I’m Kayla. I help run a small general physician office near Broad Ripple in Indianapolis. Last year, I led our website redo. It was messy. It was fun. It was worth it.
Patients kept calling for simple stuff. Hours. Insurance. Directions. Our old site hid all of that. It was slow on phones too. You know what? If my aunt can’t find the “Book Now” button in one glance, we have a problem.
So I tried three real paths. I learned a lot. And I’ve got numbers, wins, and a few “oops” moments to share.
What our clinic actually needed
- A giant “Book Now” button that works on mobile
- A clean list of insurance plans (Anthem, Cigna, CareSource, IU Health Plans)
- Directions with parking tips (yes, street parking on College Ave)
- A link to our patient portal that never breaks
- A Spanish page for our west side families
- ADA-friendly text and color (so everyone can read)
- Speed. Like under 2 seconds fast
- Clear info for common visits: flu shots, school physicals, same-day sick
Simple, right? I thought so too. Then the real work hit.
Path 1: Tebra/PatientPop — fast start, firm limits
We tried Tebra (it used to be PatientPop) first. They set up a template site for us in about three weeks. It looked clean. They pulled in our reviews. We used their online booking. It synced well enough with our schedule.
Real example: week one, we got 17 online bookings without even posting to Facebook. Folks loved the “Book Now” button. The site felt very “doctor office,” which is fine.
But here’s the rub. We paid $549 a month. And we were stuck in a contract. We also couldn’t change layout much. I wanted a big Saturday clinic callout during race week. The system didn’t love that. Support was kind, but slow to say yes to custom bits.
My take: it works when you need a site fast. It’s simple for staff. But you pay each month. And you give up control.
Path 2: WordPress with a local freelancer — more work, more wins
Next, I hired a freelancer from Fishers. We built on WordPress with Elementor. Hosting went on WP Engine. We used Formstack (they’re local—Fishers!) for HIPAA-safe forms. Zocdoc handled online booking. Yoast helped SEO. WP Rocket sped up the site. ShortPixel squished images. I ran the WAVE tool for ADA checks.
To make sure we weren’t missing anything, I also thumbed through the DOJ’s ADA Title III Design Manual and compared each template against the WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines for color contrast and keyboard navigation.
Timeline: six weeks. Not bad for a real build.
Real results after launch:
- Load time: about 1.4 seconds on 4G
- Core Web Vitals: passed across the board
- Calls for basic questions: down 20%
- Online bookings: up from 9 per week to 31 per week
- Bounce rate: dropped from 68% to 41% (Google Analytics 4)
- “School physicals Indianapolis” page: on page one by back-to-school season
- 42 new patients in August (our old August had 19)
I also loved the local touch. We used photos from the Canal Walk and Butler Tarkington. We wrote copy that said “near Broad Ripple High School.” Parking notes were clear. Indy folks read that part. They told us in person.
Costs:
- Build: $5,500
- Hosting: $45/month
- Formstack HIPAA plan: about $100/month (we signed a BAA)
- WP Rocket: $59 once per year
- Zocdoc: separate fees (worth it for us)
Cons? I had to manage updates. Plugins need love. But it wasn’t scary. We made a simple check list for the front desk. Ten minutes a week.
My take: this was the sweet spot. We kept control. We kept costs fair. And the site felt like “us.”
Path 3: Squarespace DIY — quick, but tight corners
I also tested a quick Squarespace build. It was pretty. I could drag blocks in minutes. I embedded Formstack forms, which worked. For a week, it felt easy.
Then I hit walls. SEO controls were just okay. EHR links felt clunky. The design kept pushing me into the same box. It wasn’t bad, just… tight. For a busy clinic, it felt like training wheels.
My take: good for a solo doc who needs a page now. Not great once you want deeper control.
Design choices that actually helped patients
- Big buttons: “Book Now,” “Call,” “Portal.” No tiny links.
- Font size: 18–20 px body text. Grandparents thanked us.
- High contrast: dark navy on white, with a bold accent green.
- Real photos: our staff, our waiting room, Canal Walk in spring.
- Spanish page: a simple tab, not hidden deep in a menu.
- ADA checks: we made keyboard tabs work. Alt text for images.
- Hours bar: a thin banner on top for closings and snow days.
- Directions: bus routes (IndyGo 18), parking tips, and a map.
A quick aside: the value of stripping friction isn’t limited to healthcare websites. Dating apps live and die by how fast a user can move from “I’m curious” to “I’m connected.” The hookup platform Pure is an extreme example of that ethos—this candid breakdown of the Pure app reveals the design tactics, conversion funnels, and privacy choices that make the experience almost instant, and it’s packed with UX takeaways you can borrow to tighten any call-to-action on your own site.
Another adult-oriented niche that proves the same “reduce every click” rule is the escort booking market. If you want to see a masterclass in how concise profiles, prominent call buttons, and mobile-first galleries funnel visitors straight to a reservation, check out the streamlined layout of these Saco escorts — spending a few minutes there highlights exactly how clarity and speed can translate into higher conversions no matter what industry you’re in.
Little thing I loved: we added a simple “Need a same-day visit?” box under the hero. It got clicks. People are sick now, not later.
Two “oops” moments (and how we fixed them)
- The portal link broke after an update. Oof. We slapped a bright banner on top: “Portal moved—click here.” Then we set an uptime alert. No more surprises.
- Form spam hit us hard. We switched to reCAPTCHA v3. It got quiet fast.
Also, we almost sent PHI to Gmail once. Scary. We locked it down so Formstack stores everything. Staff views inside Formstack only. We signed the BAA. Now I sleep.
Indy-specific bits that mattered
- Insurance list up front. Folks here shop plans. They don’t want to call.
- Sports physicals page in July. It popped for high school parents.
- Flu shot page in October. We added a Colts color banner. Cute, but it worked.
- Race week hours. We posted early. People planned around the 500.
- Landmarks for directions: “near Fresh Thyme on College Ave.”
Tiny, local cues build trust. People feel like, “Oh, you’re my neighbor.” Because we are.
What I’d do again (in this order)
- Claim and polish Google Business Profile. Add real photos.
- Make a one-page “need to know” draft: hours, insurance, booking, portal.
- Pick WordPress with a local dev. Keep it simple.
- Use Formstack for HIPAA forms. Don’t risk email.
- Add Zocdoc or your EHR’s booking widget.
- Write 5 service pages: flu shot, school physicals, chronic care, same-day sick, wellness — and pull a few easy blog topics from this web design blog ideas for local businesses roundup.
- Check ADA basics. Use WAVE. Fix contrast. Label links.
Costs you should plan for
- Build: $4k–$8k for a small clinic site
- Hosting: $30–$60/month
- HIPAA forms: $80–$120/month
- Booking tool: varies (Zocdoc or EHR add-on)
- Photos: pay a local once, or shoot on a good phone with even light
Could you spend less? Sure. But don’t skimp on forms or hosting. Speed and safety matter.
Real wins that made me smile
- A mom booked a school physical while in the Target lot. She said the “Book Now” button was “big and bossy.” I took that as a compliment.
- Our “New Patients” page cleared up 80% of calls about insurance.
- A grandpa used the keyboard only and said, “I did it myself.” That one stuck with me.
Quick checklist for a general physician site in Indianapolis
- Clear