Your focus is on growing your dental practice and you want your dental practice website to help your reach your patient acquisition goals. In dental website design we look first at your business goals because your website needs to be an important marketing tool. Each practice has specific specialties and approach they take in patient care and treatment.
Your website strategies must be a combination of your marketing objectives and what your patients are looking for.
Marketing objectives: Create a prioritized list of what your website should accomplish for your practice marketing objectives. Here is a list of typical objectives:
- Create a professional and trustworthy image.
- Attract new patients.
- Be highly visible on Google
- Have strong visitor engagement
- Work on all devices (Responsive website design)
What patients look for
- Quality looking website that is easy to use. They equate what they see in the website with the dental care that they will receive.
- Top rankings on Google. Patients believe that rankings on Google are similar to reviews. The more highly ranked dental practices will deliver better quality care.
- Positive reviews and patient testimonials. This provides the reassurance that others had a good experience with your practice (or not).
- Dentists and Staff: They want to see who will be treating them and their background. They are looking for qualifications.
- Easy to use website and easy to find the information they want. This includes easy requesting of appointments, downloadable new patient forms, office hours, location, phone number, etc.
- Works well on mobile devices. Today most people use their phones to access the web, especially for local businesses. They are looking for phone numbers, addresses, office hours and driving directions. Make sure your website displays these prominently on phones.
- Educational Materials: informative articles on dental procedures and surgeries so they know what to expect.
Dental Website Design
The home page of your website has a maximum of 3 seconds to engage a prospective patient by answering their essential questions. The information has to be visually clear without scrolling down the page. If they immediately see what they are looking for, then they will look around your website for the next 2-3 minutes.
Place your call to action in the upper right quadrant of your home page. Why here? Because studies have shown that this area is clearly seen and acted upon. Generally your phone number should be in the upper right and a “Request an Appointment” email form should be just below the phone number.
Think like a patient. What information or answers are they seeking? Make their life easy with printable new patient forms and answers to frequently asked questions. Use the questions asked of your receptionist as a guide of what to include on your site.
Your website should educate. Most patients are unaware of the different dental procedures, what the alternatives may be and what the latest technologies are. Explain how these technologies are being used in your practice.
What you don’t want to do is have your dental website design be a static brochure. Instead you need to get their attention, engage and give them a chance to explore.
Need help with your existing or new website? Complete the quote request below and we will set up a time to talk with you about your project.
