. On your website, it’s clarity and reassurance that will drive conversions.

The Importance of EEAT in Healthcare Web Design

Google applies stricter standards to healthcare websites because they fall under the Your Money, Your Life (YMYL) category. This means inaccurate or misleading information can have serious, real-world consequences. That’s where EEAT comes in:

• Experience
  Show the real-world knowledge of your doctors and practitioners. This can be done through case studies, patient stories, or personal insights shared in blogs.
  
• Expertise
  Highlight the qualifications, training, and specialisms of your healthcare team. Use detailed bios and ensure authors of medical content are clearly identified.
  
• Authoritativeness
  Build credibility by displaying affiliations with professional bodies, awards, accreditations, and peer recognition. External links and citations to reputable sources also strengthen authority to both your user and Google.
  
• Trustworthiness
  Reassure users with transparent privacy policies, secure booking systems (HTTPS, GDPR compliance), and honest patient reviews.

For healthcare marketers, embedding EEAT in design and content isn’t just about SEO. It directly builds patient confidence and ensures the information you share meets the highest ethical and professional standards.

Examples of Healthcare Website Design Excellence

Sometimes the best way to understand effective healthcare web design is to look at it in action. Here are five standout examples – sourced by our Senior UI/UX Designer, Danny Findon-Kent – that demonstrate how different approaches can still achieve the same goal: building trust and supporting patients.

Neko Health

Sleek pastel-toned visuals combined with friendly animated imagery makes the Neko Health site approachable and modern. Intuitive call-to-action buttons guide users effortlessly into booking a health scan. The result is a site that feels warm, welcoming, and highly user-friendly, perfectly aligning with their brand mission of preventative care.

Discern Test

Discern offers Alzheimer’s testing for those recently diagnosed with dementia. Discern’s site uses a crisp modular layout with bold sectional headings and clean CTAs. This makes navigating complex diagnostic information straightforward and reassuring. The balance of strong typography and minimal design reduces cognitive load whilst conveying professionalism and scientific authority.

Atria Health and Research Institute

Atria’s website pushes boundaries by weaving interactive 3D WebGL elements and textured materials inspired by their physical clinic into the digital interface. The result is an immersive, hospitality-style design that feels luxurious, calming, and memorable. This is exactly what patients expect from a high-end healthcare environment.

KiHealth

With clear hero imagery, simple informational cards, and vibrant micro-animations, KiHealth empowers users to explore at-home diagnostics with modern confidence. Their design strikes the right balance between tech innovation and patient-friendly clarity, making it easy to understand complex services at a glance.

Iron Health

Iron Health’s telehealth platform focuses on collaboration between patients and OB/GYN specialists. Their clean UI, inclusive, high-quality imagery, and reassuring tone bring their offer of digital consultations to life in a way that feels both human and efficient. It’s a great example of how design can reinforce trust in remote healthcare delivery.

Related Read: 5 Medical Website Designs to Inspire

What is the Best Colour for a Healthcare Website?

Colour psychology plays a critical role in healthcare website design. The colours you choose influence how patients feel when interacting with your site and those emotions often translate into trust (or mistrust).

• Blue: Universally associated with trust, calm, and stability. That’s why so many hospitals, clinics, and health insurers use blue in their branding. It suggests competence and safety.
  
• Green: Represents health, renewal, and balance. Particularly effective for practices focused on wellbeing, mental health, or holistic medicine.
  
• White and neutrals: Cleanliness and simplicity is great, but too much stark white can feel cold or clinical. Pair with warm greys or beige to soften.
  
• Orange or yellow (in moderation): These shades can add warmth and friendliness which may be useful for paediatrics or family health practices.
  
• Red (sparingly): In healthcare, red signals urgency or danger and can heighten stress if overused. Our advice? Reserve red for emergency call-outs (“Call 999 in a medical emergency”) rather than core branding.

The best healthcare colour palettes balance professionalism with reassurance. For example, muted blues paired with soft greens, beiges and neutral backgrounds create a trustworthy yet calming user experience.

Related Red: The Psychology Behind a Red Website Design

What is the Best Website Builder for Healthcare?

Your choice will depend on organisational scale and requirements:

• WordPress: Highly customisable. In our experience, WordPress is ideal for hospitals and clinics needing SEO-friendly, scalable websites.
  
• Squarespace/Wix: These are popular website builders, but are arguably better for small practices or consultants who need quick, straightforward setups.
  
• Custom-built platforms: Best for large healthcare systems requiring integrated patient portals, multilingual support, or complex compliance workflows.

KIJO Pro Tip: At KIJO, we recommend WordPress as the best website builder for healthcare. It strikes the right balance between flexibility, security, and scalability. With thousands of healthcare-specific plugins and themes, plus seamless integration with booking systems, patient portals, and multilingual capabilities, WordPress allows healthcare organisations to build robust sites that can grow with their needs. Importantly, it also provides the technical foundation for strong SEO – essential for attracting local patients and ranking for high-value healthcare keywords.

Whatever you choose, ensure your website builder meets the data privacy requirements of your country.

Final Thoughts on Healthcare Website Design

So, we’ve established that a successful healthcare website blends empathy, clarity, and professionalism. The best designs reduce anxiety, make information easy to access, and build trust in every interaction.

For healthcare marketers and businesses, remember: your website is a digital front door to care. By focusing on these six strategies and embedding EEAT into every page, you’ll ensure patients feel supported, reassured, and confident in taking the next step with your practice. 

If you’re ready to develop your healthcare website design, KIJO can help build a site that is compliant, professional, and, most importantly, trusted by your patients. Get in touch today.