Animal Medical West: Website Design and Content Writing

Website Design and Content Writing

What We Did For Them:  Website Design, Content Writing

Industry: Veterinary Clinic

The Website: 

When creating the new website for Animal Medical West, we prioritized making the website look friendly. We put a lot of thought into the aesthetics of the website because we wanted people to feel safe with the caring staff of AMW just by looking at their website. It can be hard for people to trust someone to care for their pets, so every design choice was made to create that feeling of trust for new customers.

The first design choice we made was the overall color scheme for the site. The main colors for the site include turquoise, orange, yellow, and red. These colors are designed to be vibrant, but not overwhelming, and are complementary to each other. Once we had the colors selected, we used them to create geometric shapes throughout the website. For any shape, we made sure that there were no harsh edges to ensure that the design was still welcoming, inviting, and friendly. We used a rounded angled border for the featured image in the header of each page, and rounded elements throughout the design. This was a subtle design choice that contributes to the friendly feeling of the site.

At the top of the page, we highlighted the most important information for pet owners. We included the phone number to allow clients to quickly have their questions answered. We also included directions to get to the office easily. Finding a veterinarian close to home is a priority for pet owners, so we were sure to give maps and directions high visibility throughout the site. We also included a “schedule an appointment” button in several different locations on the website, including the header, page load area, and middle. We made booking an appointment easy because it is the most common action customers want to complete on this site.

For our contact information, reviews, directions, and scheduling appointment buttons, we used yellow icons to create a unified appearance. We also created a unique paw print effect for the menu. When you hover over each page of the website, a different pet’s paw print appears. We also created a sticky menu with more information. This menu sticks to the top of the window while the user scrolls down the page. It showcases a small logo as well as the pages for each specific service. The sticky menu is colorful against a white background to match the rest of the site. We also included a “schedule an appointment” button in the sticky menu so that the customer can complete this action no matter where they are on the site.

After the initial page load, the next section we designed were the icons for each of the main service pages. We made this section large, graphic, and eye-catching because we wanted it to be easy for pet owners to find the main services offered by the veterinary clinic, including medical, boarding, grooming, and emergency services. Under the icons, we recapped the major services again for search engine optimization purposes, but made sure that this area still contributed to the overall design by utilizing colorful text and a yellow box.

We also created an overview of the company. This “keep your pet happy and healthy” section gives more details about the character of the company to create further trust. Under this information, we included the map so that pet owners in the area can easily find the office. We originally put the map toward the bottom of the page, but we decided to move it higher because location is one of the most important factors when choosing a veterinarian.

The next section is the testimonials section. This section showcases reviews from current clients, including pictures of their pets. This personalized touch creates trust in the staff and showing real pets adds an extra layer of social proof for new customers.

In the footer, we created an image slider with more pictures of animals and staff. This works as a reminder of the friendly, inviting aspects of the veterinarian’s office. The footer also includes important links, including the patient portal. These links will take the client to forms, special deals, and additional links. People are able to easily find the section of the website that they’re looking for. We put special thought into breaking up the footer so that it would look unique compared to other veterinary websites.

For the rest of our service pages, we chose to design a top-level navigation menu. Many websites choose to do a dropdown menu to save space, but creating a top level navigation menu that shows all of the services is better for search engine optimization and for users. It is easier to find out what services are provided by the vet and to easily learn about the practice without having to search for the right page. Each of our main service pages uses more images of the staff to show that they are friendly and dependable. Each service page also has a sidebar with links to other services to encourage continued clicking. Users don’t have to think about where they will go next, they can continue seamlessly learning about Animal Medical West by following links on any of the pages.

Our “patient portal” page holds most of the important information for clients. It houses forms including the schedule appointment form, online form for new clients, and drop-off and boarding forms. Each form can be filled out online or downloaded as a PDF to print and fill out later. The “current specials” page will be used for future growth as the vet offers more seasonal deals. Consistently updating this page will bring search engine optimization benefits for the company as they continue to grow.

We also modified the previous website’s “about us” page. This page now tells the story of AMW and includes biographies and photos of each of the staff members. Having a photo and fun facts about the people who work at Animal Medical West shows them to be approachable and competent. This creates further trust for pet owners who are able to see the people taking care of their beloved animals.

We also created sections to highlight AMW’s app. This unique app allows clients to look at their pet’s records, send messages to their vet, schedule an appointment, and get refills on medications. The app had never been highlighted on the company’s previous site, so we created a section on the patient portal page with information about the app and a pop-up on the homepage to drive more people to download the app. The pop-up was designed so that if someone clicks on one of the download options or on the exit arrow, the popup will not reappear for a week. This makes the pop-up informative without interrupting the user’s experience.

Content:

While Animal Medical West had a previous website that was well-written, we wanted to increase the search engine optimization value for the content. We thoroughly proof-read the entire site and added more detailed information about the services provided at AMW. We made sure that it was clear to customers and to search engines what services are provided by the vet and where they are located. These details will make it easier for local pet owners to find the Animal Medical West website at the top of their Google search results and quickly get the information they need.

Final Thoughts:

Creating this fun, friendly website was an enjoyable project for our team. We enjoyed creating the unique color scheme, geometric design elements, and showcasing many pictures of the staff and the adorable pets they treat. We were able to take the existing work of the AMW team and bring attention to their amazing team and the excellent veterinary services they provide. From the moment pet owners click on the site, we believe that they will feel certain they have found the perfect kind, thoughtful, and qualified veterinarians to care for their furry friends.

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