The Digital Diagnosis: How Healthy Is Your Health Sector Website?

Sam Douthwaite-Robinson | 14 May 2025

Stethoscope on a pastel orange background

Whether you’re a healthcare provider, social care provider, gym or fitness centre, pharmaceutical or biotechnology company, or a health association, your website is often the first point of contact for patients, clients or partners. Its performance can influence everything from your credibility to your conversion rates. Just as a doctor checks vital signs to assess a patient’s health, you must regularly monitor key digital indicators to ensure your website is operating at its best.

This blog will guide you through what a healthy website looks like and highlight the best places to start when reviewing your own. From performance and visibility to usability and security, we’ll explore the key areas that often need attention. Whether you’re building from scratch or improving an existing site, this is your starting point for making meaningful, measurable improvements.

For clarity, we use the term “patients” throughout this post. However, we fully recognise that healthcare organisations serve a broad and diverse audience, including residents, clients, carers and family members. The principles discussed apply equally across all these groups.

1. Page Speed

Page speed is one of the clearest indicators of website health. Delays of even a few seconds can damage a patient’s perception of your organisation. A fast-loading site shows professionalism, improves user experience and can directly influence your visibility in search engines.

Search engines like Google prioritise websites that load quickly, particularly on mobile devices. If your site takes too long to load, you may be losing traffic before visitors even see your homepage. More importantly, a slow site can frustrate existing patients or clients who are simply trying to book an appointment, access key information or explore your services.

You should aim for a Page Speed score of 90 or above for both mobile and desktop. The Core Web Vitals status should also display as “passed”. Core Web Vital measurements are based on real user data and offer a more accurate reflection of how your site performs in the real world.

Where to start:

Use tools like PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix or WebPageTest to run a speed audit
Optimise all images for web using next-gen formats like WebP
Make use of caching plugins W3 Total Cache or WP Rocket

A screenshot of Google page speed results

2. Accessibility Compliance

Accessibility is a fundamental part of website health, particularly in the health sector where patients may have a range of physical, cognitive or sensory needs. Your website must be usable by everyone, regardless of ability. Failing to meet accessibility standards risks excluding users, damaging your reputation, and potentially breaching legal obligations.

A truly accessible website improves the experience for all users. It ensures that content can be read by screen readers, navigation is possible using only a keyboard, and colours and contrasts support those with visual impairments. Good accessibility is not just a technical requirement — it’s a commitment to inclusion.

You should aim to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA as a minimum. This is the standard most commonly used to demonstrate accessibility compliance.

Where to start

Use tools like WAVE, axe DevTools or Lighthouse to identify common accessibility issues such as structural issues, missing labels and contrast errors
Check your colour contrast using tools like Contrast Checker from WebAIM
Ensure images have descriptive alt text
Make sure your site is navigable with a keyboard alone
Add clear labels to form fields and use semantic HTML for proper screen reader support

Learn More About Our Accessibility Audits

A person in a dark sweater sits at a desk working on multiple computer monitors, looking slightly to the side in an office setting with a green plant in the background.

3. SEO Health

No matter how good your services are, they need to be found. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s visibility on search engines like Google. For health-sector organisations, strong SEO can mean the difference between being the go-to local provider and being overlooked entirely.

SEO health is influenced by a wide range of on-page and off-page factors. These include how your pages are structured, the quality of your content, how quickly your site loads, and how mobile-friendly it is. Technical issues like broken links or missing metadata can also hold you back, even if the rest of your site performs well.

You should aim for a technically sound site structure, high-quality content targeted to the right keywords, and regular updates that show your site is active and relevant.

Where to start

Run a site audit using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush
Ensure each page has a clear meta title and meta description
Use a plugin like Yoast SEO which can help structure your page SEO
Use heading tags (H1, H2, H3) to organise content properly
Make sure your site has a clean URL structure and internal linking strategy
Research relevant keywords and integrate them naturally into your content
Fix any broken links or duplicate pages

A laptop sits on a desk displaying data analytics on the screen. The dashboard shows various graphs, charts, and statistics, including a line graph, bar charts, and a pie chart, all depicting numerical data and trends.

4. Security and Data Protection

In the health sector, trust is everything. Patients, residents and service users share sensitive personal information, and your website plays a key role in how secure and professional your organisation appears. A lack of proper security can put data at risk, damage your reputation and in some cases lead to legal consequences.

You should aim to follow best practices in line with GDPR. Your website must obtain explicit cookie consent before tracking user behaviour or installing any non-essential cookies.

