When you’re shopping around for a PT Website, your number 1 priority should be something like “Will this website convert visitors into patients for my clinic?” 

So by definition, what you’re searching for is Website Conversions.

Before you get too deep into plans & pricing, make sure you understand exactly what a “Primary Conversion” means to you and be ready to ask potential website developers how they track that conversion.

Defining A PT Website Conversion

Here are the 3 things about conversions you need to prepare before you start website shopping:

1) Define Your Own Primary Conversion(s)

Not all conversions are equal. You need to define 1-3 Primary Website Conversions. 

In the website data/analytics industry, a conversion could refer to a wide range of things. It could be an ebook signup, a contact form… anything where the visitor takes a desired action.

So when a potential website developer says the word “conversion” make sure you have already agreed on what that means for YOUR clinic, not just general terms.

What should yours be?

Looking at your website, its #1 goal should be to fill your appointment schedule. Therefore, your primary conversion should be based on how that happens. 

If your website button links directly to a scheduling software, then you can use Appointments scheduled as a conversion. But the next case is more common:
If your website button sends info to your front office who must call leads & get them scheduled, then your website’s primary conversion metric should be New Patient Leads.

Don’t judge your website on how many of those close if it’s up to your staff or follow-up systems (texts/emails) to actually finish the scheduling. In this case, New Patient Leads would be a combination of:

  1. Visitors who complete your appointment request or contact form
  2. Phone calls from your website made by new patients (ask your developer to distinguish new vs existing)
  3. And any visitors who request an appointment via your chatbot if you have one.

You should delegate the job of tracking this to your developer, but make sure you’re in agreement on what constitutes a conversion.

Next, let’s touch briefly on how conversions are tracked:

2) Know The Nerdy (Just A Little)

In the world of analytics, conversions are measured in 2 ways: Event Tracking and Goal Tracking. It would be helpful if you understand the difference between these 2 categories at a basic level.

(Again, you should ultimately delegate the exact tracking methods to your development team, but this will help you understand them better)

  • Event Tracking measures a specific action a visitor takes such as clicking a “Submit” button. Any time someone clicks submit on your website, an Event Conversion is registered. This is a simple way to track a variety of things, but it is not foolproof. For instance, If a visitor has a problem with their browser & clicks submit several times, your numbers could be thrown off. There are lots of good uses for event tracking, but just note numbers may not always be exact.
  • Goal Tracking measures a behavior or even a series of events that you define as a goal. A common example would be a visitor coming to your site, then landing on the specific “Thank You” page after your appointment request form. You know that page is only used after the form, so a visitor landing there is a reliable sign that they converted on your website.

In most cases, your “Primary Conversion” (from the first point, the thing you care about most) should use Goal tracking.

3) What A Conversion Rate Means

“Conversion Rate” is simply the percentage of visitors who converted. The math is almost as easy:

Using our example from point 1 where there are a couple of ways New Patient Leads come in, just combine the New Patient Leads from each source and divide that number by your Unique Website Visitors during the same span of time.

The result will probably look like 0.019352672… which means about 1.9%.

So, what’s a good conversion rate?

Most experts agree in the 1.5% – 5% range depending on industry (Gift shops for example would typically be higher than Luxury cars). For PTs specifically but it’s safe to say 1.5% – 3% is healthy. Below 1% needs to be worked on. Anything over 3-4% should be considered very effective. 

Now, if I didn’t lose you with the data nerd section, let’s get back to how Physical Therapy Clinics get website conversions:

How To Get Website Conversions 

Appointment Request Button:

Every PT Website needs a “Request Appointment” or similarly worded button. It should be a high-contrast color to the rest of the site (yet still look good), in the top right corner at all times, and it should appear 3-5 times on the home page. 

Those are rules #1-3 of getting patients on your website and they are not to be broken.

You can link this button to a self-scheduling software if you want to pay for that service. Alternatively, it can open a pop-up form for a prospect to fill out their Name, Phone, Email, and what condition they are dealing with.

It’s ok to ask for more information, but keep in mind that in general for every field a person has to fill out, slightly fewer people will finish the form.

Both the form and self-schedule methods can work very well, just be sure the lead is sent to your front desk for personal followup & to increase arrival rates.

Chatbot Leads:

A chatbot is an interactive question service that lives on your website. Basically like a virtual assistant who can answer questions you or your staff get by phone or email.

It’s designed as a simple conversation pop-up much like texting. Its primary goal is to encourage visitors to get in touch with a staff member for more information.

How can it help a PT Practice?

In this day and age, people no longer want to wait. Using a chatbot gives you a competitive edge. Having the chatbot will make it easier for your staff by answering those most common questions like hours or insurance then request an appointment before the prospect has time to dig into your competitors’ websites.

Phone Calls From Your Mobile Website:

Every “new” phone call (not existing patients) is a chance for a new patient. That’s why, if your front desk staff are well trained on turning conversations into evaluations these calls should be considered New Patient Leads.

Calls come from a lot of places such as Google My Business or directly on search engine listings, but perhaps the easiest one to track results for is calls from your mobile website.

Since these visitors are already on their phones, calling you is as easy as clicking a button. It’s also possible for a good web developer to use call tracking & determine how many calls are coming as new inquiries vs. existing patients asking questions.


If your website is optimized to do those three things, you’ll be well on your way to bringing in more new patients online.


Lastly, Why Is All This Important?

Just like patient volume determines if your marketing is working, Conversion rate determines your website’s effectiveness. It reveals how visitors engage with your website. If you invest money on your website (which you should), it’s imperative that you keep track of what ROI that website is giving you.

Not sure if your website converts or not? Check out the easy analytics & expert support our clients get with their monthly plans here.