Orb55

Sheet 01  /  Website audit

The Pepper
Clinics

A practical review of the website currently published at thepepperclinics.com. The purpose is not to criticise the practice, but to identify issues that may be affecting patients or leading to missed enquiries. Every point below can be checked against the live website or the supporting sources referenced.

Site reviewed
thepepperclinics.com
Current provider
Dental Focus
Date of review
28 July 2026
Findings
14

Part one

Findings

01

The website is not usable on mobile devices

When the website is viewed on a phone, or even in a narrower browser window, the layout does not adapt to the available screen:

  • The navigation is cut off midway through the menu. Of the six main items, only “Home”, “About Us” and part of “Treatments” remain visible. Everything after that, including Contact Us, sits outside the screen and cannot be reached.
  • Page content extends beyond the right edge of the screen, without reflowing or allowing the visitor to scroll across to it.
  • The header, logo and social links take up most of the first screen before the visitor reaches any meaningful content.
  • There is no mobile navigation, responsive layout or effective handling for smaller screens.

A patient visiting on a phone cannot reach the contact page. Industry figures place mobile dental searches above 60%, so this may prevent the majority of prospective patients from navigating the website properly.

Dental Focus lists multi-device accessibility as part of its website package.

02

The opening hours published on the website appear to be incorrect

The website states that the practice is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am until 5.00pm, with no mention of a lunch closure. Both the Google Business Profile and MyNextDentist publish different hours.

Published on the website

Monday to Friday: 8.30am to 5.00pm
No lunch closure stated

Google Business Profile & MyNextDentist

Monday to Thursday: 8.45am to 12.45pm,
then 1.45pm to 5.30pm
Friday: 8.45am to 2.00pm
Saturday and Sunday: closed

The two independently maintained listings agree with each other but not with the website. As a result, patients may be given the wrong opening times, including no warning of the midday closure.

03

The practice’s 4.6-star Google rating is not displayed

The practice has 156 Google reviews with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5, yet the website neither displays the rating nor links visitors to the reviews.

Instead, the website contains approximately 109 testimonials credited only to initials, such as “R. Hudson” and “K. Garbut”, while some have no attribution at all. They include no source, date or way for a visitor to verify them.

Because these quotes have no identifiable source or review markup, they provide little search value and cannot be recognised by Google as verified reviews. The practice therefore has a strong rating, but the website does not make use of it.

Dental Focus lists Google Reviews integration as part of its website package.

04

The privacy policy is hosted on the provider’s domain and does not name a data controller

The website links to a privacy policy on dental-focus.com rather than on the practice’s own domain. The document appears to be a shared template, and its data controller clause reads:

"Our Data Controller () can be contacted at our practice address ()"

Both sets of brackets are empty. For a healthcare provider handling patient and medical information, the policy should clearly identify the organisation responsible for that data under UK GDPR.

Dental Focus lists GDC, CQC, ICO and ASA compliance as part of its website package.

05

The cookie policy link opens a blank page

The privacy policy directs visitors to a separate cookie policy, but the link opens an empty page with no policy content.

06

No terms of use are published

The website does not publish any terms and conditions or terms of use.

The enquiry form collects names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and free-text health information, but no published terms explain the basis on which those details are collected.

07

There is no appointment booking facility

The website provides a general contact form rather than an appointment system. Patients cannot choose a treatment, preferred day or preferred time, and the form asks for a full postal address simply to request a callback.

Dental Focus lists appointment booking functionality as part of its website package.

08

The fee guide is difficult to find and hard to use on mobile

The full 2026 private fee guide is available, which is a genuine strength and worth retaining in any replacement website.

However, it is placed two levels below “About Us” and displayed as a dense table that is not readable on a phone. As cost is one of the first questions many private patients ask, this information should be much easier to find and understand.

09

The website still presents two practices that appear to be under separate ownership

The website presents the business as three clinics. Publicly available records suggest that only the Peterborough practice remains part of it:

The Hamptons Dental Care

52 Hargate Way, Hampton Hargate, Peterborough PE7 8DS
01733 341777 This practice

32 Harborough Road, Northampton

Now trading as Club Dental. CQC records list the operator as Platea Aurum Ltd.
Separate operator

82 Burton Road, Lincoln

Now trading as Cathedral Dental, under its own named owner.
Separate operator

Both addresses continue to appear on the website and within its structured data, which is the information search engines read. A patient searching for a dentist in Northampton or Lincoln may therefore be directed to this website and then on to a practice the business no longer operates.

The Peterborough address and telephone number are the only ones that appear in the visible page content. The other two are present in the structured data alone, so they are working in search results while being invisible to anyone reading the site.

There is also conflicting information within the website itself. The About page refers to “two existing practices in Yaxley and Hampton Hargate, Peterborough”, which matches neither the structured data nor the clinic names presented elsewhere.

This finding is based on public records rather than on information from the practice, and is raised as a question rather than a statement. If the position has changed, the website has not been updated to reflect it.

10

Support for nervous patients is too difficult to find

Support for nervous patients—including DVD glasses, music and controlled sedation—is mentioned only once, within a paragraph on the About page.

Dental anxiety is one of the main reasons people postpone treatment. The support already offered by the practice is therefore a valuable strength, but it is currently presented as a minor detail rather than a clear reassurance.

11

Children’s pricing is easy to overlook

Children’s check-ups are £18 for ages three to five, £25 from age five upwards, and free for children under three when their parents are registered patients.

This is a strong offer for families, but it appears only within a block of text on an internal page and can easily be missed.

12

There is no frequently asked questions section

The website has no dedicated FAQ section. Common questions about first appointments, nervous patients, children, payment plans, pain and appointment availability are not answered in one clear, easy-to-find place.

Well-structured question-and-answer content can also improve the likelihood of appearing within Google’s search-result answer features.

13

Accessibility support is limited

The website provides no clear keyboard focus indicators, screen-reader labels or support for visitors who prefer reduced motion. As a healthcare provider, the practice should ensure that its online services are accessible in line with its duties under the Equality Act 2010.

14

Performance and ageing technology

The website loads jQuery, a third-party navigation script dating from the mid-2000s and a tag-manager container. Together with the fixed-width layout, this adds weight and affects performance on mobile connections.

Google uses page experience and Core Web Vitals as search signals, so speed affects both the visitor experience and the website’s ability to perform in search. The current Google PageSpeed scores are shown below.

Performance

66/100

Accessibility

45/100

Best Practices

65/100

SEO

92/100

Agentic Browsing

1/2

An accessibility score of 45 suggests that visitors using screen readers, keyboard navigation or screen magnification may struggle to complete basic tasks. The performance score of 66 reflects the mobile loading experience, which can influence both visitor retention and search visibility.

The SEO score of 92 is encouraging. The website is already reasonably visible to search engines; the greater opportunity is to improve the experience and conversion path once a potential patient arrives.

Part two

Features listed by the current provider but not evident on the website

The website footer identifies Dental Focus as the current provider. Its published service description presents the following features as standard inclusions.
Listed as included Present on the current site
GDC, CQC, ICO and ASA compliance No named data controller in the privacy policy; no published terms of use; cookie policy link opens a blank page
Google Reviews integration The 4.6 rating and 156 Google reviews are neither displayed nor linked
Appointment booking functionality Contact form only
Multi-device accessibility Fixed-width layout; parts of the navigation cannot be reached on a phone

Sheet 02

The proposal

A working demonstration homepage has already been created to show how each of the fourteen findings can be addressed. The proposal explains the full scope, the two pricing routes and the ownership terms.