July 15, 2025
You're not selling surgery, you're selling certaintyPrivate medicine is weird. Most patients don’t know what’s wrong, they just want to feel heard.
July 14, 2025
Avoid the most common digital mistakes private surgeons make with their websites and marketing. Learn how to improve patient trust and grow self-pay enquiries.
"If you build it, they will come."
That might work for baseball movies. But in private healthcare? Not so much.
Today, your website is often a patient’s first impression. Your digital presence either builds confidence—or quietly sends people to your competitor.
So, here’s a brutal truth:
Most private surgeons are losing money online, and they don’t even know it.
Let’s change that.
Here are 10 of the most common mistakes we see private clinics and consultants make online, and how to fix them with clarity, confidence, and a dash of common sense.
Too many surgeon websites are little more than a list of qualifications and clinic locations. Patients aren’t looking for a CV—they want reassurance.
Static websites with no clear direction or human connection.
Build a homepage that answers three key questions in 5 seconds:
Clear messaging. One CTA. Big results.
Around 70% of healthcare searches in the UK happen on mobile. If your site doesn’t work well on phones, you’re turning away self-pay patients without knowing it.
Buttons too small. Pages take forever to load. Text looks like it’s made for ants.
Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Fix page speed, layout, and ensure your call-to-action buttons are tap-friendly.
Imagine a new patient arrives at your site. They like what they see—but there’s no obvious next step.
No form. No number. No booking button.
Hoping people will figure it out on their own.
Use 1-2 consistent CTAs sitewide:
Pro tip: Place a CTA above the fold and after each section.
What gets measured gets improved.
If you’re not tracking how many visitors your website gets, where they came from, or what pages they visited… you’re flying blind.
Guessing instead of measuring.
Use free tools like Plausible or Google Analytics.
Track:
You can’t improve what you can’t see.
Referrals are fantastic—but they’re not scalable. One retiring GP or physio can cut your pipeline in half.
Waiting for patients to find you instead of being proactive.
Build a “digital referral engine”:
This way, people discover you 24/7.
Search engine optimisation isn’t just for startups and agencies.
It’s how patients find your specific service when they need it most.
Having a website that can’t be found on Google.
Start with keywords like:
Then write blog content that answers patient questions like:
Consistency > complexity.
Would you book a personal trainer without hearing them speak?
Or hire a lawyer without seeing how they explain things?
Patients want the same reassurance from their surgeon.
Only using stock photos and long paragraphs.
Film a simple 60-second “Meet Your Consultant” video.
Use your phone. Talk like you would in clinic.
Add it to your homepage or “About” page.
Bonus: Videos increase time on site, which helps with SEO too.
We get it—stock images are convenient. But they’re also cold, impersonal, and often painfully American-looking.
Using cliché images of smiling patients or anonymous surgeons.
Use real photos of:
Human faces drive clicks and build trust.
Even in healthcare, people follow people. If someone sees that others have had a good experience with you, they’re far more likely to book.
Hiding testimonials deep in a hard-to-find subpage.
Put short, real quotes on your homepage, service pages, and contact page.
Add names or anonymised initials if needed.
Better yet? Use video testimonials.
Every month you delay fixing your online presence is a month of missed opportunities—and patients who went elsewhere.
Putting it off until “next quarter” or “when things quieten down”.
Start small:
Or let someone handle it for you (like us).
Why do private surgeons need search engine optimisation?
Because your patients are searching for help online. Showing up on page 1 of Google means you’re building trust before they’ve even made a call.
How often should I update my website?
Ideally, every 12–18 months to stay modern, responsive, and relevant. But small changes (like new testimonials or blogs) can and should be made monthly.
What’s the fastest way to improve my website today?
Add a clear CTA, compress images to speed up loading, and embed a short video introducing yourself.
Patients are comparing you to other options—whether they say it or not.
Your digital presence either confirms their trust, or casts doubt.
These 10 mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to look for.
And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s where Alchemy comes in.
We build websites, write blogs, film content, and handle SEO—so you can focus on what you do best.
✅ Download our free Digital Checklist for Private Surgeons
🕵️ Spot 5 problems in under 3 minutes
🎯 Get clear next steps to improve enquiries
Get the guide here - Guide
Director
Sam StrattonJuly 15, 2025
You're not selling surgery, you're selling certaintyPrivate medicine is weird. Most patients don’t know what’s wrong, they just want to feel heard.
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Alchemy Med helps UK surgeons attract more private patients through websites, video, SEO and ongoing marketing support.
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