Your dental website needs to do more than just simply provide information – it should be designed to have personality, it should be responsive, and it should be engaging and easy to use.
While providing prospective patients with the basic information about your office is necessary, the goal of your website is to convert leads into patients. Elements like easy navigation, high-quality content, eye-catching landing pages, authentic photographs, and strong calls to action will encourage prospective patients to schedule with you.
However – turning those leads into patients can be a daunting task and is much easier said than done. To help you out, we’ve laid out the five best ways to turn searchers into patients.
Seamless Navigation
Your website’s navigation is a map to all of the information, content, and services you offer. If that map is convoluted, complicated, or confusing, people will likely lose patience and closeout of your site. Make sure that your navigation is seamless, easy to use, and does not have extremely complex menus that change throughout the site.
High-Quality Content & Images
Your website acts as a first impression to prospective patients. The higher the quality of information and content, the more likely you will convert searchers. It’s important to be eye-catching, professional, and informative, and reflect your practice in your content. Using real photos of your practice and relevant and interesting content will give your business credibility, and prove to patients that you are proud of what you offer.
Content:
Content is king – in fact without it, there’s absolutely nothing to keep your audience’s attention. When creating a web copy for your pages, think about what your target audience would want to read about and what would be helpful to them. Here are some tricks to consider when constructing content:
- Provide a clear message about your expertise, education, and background.
- Explain what services, procedures, and products you offer in a readable and digestible manner.
- Use a blog page to produce regular, high-quality, and relevant content to your audience.
- Dedicate a page for patient testimonials
Images
Two rules of thumb with images:
Do not use stock imagery, and don’t be afraid to show your professional personality.
Post real images of your dental staff and office, to boost your credibility and get your prospective patients familiar with your business experience.
In fact, you could even get permission from current patients to post their photos on your website as well. This will increase your trust with prospective patients and lead to conversions.
Engaging And Relevant Landing Pages
Landing pages are the first thing your audience will see when they click through one of your ads. If the landing page is confusing, bare, or irrelevant – they will leave. It’s important to organize your landing page as concisely as possible to guarantee that your web visitor will stay to learn more.
If they end up on a landing page that has nothing to do with the ad they clicked on, they will lose trust in your business. Feel free to use the same landing page for multiple ads – just be sure that the content you include is digestible and relevant.
Online Booking
Online booking is one of the easiest ways to convert clickers to patients. It offers a patient a convenient, hassle-free way to take care of their dental health, and can be done with just a few clicks. Online booking also ensures that your dental practice does not miss those after-hour bookings. If a prospective patient calls your office and gets your voicemail, they’ll be more than likely to find a different practice that can instantly accept their appointment online.
Call to Action Buttons
A call to action button is exactly what it sounds like – it’s the spot on your website or landing page that gets prospective patients to click and take action. Whether that be a simple “Learn More” or a “Book Now,” an eye-catching CTA is important in converting. When including CTA buttons on your website, you’ll want to take into consideration where they’re positioned, if they’re easy to find, and what they say. It’s also important to remember not to include too many CTA buttons, as this will come off as unprofessional and confusing.
About the Author:
Clayton Patterson is the founder and CEO of Digital Space Marketing. After spending nearly a decade developing websites and launching successful marketing campaigns for medium sized companies and startups, Clayton knows what truly drives conversions and brings growth to an organization. In addition to his extensive marketing experience, Clayton is a lawyer with a deep understanding of website accessibility laws and the technical requirements that all websites should abide by.
Not all marketing agencies are built the same. Here's what to look for, what to ask, and what red flags to avoid before you sign anything.
