Custom Dental Websites

The best dental websites bring in new patients by generating high-converting leads that give you the best return on your investment.

They connect with potential patients on an emotional level and spell out in a compelling way the oral health benefits they’ll get by joining your practice.

Digital marketing experts begin this process with careful research to create a website that will reach out directly to your prospective patients. Steps they take typically include:

  • Examining the online behaviors of your potential patients.
  • Carrying out extensive keyword research.

Measures like these provide a solid foundation on which to design an effective online platform based on solid marketing principles. You also need to take into account current trends in the way patients conduct online searches, so your website can be optimized for mobile devices and apps and voice search, for example.

This will give you the best chance of a dental website that’s a high-precision marketing tool to:

  • Make a strong connection with your potential patients and gain their trust.
  • Establish a powerful brand image of your practice.
  • Create a positive perception of your dental office that reflects your business values and commitment to patients.

After extensive research, the process of building a dental website that will bring in new patients begins with site design and development.

Dental Website Design and Development

Your dental website will often be the first experience a potential patient has with your practice, and they will evaluate you based on how your site looks and functions. In fact, nearly 50 percent of people rank a business’s website’s design as the main consideration in determining the credibility of the company.

The design element of building your dental website needs to focus on visual appeal and ease of use by structuring content so your site visitors have a good experience. Web development is more concerned with practical aspects such as programming codes that provide meaning and structure to your content.

The design and development of your website should take potential patients on a journey of discovery about how your practice can benefit them. The final destination: a call to action to convert these prospects into new patients.

Dental website design and development should take into account key features that will help to attract more patients, including:

  • Fast-loading site.
  • Uncluttered design.
  • Simple navigation.
  • Prominent contact details.
  • Appointment scheduling.
  • Messaging technology for fast communication.

The next stage in building a dental website that brings in new patients is equally crucial –quality content.

Producing Quality Content

Professionally written content provides an affordable means for small businesses like dental offices to compete in an aggressive marketplace without the heavy costs associated with major advertising campaigns.

When well researched and presented, dental website content is a potent promotional tool that goes a long way toward turning curious site visitors into paying customers. It does this by quickly gaining the reader’s attention and holding it until the desired result – they respond to a persuasive call to action to contact your practice.

The basis of good website writing lies in thorough research and a methodical approach – a process that many dental offices have neither the time nor expertise to carry out without professional help.

Online writing is a specialist skill because visitors to a website – particularly mobile phone users – generally scan through text rather than scrutinize it, so your content needs to be clear and concise, getting straight to the point without wasting words.

While readable and informative content about your dental practice is essential to help generate new patients, it will be to no avail if they don’t know you exist in the digital world. That’s why your content has to be optimized for search engines.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Organic on-page search engine optimization (SEO) achieves prominent placement in free search engine listings.

Location-specific keywords – phrases in your website content that guide potential patients in your area to your site – are the main elements of dental website SEO but there’s more to it than that.

The cornerstone of good on-page SEO is superior content that’s unique and provides the information your prospective patients are seeking. Quality subject matter like this will help your dental website to rocket up search engine results pages (SERPs).

Professional content is particularly welcomed by Google, the world’s most popular search engine, which insists on well-researched, authoritative, and relevant material that gives the reader valuable information.

However, creating content of such a high standard is time-consuming and beyond the resources of most dental offices, which is why savvy practice owners and managers turn to the professionals.

As well as containing the essential pages describing the advantages of the particular dental services you offer, your website can benefit greatly from setting up and maintaining a blog that runs alongside your main content.

Importance of a Dental Blog

If you don’t have a blog on your website that offers informative articles relating to the types of dental services you offer, you could be missing an opportunity to attract more new patients. Research suggests that businesses who blog get 67 percent more leads.

Many people search the web for answers to questions on oral health and dental problems. As a long-term strategy, blogs can help to drive new patients to your site and keep your existing patients engaged by establishing your reputation as a dental expert within your community.

Unique blog articles with helpful information will increase your website’s appeal to search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, which will rank you higher in search results.

A further benefit of a quality dental blog is that it can attract inbound links (backlinks) from authority sites – viewed by search engines as a vote of confidence from one site to another. One study found that businesses that blog receive 97 percent more links to their site.

Images, Payment Options, and Site Security

As well as superior SEO written content within a well-designed structure, a dental website designed to bring in new patients will benefit from features such as:

  • Attention-grabbing images. Photographs and videos help to attract new patients because they’re crucial in creating first impressions of your practice – conveying information far faster than the written word.
  • Payment options. A prospective patient will want to know how they can pay for their dental treatment – types of credit card and insurance you accept, for instance, and whether your office takes CareCredit or Medicaid.
  • Site security. Website security is crucial to establish trust among prospective patients, who expect safeguards when submitting sensitive material online like personal information and credit card details.

Benefits of a Professional Custom Dental Website

In the digital age, your dental website can – and should – play a vital role in attracting new patients. The best dental sites are researched, planned, and designed with one clear aim – to connect with prospective patients in a way that results in them becoming actual patients.

While principled SEO techniques are important – to ensure potential patients can find you quickly when searching online for local dental services – some amateur websites are prone to mistakes like keyword stuffing. This not only irritates prospective patients but will see your site plummet down search engine listings.

Google defines a good website as one that’s “unique, specific, and high quality” – aimed chiefly at creating a good user experience as opposed to ranking highly in search engine results.

What makes a dental website bring in new patients is a combination of professional site design and development, compelling content, and ethical SEO practices. A custom-made dental website can reflect the uniqueness of your practice and engage with potential patients on a personal level.