Websites for doctors and clinics: structure, trust and what you are allowed to publish

Building websites for doctors is different from building a site for any other business. A patient who lands on a doctor's website is not comparing prices on a product — they are deciding who to trust with their health. The rules are different too: a doctor cannot write on their site everything an ordinary business writes. In this article we set out which pages a solo doctor's site and a clinic's site need, and how to write medical content that patients and Google both rely on. Then we look at how to build a form that protects sensitive information, and what you may not publish under the Physicians Ordinance.

What a patient — and Google — check on a doctor's website

Before booking an appointment, a patient looks for answers to four questions:

1. Who is the doctor? Education, licence, field of practice and where they work.
2. Do they treat my problem? A page that explains the treatment or the condition, in plain language.
3. How do I book? Phone, WhatsApp or a form, and when someone gets back to them.
4. How do I get there? Address, parking and accessibility of the clinic.

Google is stricter with sites like these as well. According to Google's guidance on helpful content, its systems give even more weight to content with strong E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) on topics that could significantly impact the health, financial stability or safety of people. And of all those aspects, according to the same page, trust is the most important.

So a doctor's website is not judged on impressive design. It is judged on whether it answers those four questions without the patient having to go looking.

Websites for doctors: structure for a solo doctor and for a clinic

The basic structure is the same as any brand website, as we set out in our brand website guide. The differences are in the medical pages:

Two rules save a great deal of trouble. First, a page for every treatment, not a single "services" page with a list. A patient searching for a particular treatment needs a page that answers exactly that. Second, facts instead of praise on the about page: where they studied, which licence they hold, and which field they practise in. Below we will see why that is also a matter of law.

In a clinic with several doctors, it is worth building the doctor page on a single template. That way every doctor looks equally professional, and you can add a new one without changing the design. The structure is very close to the one we described for a lawyer's website, with a page per field and a page per professional.

Medical content: trust, sources and what you may not publish

Content on a medical site has to meet a higher standard. Google's guidance asks, among other things, whether it is clear to the visitor who wrote the content, and whether there is a byline where a reader would expect one. In practice that means:

• The name of the doctor who wrote or reviewed each treatment page, with a link to their about page.
• An update date on medical content, and a genuine update when the recommendations change.
• Explanation, not promises. What the treatment is, who it suits, what recovery involves and what the risks are.
• A clarification that the information on the site is not a substitute for a personal examination and medical advice.

What you may not write. Section 11 of the Physicians Ordinance — פקודת הרופאים — prohibits a licensed doctor from advertising their practice in a way that is misleading, that harms the dignity of the profession or that conflicts with the regulations, and it also bars any other person from publishing such advertising on the doctor's behalf. The Physicians (Prohibited Advertising) Regulations: תקנות הרופאים (פרסומת אסורה): list, among other things, promising the success of a treatment, advertising that praises a doctor's skill and professional competence, using the title "specialist" where it has not been approved, the name or photograph of patients without a prominent note that they are not patients, publishing tariffs and prices for medical treatment, promotions and discounts on treatment, and the use of information liable to identify a patient, even with their consent. Dentists have a parallel provision, section 38 of the Dentists Ordinance, and regulations of their own. We are not lawyers: before you publish content, check the current text with a lawyer.

Forms and appointments: medical information is sensitive information

A form on a doctor's website looks like any other form, but the information passing through it is different. Health information falls under "information of particular sensitivity", and the level of obligation attached to it is higher, as we explained in our guide to Amendment 13. What that means for the website:

1. Minimal fields. Name, phone, type of enquiry and preferred time. No free-text field inviting someone to write a diagnosis or symptoms.
2. Consent and a privacy policy visible beside the form, not only in the site footer.
3. Where the enquiry lands. In the booking system or the CRM, not in an inbox everyone at the clinic can see.
4. WhatsApp with care. Patients will send photos and documents there. Decide in advance who answers, and where the information is stored.
5. Appointment booking. If there is a booking system, connect it to the site, so the patient sees an available slot rather than only "we'll get back to you".

In our experience, the common mistake is a generic form copied from another business's site, with a "describe your problem" field. It is convenient for the clinic, but it collects exactly the information you least want to collect in an open field.

Accessibility, emergencies and mobile

Accessibility. A clinic's website is a service to the public, and the accessibility obligation applies to almost every business website in Israel. Some of your patients are precisely the people an inaccessible site shuts out. What is required and how to check it is explained in our website accessibility guide. Also write on the site how accessible the clinic itself is: lift, disabled parking and the entrance.

Emergencies. If the clinic does not provide urgent care, say so clearly, and refer people to Magen David Adom on 101. If it does provide urgent care, highlight the opening hours and the fastest way to make contact.

Mobile. Most patients will arrive from a phone, sometimes while in pain. Calling, WhatsApp and navigation need to be available from every screen. For example, on a site we built for an emergency clinic, the call, WhatsApp and Waze navigation buttons are available from any screen, alongside a dedicated page for emergency treatment. A brand website we built for a doctor has three in-depth treatment pages, each with its own FAQs, in three languages, with an accessibility toolbar and an accessibility statement.

What Simple Web does about it

Simple Web is an AI-first marketing agency from Bnei Brak, certified Meta partners and Google advertising experts, working with 200+ businesses and holding 35 five-star Google reviews. In healthcare we have built, among others, a website for an emergency clinic and a brand website for a doctor. We build with AI, and people on the team decide the structure, the messages and the design.

A brand website starts with us at ₪5,000, within a range of ₪5,000–15,000+ depending on scope, with a final price agreed up front. It includes the spec, content writing and SEO foundations, a CRM integration, accessibility under Israeli law and training so you can manage it yourself, and it is ready in 3 to 5 weeks (depending on the size of the project). Every site we have built since 2025 has a full consent management setup built in. Every website comes with 6 months of SEO content free (a value of ₪4,500) and 3 months of warranty and free fixes. How website prices vary by who builds them we set out in website building cost. We also offer a free 20-minute privacy check, and for existing clients a Privacy Audit that costs ₪1,500.

Summary

Websites for doctors start with the patient's questions: who is the doctor, do they treat my problem, how do I book and how do I get there. Then come a page per treatment, content carrying the name of the doctor who wrote it, and a form that collects only what it needs. And at every stage, remember that the Physicians Ordinance and its regulations limit what may be written — including when somebody else is writing on your behalf. Want to plan a clinic website or review the one you have? Get in touch for a free diagnostic call.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content: more weight to E-E-A-T on health topics, trust as the most important aspect, and the questions about who wrote the content
• Physicians Ordinance (Wikisource): section 11, the limits on advertising, including the bar on another person advertising for the doctor
• Physicians (Prohibited Advertising) Regulations, 2008 (Wikisource): regulations 2 and 3: the kinds of advertising considered misleading, harmful to the dignity of the profession or harmful to the public
• Dentists Ordinance (Wikisource): section 38, the parallel arrangement for dentists