This is a marketing guide for orthopedic administrators and marketing leads. It says nothing about clinical quality. Version 1, 9 November 2026.
Considering ongoing marketing support? I run orthopedic marketing agency services for practices like yours. I can discuss your priorities and possible scope. Fees, responsibilities, account access and handover terms are defined in a written proposal. Request a marketing review
When I publish a count, such as “10 of 21 homepages had no city in the title”, you should be able to see exactly what I counted. This page defines each check, gives the pass rule, and gives a 30 second test you can run on your own site with a phone.
In short: seven checks, each with a clear pass or fail. I ran the first six on the homepages of 21 orthopedic practices on 1 November 2026, and the seventh on the 19 of those where it applied.
The seven checks at a glance
| Check | Passes when | Practices failing (of 21 homepages) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tap to call | The phone number is a link that dials on a phone | 5 |
| 2. City in the title | The homepage title names the city or metro | 10 |
| 3. Local structured data | The page source holds local business or medical markup | 10 |
| 4. One main heading | The page has exactly one main heading | 14 (4 had none, 10 had several) |
| 5. Appointment path | A patient can send a request or book without calling | 14 had no form on the homepage; 15 showed no sign of online scheduling |
| 6. Reviews visible | The homepage mentions patient reviews or testimonials | 14 |
| 7. Joint replacement link | The homepage links straight to a joint replacement page | 4 of 19 (hand-only practices excluded) |
1. Tap to call
Pass rule: every phone number in the header and footer is a link that starts with “tel:”. 30 second test: open your homepage on a phone and tap the number. If the dialer does not open, it fails. What it cannot tell you: whether anyone answers. My guide to tap to call covers that side.
2. City in the title
Pass rule: the title tag, the line Google shows, names the city or main metro. 30 second test: search for your practice name and read the blue line. What it cannot tell you: how you rank. See orthopedic title tags.
⚡ 2-minute scorecard · instant result
Is your orthopedic practice website turning searches into booked consults?
Answer 5 quick questions. Get your score + the top fixes, free.
1. Can a new patient request an appointment from a phone in under a minute?
2. Is every phone number on your site a tap-to-call link?
3. Do your procedure pages name the surgeons who perform them and show patient reviews?
4. Does each office have its own page with hours, phone and the surgeons who work there?
5. Do you track new-patient requests from the first click to a kept consult?
3. Local structured data
Pass rule: the page source holds markup of a local business or medical type, such as LocalBusiness or MedicalClinic. 30 second test: paste your address into the Schema Markup Validator and look for a business type. What it cannot tell you: whether the markup is complete or correct. I only counted whether it was present. See structured data for orthopedic practices.
4. One main heading
Pass rule: exactly one main heading (H1) on the page. 30 second test: use your browser’s “view source” and search for the text “
5. Appointment path
Pass rule: a patient can ask for a time on the site, through a form or scheduling tool, without phoning. 30 second test: on a phone, tap your main appointment button and see where it lands. What it cannot tell you: how fast you reply. I counted a sign of online scheduling when the page mentioned phrases such as “schedule online” or linked a known scheduling or portal tool, so some of those may be portals only.
6. Reviews visible
Pass rule: the homepage mentions patient reviews or testimonials in its text or markup. 30 second test: scroll your homepage on a phone and look for a star rating or a patient quote. What it cannot tell you: whether the reviews are good, recent or real.
7. Joint replacement link
Pass rule: the homepage links directly to a joint replacement page. 30 second test: look for the link in your main menu or hero section. What it cannot tell you: whether that page names a surgeon or offers a booking button.
How I ran this, and its limits
- Sample: 21 orthopedic practice homepages in 14 US states, checked on 1 November 2026. The practices were found through public web research in mid-sized metros, from 23 I had reviewed, after removing two whose pages load mostly through JavaScript. This is a hand-picked sample, not a random or national one.
- Method: one fetch of each homepage, with the checks read from the page source on that day.
- What I did not measure: rankings, traffic, call handling or results. A practice may also have changed its site since I looked.
- Who wrote this: I run a small web and SEO agency, so I have an interest in these checks being used. Run them yourself and judge the results on your own site.
My full results are in the homepage study.
Changelog
- 9 November 2026: first version.
Want these checks run on your practice?
I will record a short free walkthrough of the seven checks on your homepage, with the three fixes I would make first. You do not need a call to get it, and the fixes are yours to keep. Request a free audit.
