What’s so special about having a Meet the Team page on your website? For veterinary practices, it isn’t just about showing off your veterinarians and staff members. It doesn’t just serve the interests of your practice. The main purpose of the page is to serve the interests of potential new clients. It should be there to build trust by giving pet owners insight into who you are and what you can do for them and their pets. It should encourage pet owners to give your veterinary practice a chance, even when there are plenty of competing practices in the neighborhood for them to choose from.
So, let’s explore the different ways that a Meet the Team page benefits pet owners, and how you can spruce up your own team page to enhance its appeal.
Create an Irresistibly Welcoming First Impression with Pet Owners
Next to the Home page, Meet the Team pages are the second most-visited on any website. About 11% of a website’s page views come from the Meet the Team page. While that might seem like a small percentage, it shows that if you create a dedicated team page for your website, a good amount of people will want to view it.
A Meet the Team page quite literally gives a face to your brand. It shows the real people behind the logo and helps pet owners who are viewing the page feel a connection with your organization. If someone is visiting your website for the first time and they get to be introduced to your veterinarians and staff, this could help them finalize their decision. If your competitors aren’t featuring their team anywhere on their website, this gives you an advantage.
First impressions are always important, but especially online, where our short attention spans dictate our clicks and how much time we spend on a website. If someone clicks on your Meet the Team page and is graced with rows of friendly smiling faces and interesting personal bios, they’ll likely feel more comfortable about choosing your practice.
Cultivate Trust and Approachability
Veterinarian-patient-client relationships are built and nurtured on trust. Few things are more important for vets than to have the trust of their patients and clients. And more than ever, pet owners want the best care for their animal family members, and someone they can trust to have their best interests at heart. Building a lasting relationship with your clients and patients is the key to exceeding their expectations and ensuring that they live long, happy lives together. Introducing your team on your website in a way that goes beyond simply saying “Hello, these are my qualifications and my hobbies” is a critical step in developing that relationship.
Your team bios should not be focused solely on credentials and awards, though those can certainly be included. Instead, use each bio to provide genuine insight into who your team members are, why they’re passionate about veterinary medicine, and what they love most about their jobs. Quotes from individual team members can go a long way towards making pet owners feel assured about the quality of care they can expect from you. They can also serve as another element that builds a connection and helps pet owners decide (if you’re a multi-doctor practice) which vet they’ll want to see.
Going that extra mile to tell the story of your practice through all your amazing team members will not go unnoticed or unappreciated. People want excellent care for their pets, and they can feel confident that that’s just what you’ll provide if they see that your veterinarians and other staff members are enthusiastic about what they do and take great care to reach out on a more personable level. By having your team members share deeper and more meaningful parts of themselves, they can reach pet owners much more effectively than if they just trotted out a list of accomplishments and certifications.
How to Spice Up Your Team Page
Team pages don’t have to be boring. With the exception of the Home page, they get more views than any other page on your website. Putting extra effort into your Meet the Team page can only help your practice, and your potential new clients.
So how can you make your team page more inviting and interesting? Here are a few things we’d recommend:
Do Video
Instead of photos, you can do video interviews featuring your vets so they can speak directly about their experiences and why they do what they do. People love videos, and getting to see a vet or other team member speaking on camera can create a much more impactful impression.
Quality Photos
If you prefer to go with photos, make sure all of them are high-quality and consistent (all team photos are head shots from the shoulders up, for example).
Show Your Team in Action
If possible, include interaction photos to show how your team members care for their patients.
Make it Fun
Instead of a generic paragraph about credentials, hobbies and schooling, make it fun–have team members list out some unusual facts about themselves, brag about their pets, or talk about what motivates them to take care of pets and people.
Include Client Reviews
Client reviews are another element you can use to build trust on your team page (even better if the review mentions a team member by name).
Keep it Fresh
Whether a team member has left or you’ve hired some new team members, this needs to be reflected on the team page as well. Always! Avoid confusing new clients and keep your team page current.
Make Sure Your Team Page is Optimized
Is your team page optimized for search engines? If you want it to rank and get more views, check to see that the content has been fully optimized so more people will land on the page. That means integrating the proper key words and target location into the content, title tag and meta description, and adding alt text to all the images on the page.
Another way to draw more attention to your Meet the Team page is to have a call-out section on your Home page that directs/links to it. Since the Home page gets the most views on a website, it only makes sense to use its high visibility to guide viewers to other pages on your website, which in turn could increase their chances of filling out an appointment form or giving you a call.
Want more tips or suggestions for highlighting your awesome veterinary team? Get InTouch by calling (800) 493-9003!