blog.titanwebagency.com http://blog.titanwebagency.com/creating-dental-websites

Creating A Dental Website Your Patients Will Love

Posted by Tyson Downs on 1/22/15 4:34 AMFind me on:

With every step we take further into the digital age,practices and small businesses need to take equalstrides to keep up. Even a profession that has beenaround for thousands of years (i.e. the dentist)cannot simply rely on the mothers and fathers outthere to instill their children with proper dentalhygiene lessons.

Now more than ever, dentists must rely ontechnology to reach their patients, both new andold, if they want to keep their practice afloat. Thatmeans having an effective dental internet marketingstrategy.

For todays' dentists' this can mean many things:building a website, using social media to attractnew clients, making sure online directories have theproper information (NAP), etc. But of theseconcerns, perhaps none is quite as important asyour website and how your patients and prospectsreact to it.

Your Dental Website is YourSalesforce and Face of the Practice

Wouldn't it be great if every person in your community could just come in and talk to you for a few minutes? Youcould take the time to explain to them why scheduling regular checkups is so important, brief them on good homehygiene habits and show them exactly why you are the right dentist for them. Unfortunately, that's neither realistic nortime effective, but the next best thing is: your website.

Properly done, your website stands as a reliable and accurate representation of your practice and beliefs that isavailable for interaction 24/7. In essence, it's the next best thing to having a face-to-face with every person in yourarea. When operating correctly, your website will be found by anyone in your local area who is looking for a dentist.When they get there, they will have a virtual “conversation” with you, learning all about your practice, your services,your ideals and how all of this benefits them.

This will convince the prospect that they should contact you right away to make an appointment—of course, this ishow dentist websites are supposed to work. In all fairness, many dental websites do not work like this as they areeither hard to find, don't convey the proper attitude or information or flat out just fail to convince the prospect that youare the best dentist for them.

Patients New and Old Should Get Value From Your Website

So, how can you ensure that your dental website is going to be effective? Quite simple, your patients—both existingand prospects—must love your site. When they get there, they should feel at ease and comforted, as if they've finallyfound a solution to their dental problems (because they have!). They must be able to easily obtain all of theinformation they know they need as well as some information they didn't know they needed.

In short, your website should be a one-stop fulfillment of everything the viewer could possible ask for and more, whilestill providing an amazing customer experience through ease of use and convenience. How do you do that?

Five Powerful Ways to Boost the Effectiveness of Websites for Dentists

1. Take Online Appointments Requests

Whether it's for new patients, existing patients, emergency visits or routine checkups, the world has gone to theinternet and your appointment calendar needs to follow. Now, I'm not saying open it up to the point where peoplepencil themselves in (though that might be the future), but a simple appointment request form that takes basicinformation and the dates/times your patients prefer is a quick way to ensure contact is made. You can have yourteam check the requests with your calendar (or have an automated system do it) and then call or email back toconfirm with the patient. This takes the muss and fuss out of appointment making and makes it easier for a prospectto take the biggest step towards becoming a client: the first one.

2. Use Dental Education Videos

One trend of the digital age that won't be reversed anytime soon is that video is almost always more appealing (andviral) than written content. That's because it takes the thinking out of the process while also engaging the viewer on amuch more visual level i.e. with moving images. Your video player should be loaded up with informative content thatmakes it easy for prospects and patients to learn, share and set up appointments.

3. Interactive Analysis Forms

While nothing will replace a visit to the dentist's office, having a simple interactive analysis page can help get leadsinto your chair. For example, a simple smile analysis form that asks questions about eating and drinking habits, does

basic assessments of shade problems, etc., can be a great way to convince a prospect on the fence that not only istheir problem fixable, but it's affordable as well.

4. Add Before and After Shots

Everyone understands the simplicity of a before and after shot, but not many people appreciate the power. Have yourclients pose for before and after shots (be sure to obtain their permission) and post them to the website by category.Your prospects and current clients should see the improvement you can provide, something that is not only great forrequired dental work, but will severely improve your cosmetic and elective clients as well.

5. Put a Face to the Practice

Finally, going to “the dentist” can be scary, especially for youngerpatients or those who have an irrational fear of the dentist. Butgoing to see Dr. Bob or Nurse Jane can make the experience allthe more comforting. Put photos of the dentists, staff, office andsurrounding area on your website and be sure to includecomforting—yet reassuring—dentist bios under the pictures. Youwant to put a human face to your practice, hopefully one with big,brilliant smiles!

In theory, the number of tweaks you can make to your dental website is endless. Most will depend on your individualservices and circumstances, such as location and clientele. To get a more personalized overview of how your specificpractice can improve their dental website, click here to schedule an online consultation.

Topics: Web Design