Creating an effective website for the life sciences demands a delicate balance between technical precision, aesthetic appeal, and the industry’s unique need. It’s a difficult balance to strike—but when done successfully, your website should do the work for you. In this blog post, we'll explore the best practices to create websites that stand out and serve their purpose effectively among the competitive landscape of life science and digital health. 

1. Focus on User Experience (UX)

• Intuitive Navigation: Ensure that your website is easy to navigate. Users should find information quickly and efficiently with a clear and simple menu structure.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Guarantee that your website is fully responsive and works seamlessly on all devices, including tablets and smartphones. A responsive design ensures accessibility and usability for a broad audience.

2. Content Quality and Clarity

• Informative Content: Provide high-quality, accurate, and up-to-date information about your products, services, and research. This can include detailed product descriptions, white papers, case studies, and research articles.
• Visual Content: Use high-quality images, videos, and infographics to make complex information more digestible. Visual content can enhance understanding and retention—and generates 94% more views. This is especially important if your product or service is a niche subset or you’re trying to expand your offering to a wider audience.
  
  
                                                                                                                                       Image from Medthink.com.
                                                                  

3. Compliance and Security

• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure your website complies with relevant regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and other industry-specific standards. This includes clear privacy policies and consent management tools.
• Data Security: Regulatory checkpoints aren’t just for scientific purposes. Implement robust security measures to protect user data. Use HTTPS, secure data storage, and ensure safe handling of any sensitive information.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Keyword Optimization: Use relevant keywords throughout your content to improve search engine rankings. Focus on long-tail keywords specific to your industry. While a keyword is short and broad, a long-tail keyword is a longer, highly specific phrase intended to target niche markets and specific user intents. An example of a keyword would be “clinical trials”; while an example of a long-tail keyword would be “phase 3 clinical trials evaluating efficacy of novel oncology theranostics”. Long-tail keywords have lower competition, higher conversion rates, and tend to attract more qualified traffic—all of which are key players in SEO.
• Meta Tags and Descriptions: Optimize meta tags, descriptions, and headers to make your website easily discoverable—and highly ranked—by search engines.

5. Engagement and Interactivity

• Interactive Elements: Include interactive elements such as videos, calculators, and downloadable resources to engage users.
• Contact Forms: Provide easy ways for users to contact you, such as forms, live chat, or chatbots. Ensure these features are easily accessible on all pages. The easier the contact form is to be filled out; the more likely your site’s visitors are to complete it. Keep it simple: name, email address, and phone number. Only require additional information if it’s necessary—otherwise, visitors are likely to click away, and you’re likely to lose a potential lead.

6. Professional Aesthetic

• Clean and Professional Design: The design should reflect the professionalism and credibility of the life sciences industry. Use a clean layout, professional color schemes, and high-quality graphics. 
• Brand Consistency: Ensure your website design is consistent with your brand’s identity, including logos, fonts, and color schemes.

7. Performance and Accessibility

• Fast Loading Times: Optimize your website for speed to ensure pages load quickly. This can improve user experience and SEO rankings.
• Accessibility: Make sure your website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Follow accessibility guidelines like WCAG to ensure inclusivity.

8. Logo Design

• Simplicity and Memorability: A good logo should be simple yet memorable. Avoid overly complex designs and focus on creating a logo that is easy to recognize.
• Relevance to Industry: Ensure the logo reflects the life sciences industry, incorporating elements that represent science, technology, and innovation.
• Versatility: Your logo should be versatile enough to be used across various platforms and media, including digital and print formats. It should look good in different sizes and on different backgrounds.
• Timelessness: Aim for a timeless design that will remain relevant and effective for many years. Avoid trends that may quickly become outdated.
• Color and Typography: Choose colors and fonts that align with your brand’s identity and convey the right message. In the life sciences, colors like blue and green are often used to represent trust, health, and growth. If you choose to opt for a different color scheme, key messaging and strong branding is even more essential.

A well-designed life science website not only enhances user experience but also establishes the credibility and professionalism of your organization. By following these best practices, you can create a website that effectively communicates your message and meets the needs of your audience.

Want to learn more about how your life science website can work for you? Connect with Bracken’s marketing and advertising experts today.