Where to start

Ensure your site uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate
Regularly Keep your CMS, plugins and themes updated to the latest versions
Install a reputable security plugin such as Wordfence or Solid Security
Enable two-factor authentication for an added layer of security
Use a cookie consent tool to block tracking cookies until consent is given
Make sure your cookie policy and privacy notice are clear, compliant and easily accessible
Consider using Cloudflare to add an extra layer of protection through a web application firewall (WAF), DDoS mitigation and secure DNS
Regularly back up your website and store backups securely

5. Mobile Responsive

More than half of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices, and for many users, especially in urgent or on-the-go situations, a smartphone is the first point of contact with your organisation.

Mobile responsiveness means your site automatically adapts to different screen sizes and devices such as phones, tablets or desktops. A mobile-friendly website is not only essential for usability, it’s also a key ranking factor in Google’s search results.

Traditionally, websites viewed on mobile would stack content vertically, but these days, sliding content is becoming the norm. This makes it easier for users to quickly navigate to the section they need.

Where to start

Test the website on your own mobile device. Is there anything that isn’t usable — for instance, content hidden off the edge of the screen? Look out for buttons that can’t be tapped, form fields that can’t be filled, and ensure all text is easy to read.
Use a tool like BrowserStack to view your site across a wider range of devices and screen sizes.
Serve appropriately sized images for each device. Use smaller images for mobile and higher-resolution versions for tablet and desktop.
Request a free digital audit from us. We’ll review your site and provide tailored recommendations along with the benefits each change could bring.

6. User Experience Flows

A good website should feel effortless to use. In the health sector, where users may be in a hurry or unfamiliar with digital platforms, it’s crucial that your site helps them find what they need without friction.

User experience (UX) flows are the step-by-step paths users take to complete common tasks on your site. If those paths are confusing, cluttered or inconsistent, users may abandon the process altogether.

Your website should provide clear signposting, a logical navigation structure and minimal distractions along the way. One helpful method is to create a digital sitemap that outlines all your sections and pages, along with the journey required to reach each area.

Using tools like Hotjar can help you understand how real-world users are interacting with your website. It does this by anonymously recording user sessions and highlighting areas where people get stuck or drop off.

Where to start

Identify the top actions users take on your site, for example, booking a consultation or downloading a brochure
Test those journeys yourself or ask someone unfamiliar with your site to do so
Use clear, consistent calls to actions such as prominent titles followed by a button
Avoid unnecessary pop-ups or interruptions, especially on mobile
Use tools like Hotjar to track real user behaviour and spot points of friction
Add a feedback widget asking for your patients opinion

Learn More About Conversion Insights

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7. Analytics and Performance Metrics

You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Once your website is live and serving patients or service users, tracking how it performs is essential. Website analytics give you the insight needed to understand what’s working, what isn’t and where improvements can have the greatest impact.

Tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provide detailed information on how users find your site, what pages they visit, how long they stay, and where they drop off. Combined with tools like Google Search Console, you can also track your search performance, see which keywords drive traffic, and identify technical issues affecting visibility.

You should aim to track both user engagement and goal completion. In the health sector, goals might include appointment bookings, contact form submissions or downloads of patient information.

Where to start

Set up Google Analytics 4 and link it with Google Search Console
Use events and conversion tracking to measure important interactions
Review your bounce rate, average session duration and top-performing pages
Use these insights to guide ongoing improvements in content, design and structure

Learn More About Our Paid Media Strategy

Two men are sitting at a table in an office environment. The man on the left is smiling and wearing glasses and a blue shirt. A laptop and notepad are in front of him.

8. Maintaining Your Website’s Health

Building a great website is only the beginning. Your website needs regular maintenance to stay effective, secure and up to date. Neglecting basic upkeep can lead to broken features, outdated content, security vulnerabilities and a slow decline in user trust.

A healthy website is one that evolves, whether by adding new content, responding to user feedback or adopting new digital standards. Regular reviews keep things running smoothly and also help you stay ahead of the competition and in line with the expectations of modern users.

Where to start

Schedule a monthly check-up for broken links and review page speed
Keep plugins and themes up-to-date.
Re-run SEO and accessibility audits to catch new issues early
Review analytics monthly to spot trends and adapt accordingly
Back up your website daily

Conclusion

A healthy website is a vital part of how your organisation builds trust, delivers information and supports patients. Page speed, mobile responsiveness and accessibility are paramount in delivering your digital user experience.

If your website hasn’t had a recent health check, now is the time to act. Start with the areas we’ve outlined and use the recommended tools.

If you’re ready to take your website to the next level take a look at our consultancy services. Our consultative services are designed to give you clarity, confidence, and a clear path forward.

WebBox Consultancy