3 Things To Remember As You Design Your Dental Website

Articles

After enduring years of dental school and carefully expanding your practice, it can be frustrating to try to remain competitive in a growing field. Developing a loyal patient base can be difficult, especially if you are new to the area. However, you might be able to edge out your competitors by developing an impressive online presence. Here are three things to remember as you design your dental website, and how it will improve your patient's experience:

1: Milliseconds Matter

Don't you hate it when you browse to a website, only to be left waiting for the page to load? Unfortunately, if you include the wrong things on your website, potential customers might choose another practice over yours. Research has shown that consumers will choose your website less often if your page is 250 milliseconds slower than a close competitor. Because people don't like to wait, it is important to make your page as speedy as possible.

Although it might seem tempting to create your own website, your lack of experience could significantly hamper your page's ability to load. If you fill your page full of high-resolution images and classical music that plays automatically, your website might not stand a chance when compared to another website. Errors in web code or an unstable server could render your page completely unavailable, which can make your practice look like a joke.

To improve your chances of success, hire a professional web design company to create your web page. Experts can talk with you to get a better feel for your vision, and then translate your ideas into a beautiful, highly functional website. When potential clients discover a great-looking website chock full of interesting information, they might be more likely to schedule their first checkup.  

2: Show Off Your Work

A picture is worth a thousand words, which is why it is a good idea to include useful images on your webpage. Here are some important images that you should think about adding to your website, so people can see how great of a job you do:

• Photo Gallery: Every dentist knows that there is a fair amount of artistry involved with rebuilding damaged teeth. To show off your skills, take before and after pictures of your patient's teeth to put on your website. Being able to look at real examples of different types of dental work might help patients to get a better feel for what they can expect from treatment.   
• Procedure Graphics: Are you tired of explaining how you plan to take care of that root canal or dental abscess? To show patients how you will treat their condition, consider hiring a graphic designer to help you to create graphics outlining procedures. That way, you can direct your patients to the website to learn more about how the work will be done.

The more you can teach patients before they get to your office, the easier things will be later. If a patient already knows they might need a crown for that damaged tooth and they understand how it will be applied, it might speed up the appointment and help the patient to feel more at-ease.

3: Patient Resources Are Helpful

When you build your website, don't overlook the importance of a patient resources section. Here are a few important pieces of information that you should include on your dental website:

• Insurance Options: Carefully list each and every insurance provider that you are willing to work with. The broader the range, the more clients you can attract.
• Payment Plans: If you work with patients who have a rough time paying, make sure to include that information on your website. Clearly detailing acceptable forms of payment and detailing financial information can help patients to understand how you can help.

After you are finished creating an attractive and functional dental website design, don't be afraid to show it off. Include your URL on your printed advertisements, commercials, and invoices, so that customers become more familiar with your practice. 

Share

20 January 2015