3 dental website design flaws that may be turning visitors away

Dec. 7, 2012
Your website plays a powerful role in the promotion of your dental practice online — if it’s built properly. Glenn Lombardi discusses flaws in website design that could be chipping away at your new-patient appointment opportunities.

Your website plays a powerful role in the promotion of your dental practice online — if it’s built properly, that is.

Avoid these three website flaws and you will make a positive impression on first-time visitors to your site.

1. Poor first impression

Your website is the face of your dental practice on the Web, which means it should positively reflect the standard of care you provide for your patients. If the design is old and outdated, however, new visitors to your site may not spend much time reviewing the rest of your information if their first impression of your practice is that you’re behind the times.

2. Confusing organization and navigation

A well-designed website will have organized buttons and tabs that quickly direct visitors to the information they are looking for with ease. Visitors should never feel lost or unable to find what they need because of confusing navigation. By taking the extra time to create intuitive navigation, your visitors will enjoy a more user-friendly experience while browsing the pages of your website.

3. Visitors don’t know who you are

When a visitor arrives to your site, it should only take a few seconds for them to get a good feel for what your practice is about. Include information patients want to know, such as your practice’s mission, the services you offer, doctor bios, and how they can contact you. If your home page lacks this critical information, visitors will quickly move on to another website that more clearly conveys its practice’s purpose.

Take these three website flaws into account when reviewing your own website and consider a redesign if your site hasn’t been updated for a while. A well-designed website with compelling content, intuitive navigation, and attractive design elements can have a tremendous impact on your practice’s ability to generate new-patient appointments from the Web.

Author bio
Glenn Lombardi is president of Officite, LLC, a provider of dental websites and Internet marketing strategies, including social media, search marketing, reputation management, and mobile websites. Officite has built thousands of websites that have generated more than half a million new patient appointment requests since 2002. For more information, visit www.officite.com or call (800) 908-2483.