A couple have been trying for a year. They have not told their families, they have read an enormous amount online, and the step they are contemplating is simply finding out whether anything is wrong.
Testing is where almost every fertility journey begins, and most clinic websites jump straight to treatment.
Step 1: make the assessment its own page
People searching are not yet looking for treatment. They are looking for an answer to whether something is wrong. A page about testing, priced and explained, meets them where they are.
Step 2: list what is actually included
Consultation, the investigations for each partner, scans, blood work and the follow-up appointment where results are discussed. Vagueness here makes people assume the worst about the cost.
Step 3: price the assessment separately from treatment
A clear assessment fee is a much smaller decision than a treatment package, and it is the step people are willing to take first.
Step 4: include both partners from the start
Assessments that focus on one person miss a substantial share of causes and make the other partner feel peripheral. Saying explicitly that both are assessed is accurate and changes who books.
Step 5: publish result turnarounds honestly
Waiting for results while hoping is genuinely hard. A realistic timescale, and a commitment to how results are given, is kinder than an optimistic figure that slips.
Step 6: explain how results are delivered
In person, by phone or at a follow-up appointment, and by whom. People fear a number arriving by email with no context, and saying it will not happen that way is reassuring.
Step 7: never comment on a result
Someone with a figure in front of them will ask what it means. The only correct response points to the clinician, which is the boundary every clinic website must hold.
Step 8: never estimate anyone's chances
Prognosis depends on a full clinical picture. A website that implies anything about likelihood is doing harm, whether it is optimistic or not.
Step 9: write for people who are not a couple
Single people and same-sex couples are assessed too, and pages written only for heterosexual couples silently exclude them. Neutral wording costs nothing.
Step 10: keep the tone free of marketing
No success language, no urgency, no encouragement to act quickly. The subject does not tolerate it and people notice immediately.
Step 11: capture gently
Names, contact details, how long they have been trying, whether they have had any investigation before and the best way to be contacted. Nothing clinical and nothing intrusive.
Step 12: connect it to what follows
Costs are covered in fertility treatment cost questions answered openly, and the tone throughout follows first enquiries to a fertility clinic handled with care.
Step 13: answer in the patient's own language
Many patients are not first-language speakers and are discussing something deeply personal, which is the point made in interpreting bookings for events and appointments, and careful appointment handling generally is covered in an AI receptionist for beauty salons.
Getting started
Publish what an assessment includes, its fee and result timescales, then capture enquiries gently at any hour. SpideyChat for clinics answers from your published pages and never discusses results. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.