There are many dental practices and many more patients. That is why it is essential for every practice to have an internet presence. This is how you stand out from competing medical practices and find new patients more easily. But when it comes to dentistry in particular, it is easy for people to become suspicious and believe that they are paying too much money for their dental health. Anxious patients often do not even dare to make an appointment.
A professional website inspires trust and makes it clear that the patients are in good hands with you. If you own your own dental practice, we’ll tell you a secret today: creating professional websites for dentists is not that difficult if you follow a few rules.
The essentials in brief
A professional website ensures that your practice will be found.
The contact form makes it easier to make appointments and relieves your practice team.
The “About Us” page inspires trust and illustrates practical competence.
- A Simple web design looks more professional than an overloaded website.
- Professional photos enhance the site and give it a personal touch.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures that your site is in the I nternet is found.
- The integration of evaluation portals and the presence on them enables your patients to find out about your competence.
The address data in the footer is essential so that patients have all the important information on every page at a glance.
1. Why the website is so important for dentists
Perhaps you have long since established yourself as a dentist and have enough patients who come to you regularly. Or maybe you just recently opened your own practice or took over one. No matter what the motives are behind your own practice and whether you have ten or hundreds of patients in your patient base, a professional website enables you to attract new patients and keep old ones. On the one hand, the website makes it easier to make contact and, on the other hand, you will be found more quickly. You can find out how this works in the following points.
2. The contact form
Enter a good contact form that allows your patients to easily request an appointment. Many people have problems calling someone, especially anxious patients: inside it often takes several attempts before they even pick up the phone and make an appointment. A contact form lowers the inhibition threshold and the first step is easier than if these patients are connected directly to a dental assistant.
Did you know that numerous studies show that frequent telephone ringing at work leads to an increased release of the stress hormone cortisol? Another advantage of the contact form is that you relieve your practice team. Appointments can be made, canceled and postponed using the contact form, so that the telephone and thus the atmosphere in your practice become quieter.
3. The About Us Page
The search for a dental practice is a challenge for many patients, not only for those who suffer from severe anxiety. After all, you put all your trust in the practice team, especially in the person treating you. An “About Us” page makes you and your team seem more human. Ordinary business websites are all about selling a product. But you don’t sell a product, you stand for the competence to enable people to have healthy and beautiful teeth. Radiate that too – not just with the image of a toothpaste smile in the header (in the image at the top of the website).
On the “About us” page you can go into what makes you and your practice team special. How did you come to be a dentist? What educational path have you completed and what further training can you or your team show? How long has the practice been in existence and what makes it special? Any information that you pass on to the patient creates more trust in your competence and in you as a person. Place photos of yourself and your team on this page that suggest sympathy, openness and competence. You get high-quality pictures from a photographer.
4. A simple, personal and professional web design
It was already clear from the previous points how important the basis of trust is in marketing in your industry. When it comes to web design, it is therefore important not to overload the page with too many animations, too bright colors or too many different fonts. The website should be professionally designed throughout, with a clear color scheme. You are free to choose the color, but note that colors have an effect and some can quickly seem too obtrusive. Our experts in web design will be happy to advise you. It is also important that your page can be accessed on any screen and is suitable for both smartphones and PCs, because most people choose their new doctor on their cell phone.
5. The right pictures
The photos on the page should have been taken directly in your practice instead of resorting to stock images. It is best to have the pictures taken by a photographer so that they are not pixelated and have no shadows or disturbing elements. In addition to the premises, you and your practice team should also find space on the site with friendly photos so that patients can gain confidence. Don’t skimp on the personal touch, because this will set you apart from your competition and at the same time make you approachable.
6. The search engine optimization
The The topic of search engine optimization (SEO for short) is so complex that we will only touch on it in this context. If you want to be found by patients, you cannot avoid optimizing your site for search engines such as Google, because the competition among dentists is particularly fierce. Only if your page is optimized will it end up on the first Google page and will be found by patients even if they do not know the name of your practice.
7. Good reviews
Previously there was word of mouth, now there are Google reviews. Integrate Google my Business, Jameda or other review websites on your site or offer your patients a platform on which they can rate your practice. A good rating is helpful for assessing whether you are suitable as a dentist and increases the confidence that patients have in your skills. In this way, new patients can also see directly that they are doing a good job and can find out more.
8th. The right place for address, office hours and co
The address of your practice as well as the opening hours and telephone number should be stored in the footer (the bottom area of a website) on the start page and on each subpage. The best thing is that the telephone number is already placed several times on the website via so-called CTAs by calling on your patients to make an appointment. However, it is important that the phone number appears again with all your contact details at the bottom of the page so that your patients have everything at a glance.
Conclusion
Designing a good dentist website takes skill and the right background knowledge, but it is not that complicated if you keep all the points mentioned in mind. Since a professional appearance is essential to attract patients and stand out from the competition, we recommend having the website built by experts. Do you still have questions about how to design your practice website? Then just write us a comment and we will answer the open points for you.
