Web Design for Care Homes and Care Providers

Displaying your CQC rating correctly

For providers registered in England, the rating is the first thing families look for and the one thing the law says you must show. Regulation 20A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires ratings to be displayed conspicuously and legibly at each location and on your website, if you have one. CQC's guidance says this applies to websites where you describe your service, and that ratings must appear no later than 21 calendar days after CQC publishes them.

The regulation also requires the website to show CQC's web address and where on CQC's site the latest assessment can be found. CQC's free ratings widget does both, and updates itself after an inspection, so we use it rather than a static image that goes out of date. We place it on the home page and on every page that describes your care services, near the top where nobody has to hunt for it.

A few details catch providers out. If you have asked CQC for a review, the rating must still be shown; you may add a note saying a review is under way. If you took over a home, you may show the previous provider's rating, but must make clear it belonged to them. CQC can prosecute a breach of Regulation 20A without first issuing a warning notice, so it is worth getting right. Homes in Scotland and Wales are inspected by the Care Inspectorate and Care Inspectorate Wales respectively, and we show their published grades or reports in the same prominent way.

Fees and upfront information

Choosing a care home is usually done in a hurry, often after a hospital stay. The Competition and Markets Authority's consumer law advice for care homes, reissued in December 2021 as CMA96, expects providers to give key information about fees and terms early, including on their website, so families can compare homes before committing. It names the problem of websites where pricing and terms cannot be found.

We build a clear fees page: weekly fees or ranges by type of care and room, what is included (meals, laundry, activities) and what costs extra (hairdressing, newspapers, private chiropody), deposit and notice terms, and how fees change. Your contract terms can be published as an accessible web page alongside a PDF. This reduces calls, filters enquiries and is what the CMA expects to see.

What families search for and need to see

Searches are specific: "dementia care home Mansfield", "nursing home with vacancies near me", "respite care for a week", "care home that accepts council funding", "live-in carer Nottinghamshire". The person searching is often an adult child, sometimes miles away, reading on a phone at night.

They want honest answers: what type of care you provide and register for, whether you have a room, what a day looks like, what the food is like, who the manager is and how visiting works. We build a page for each care type, a life-at-the-home section with activities and menus, and a team page with the registered manager's name. Real photos of residents (with consent) and staff matter more than anything else. If you need a photo or video day, our sister studio dijitul media can help.

A simple "book a visit" form and a direct phone number on every page close the gap between reading and calling.

Accessible by design

Many visitors to a care home website are older people choosing for themselves or for a partner. We design to WCAG 2.2 AA: body text of at least 18px, strong contrast, generous line spacing, buttons large enough to tap, clear focus styles for keyboard users and no carousels that move on their own. Forms have proper labels and tell people clearly what went wrong if a field is missed.

We also avoid jargon. Families may not know the difference between residential and nursing care, so we explain it in plain English before asking anyone to choose.

Recruitment and cost

Staffing is the other half of the website's job. We build a careers section with live vacancies, pay and shift patterns where you publish them, and a short application form that works on a phone, because most care staff apply from one.

A single home's website with care type pages, fees, CQC widget, careers and copywriting is our Business package, from £500 + VAT. A small home care agency with fewer pages can start on Starter, from £250 + VAT. Groups with several homes, room-availability systems or job board integrations get a fixed quote. Contact us to talk it through.

What you get

• CQC rating widget placed on the home page and every page describing your service
• Fees and terms page aligned with CMA guidance, with what is included and excluded
• Room availability and enquiry or visit booking form
• Pages for each type of care: residential, nursing, dementia, respite, end of life
• Life at the home: activities, menus, team and real photography
• Careers section with live vacancies and an easy application form
• Accessible design to WCAG 2.2 AA, tested with keyboard and screen reader

Prices and how it works

Websites from £250 + VAT, business websites from £500 + VAT and ecommerce from £750 + VAT. Small changes are £45 an hour + VAT. You get a fixed quote before we start.

1. Free chat

   Tell us about your business, who your customers are and what the website needs to do. No charge, no obligation.

2. Fixed quote

   You get a fixed price and a clear list of what is included, in writing, before anything starts.

3. Design

   We plan the pages and design the site around your customers, then share it for your comments.

4. Build and test

   We build it mobile-first, write or polish the copy, set up SEO foundations and test it on real phones.

5. Launch and hand over

   We launch, connect analytics and Search Console, and show you how to update it. You own it all.

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