I've reviewed hundreds of dental websites, and have been fortunate enough to work with some of them on a "patient-attracting" design that gets their phones ringing.
What I want you to think about after you read this article is, does your dental website have a goal? What is the main reason you have a website? If you can't answer these questions with a specific statement, it's time for you to sit down with your team and discuss what you want from your website.
For 99% of the dentists out there, the No. 1 goal is to get people to call their practice. That's it! So this should be the focus of your website. Every page you create should strive to achieve this goal. If it does not, it's a waste of Internet real estate.
So you're saying, "Okay Mike, that sounds great, but how do I make sure this happens?"
That's a great question, and I'm going to answer it here.
Where's your phone number?
This is so obvious, and yet I see hundreds of dental websites that hide their phone number, which makes it extremely difficult for visitors to take the action you want them to take.
Your number should be at the top right of every page on your website. The easiest way to do this is to have it in the header image of your website. That way you know it will be in a consistent spot for people to easily see in order to call your office.
Where are you located?
The second most important goal of your dental website should be to make it easy for people to figure out where your practice is located. How do you do that? Have a map image prominently displayed on your site. You can have it in the footer on your homepage, and in your sidebar on all other pages. This makes it very quick and easy for your visitors to see where you're located, and how far they have to go to get to your office.
So many times I see these dental sites with no map at all. This is terrible! If you don't show your visitors where you're located, you’re going to lose them. They all want to know this, so give it to them on every page of your website.
Your design does not have to be pretty
When you consider a new or redesign of your dental website, don't go for pretty, go for functional. That is, make it extremely easy for your visitors to know what services you offer, how they can call you, and where you are located.
I hope this information has opened your eyes to what your website should accomplish.
Mike Pederson has been an Internet Marketing Consultant for dentists for 13 years. His firm will also redesign your dental website if that is what you are interested in doing.
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