Six tests on the phone behind the counter
Take that phone off the practice Wi-Fi, onto mobile data, and open your own site in a private window. Each test is something a patient does with their thumb before deciding whether to call you or the practice three doors along. Which one fails tells you more than how many did.
1. Book a children's test for Saturday
The test: try to book a child's eye test for a weekend without ringing anyone.
Pass: live availability appears, the children's test is a choice of its own, and it takes its own length.
Fail: one undifferentiated "appointment" type, or a form promising a call back.
The fix: embedded booking from Optix, Ocuco, Acuitas, Jane or Cliniko with the appointment types and durations set correctly.
2. Ask whether the test is paid for
The test: you think you might qualify for a funded eye test. Using only the site, find out whether you do and which appointment to pick.
Pass: a page that names the scheme where you practise, says who it covers, and ends in the booking link for that type.
Fail: the phrase appears once in a footer, sits inside a collapsed FAQ, or lives in a downloadable leaflet.
The fix: one plain page per scheme, pointing at the official source instead of restating its rules, reachable from the navigation. It is the cheapest page on the site and the most often missing.
3. Find out what you have in the cabinet
The test: you are holding a prescription with a retailer open in the next tab. Find out which frame brands are in the practice.
Pass: the brands you stock, the lens options with them, and a plain account of measuring, fitting and aftercare.
Fail: "a wide range of designer frames", or one photograph of the display wall.
The fix: a page per brand or brand group, kept inside the brands' own guidelines, plus a lens page. The dispense is not won on price, so the page must be about the part that cannot be posted.
4. Reorder contact lenses as an existing wearer
The test: you are on your last pair and want more today without speaking to anyone.
Pass: a reorder route that captures who you are and which lenses, then confirms receipt.
Fail: "contact us to reorder", or an enquiry form that gives no sign it arrived.
The fix: if you take reorders, put the route on the site properly. If you do not, say so and offer the check instead. A silent maybe loses the box to whoever answers first.
5. Find out who will be testing your eyes
The test: look for the name and registration of the optometrist who would see you.
Pass: a profile for each optometrist, with qualifications and a registration number.
Fail: a stock photograph of somebody in a white coat, or a team page of first names.
The fix: state registration per person, as the requirement it is, and keep it current when staff change. The people who look a registration up are the ones who ask what the better coating costs.
6. Search your own name and read the panel
The test: search the practice name and read the result before tapping anything.
Pass: today's hours, a map pin and a number you can tap.
Fail: no hours, hours wrong for a bank holiday, or an old address.
The fix: opening hours and location markup, matching what your Google Business Profile says. The markup is how the site states the hours; the panel is where people read them.
Scoring
Six from six is unusual, and which ones failed is the whole result. Test 1 is the appointment, and every other page is spent earning it. Test 3 is the dispense, which is the margin, and it is the one most practices fail without noticing. Tests 2 and 4 each put a single page between a decided patient and a booking. Tests 5 and 6 decide whether a stranger trusts the other four.
Where this sits
Our optometry practice websites are built to pass all six at a fixed price. For the same ground ordered by what each failure costs, read why an optometry site gets no bookings. For the build itself, see what an optician website costs.