Website Design for Dentists
Did you know that 97 percent of people prefer to visit a dentist’s website instead of calling the office? That means that website design needs to be a priority for your practice. This goes beyond throwing up a website. You need to include website design elements that get results.
The right website design can increase your:
- Website Views
- Website Clicks
- Phone Calls
- Appointments
Sick of losing online to less qualified dentists with better digital marketing help? Find out what you need to include in your website design, along with what you should avoid in order to dominate your market online.
What Are Some Best Practices for Website Design for Dentists?
Dental websites come in different forms. However, the most successful websites incorporate best practices. When you use a company that specializes in dental marketing, your site will contain these important elements.
Unique Website Design
Far too many dental practices use generic templates and photos when designing websites. These practices typically use a marketing company that utilizes the same templates for all clients. That means if you visit all the clients that the marketing company represents, you will see similarities between the sites. You cannot stand out from the competition if your website looks like everyone else’s. Your practice is special, and you can highlight that with a customized design made for your practice. Not only will your website stand out, but a unique website helps with branding and builds trust.
Click-to-Call Functionality
Eighty-eight percent of people who use mobile devices to search for local businesses call or visit the business within 24 hours. That includes people who use their mobile devices to look for dentists. A click-to-call function on your website will improve your chances of getting phone calls from visitors. People simply touch the phone number to make the call. That’s much easier than inputting the numbers or doing a second Google search for the phone number. Include a click-to-call function in your website design to boost your calls.
Responsive Web Design
Mobile internet usage passed desktop usage in 2016. As each year passes, more and more people ditch their desktops for mobile devices. Unfortunately, many dental practices haven’t caught up with the trend. Far too many websites are created for desktop. When people access these sites on mobile devices, they don’t display properly.
Other dental practices have created separate sites for mobile and desktop users. Having two websites can confuse visitors and hurt your search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. Instead, create a responsive website that properly displays on mobile and desktop sites. Regardless of the device used to access the website, the user will receive the best experience.
24/7 Live Chat
Few website design features are as popular as live chat. Fifty-one percent of consumers believe that a business should always be available, and 92 percent are satisfied when they talk to businesses via live chat. By adding live chat as part of your website design, you can answer questions any time, take customer information, and even schedule appointments. This is an excellent way to collect leads and fill your schedule with appointments. It also frees up your phone lines, so your staff can handle emergencies if needed. Contact us to learn more about our 24/7 live chat service and how simple it is to get started.
Educational Videos
Many of the people who visit your website want to learn more before scheduling an appointment. By including educational videos as part of your website design, you can showcase your practice and explain different procedures to your patients. They will gather the information they need and then make an appointment.
Think of the videos as a way to warm up leads before converting them to patients. The videos answer many of the questions that patients have while also addressing their concerns. This will also free up your valuable time since you’ll educate your patients online.
Online Reviews
Approximately 90 percent of internet users check online reviews before choosing local businesses, including dental practices. Unfortunately, some dental practices don’t highlight reviews on their websites. You can allow patients to leave reviews on your website or import reviews from other sites, such as Yelp. Then, you can create a review page for your site or have reviews sprinkled throughout the pages. Either way, the reviews need to stand out and be easy for readers to find. Adding reviews to your site is an easy way to fill appointments.
GPS Directions to Your Practice
Many of the people who visit your site will want to know where you’re located. Will it be easy for them to get to your practice? Include a map of your practice as part of your website design. They can open the map and get directions from their house. Then, they’ll know if your office is close to their homes.
Accepting New Patients
Countless people call dental practices to schedule an appointment, only to discover the practice isn’t currently accepting new patients. This is frustrating, and now, some people only call practices if they know they can schedule an appointment. Include “Accepting New Patients” on your site if your practice is currently taking new appointments.
Trust Signals
You also need trust signals on your website. These signals build trust with visitors and increase your conversion rate. Trust signals include dental memberships and associations, dental products you use, and the dentist’s education and training. If people don’t see these trust signals, they might leave the site and search elsewhere.
Strong Call to Action
Any website design for dentists should include a call to action (CTA) on every page. Your CTAs can differ based on the page but might include telling people to call for an appointment or to enter their information to receive a free download. The CTAs should be direct and specific, so you can gather leads and get new patients.
What to Avoid With Your Website Design?
Effective website design for dentists doesn’t just include the best practices. The best designs also avoid common mistakes. Learn some of the most common mistakes found on dental websites.
Too Little Content
If you offer lots of dental services, you might want to lump them all together, so you can avoid creating content for each service. However, your site needs to educate visitors. Take the time to create amazing content for each service. Also, include an “About Us” page, homepage, and more so your visitors find everything they need on your site.
Website Design That Overwhelms Your Visitors
You need to break up the content on your website so it’s easy to follow. If people just see a wall of text, they’ll be overwhelmed. Use images, videos, and whitespace to break up the content.
Bad SEO Practices
If you don’t use SEO practices as part of your website design, no one will find your website. You need to think about keywords, title tags, alt tags, and more when creating your site. Even the site speed impacts your search engine rankings.
Website Design with Poor User Experience
While you want to make the search engines happy, you also need to think about the end-user. If your site provides a poor user experience, you won’t get conversions. Over time, the poor user experience will also hurt your search engine ranking. Take the time to make sure that your site delivers the best user experience possible
Break Free from the Competition with Professional Website Design for Dentists
Building a professional website is hard work if you aren’t a skilled website designer. Accelerate Dental Marketing provides professional website design for dentists. We help small to midsize dental practices go toe-to-toe with corporate practices, and we can help you. Contact us for a free assessment and quote for your custom website design.
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