3 Website Pitfalls Most Dental Practices Overlook
Marketing your dental practice online is a measurable
, cost-effective strategy for reaching customers on their terms. The people who need your help are looking for you online. With the right approach, you can encourage them to visit your website, contact your office and set up appointments. In order to accomplish that goal, you must have a website that meets several design and marketing parameters. Most dentists don't, and their websites languish in obscurity.
A well-designed dental website should practically eliminate the labor-intensive marketing efforts most dentists focus upon. Below, we'll share three common website pitfalls that ensnare many dental practices.
#1 - Trying To Impress Visitors With Your Dental Website
Few factors can sabotage your site's ability to increase your case acceptance as quickly as unnecessary flash and glitz. Prospective patients will often turn away from dental websites that are stylish to the point of being intimidating. Your site should coax potential patients to explore your services, rather than seem daunting to them.
That's not to suggest that style is unimportant. On the contrary, a professional design is critical. It helps your dental practice exude confidence, talent and proficiency. The key is to find the perfect balance between "too much style" and "just enough to coax them into contacting you."
#2 - Failing To Make Your Dental Website Search Engine Friendly
Google, Yahoo!, and Bing! continue to attract millions of people each day. Many of these people are in your community, looking for a dental practice they can trust. In fact, the trend to find local dentists online has grown dramatically over the last several years. This gives you an enormous opportunity to leverage the search engines in order to reach new patients who live near your office.
The problem is, most dental websites are designed in a way that makes it difficult for search engines to index and rank them properly. Sometimes, the issue is structural; the architecture of the site may prevent "spidering" by the search engines. Other times, the problem is a lack of relevance; the search engines are unable to determine the site's topic.
If Google, Yahoo!, and MSN cannot find, index and rank your site properly, many of your potential patients will be unable to find you. An effective dental website must be search engine friendly.
#3 - Neglecting To Educate Patients
Many people are tentative about visiting dentists because they're uncertain about what to expect. That uncertainty breeds procrastination. For example, a person might be experiencing a dull, throbbing pain in his tooth, yet be nervous about potential treatment strategies. Or, a person might be interested in enjoying a more attractive smile, yet remain unaware about her options. The less informed people are, the less likely they are to set an appointment with your office.
Your dental website is an ideal platform from which to educate those who need your services. Regardless of when someone visits your site, that person can explore a library of useful information that carefully describes the procedures you offer. By educating your patients, you'll give them a level of comfort. And that encourages them to make an appointment.
Bonus Pitfall: Not Allowing Patients To Make An Appointment Online
Most dental websites do not allow patients to set appointments online. Instead, they force people to call. Not only is this inconvenient for the patient, but it's also inefficient for the dental practice. Your site should give patients the flexibility to request appointments online. Once a request is submitted to your office, your staff can call the patient to confirm the date and time.
Designing and maintaining a website that effectively promotes your dental practice requires that you deftly sidestep a number of pitfalls. The effort is worthwhile. A well-designed dental website will attract more people and coax them to contact your office.
by: Chris Harmen
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