5 Important Dental Website Tips
- Is your content simple, digestible, and relevant to the user?
An in-home eye-tracking study performed by Facebook IQ revealed this outstanding (but believable) statistic. 94% of people have a mobile device in their hand while watching TV.
It’s proven that humans are terrible multi-taskers, so how do we expect people to digest the 25 pages of content you have on your dental website when they are busy watching Simon Cowell “X” a contestant on America’s Got Talent?
The fact is, you have seconds to convert a new patient through your website. If they can’t find what they are looking for (like a picture of the doctor or a map), you are losing the prospect before you even get a chance to convert a phone call or request an appointment. - Dental Websites User Experience.
When people arrive at your dental website, it’s rare they visit more than 3 pages … it’s common that they only visit one page! The reality is that human behavior today is made up of short attention spans, multi-tasking, and laziness.
As a culture, we expect information to land in our laps without having to work for it. Your long-winded website is getting lost in the shuffle. It’s time to simplify and strategize. It’s time to accept the facts of human behavior and react accordingly to our dental website strategy.
At Patient NEWS, our analytics tell us that users consistently visit 1-3 pages maximum! It’s extremely rare to see a user go to more than 3 pages in a visit on a dental website. This proves that people want information quickly. They don’t want to or need to – and won’t – read 15 pages about your services to find what they need.
- The “About Us” page is the most-often visited page on your dental website.
In many cases, About Us is the only page visited after the home page. We’ve done the studies and have the data. Below are 3 examples of live heat maps on dental-specific websites, proving that the About Us page is clicked on the most … by a landslide. This data proves that a prospect seeking a new dentist wants to learn quickly about the doctor and their team. The navigation must be simple. You do not want a situation where a prospect is having to dig through multiple pages to find simple information about the doctors.
Heat Maps Prove “About Us” Is #1
Take this opportunity to ensure your About Us page is easy to navigate to and has all the information on it that a prospect needs to make an informed decision – doctor biographies and links to your Contact Us page.
- Strategically placed, search-engine-optimized content is key to a successful website.
Content is king and has been since the beginning of the internet, however, the way it’s displayed and distributed is the key to a successful website campaign.
Releasing a custom blog once a month that details the services you provide and why they are valuable to your patients is a stronger strategy than a cumbersome website with copious amounts of non-engaging medical jargon.
The blog lives on your website and is keyword friendly, meaning that it contains topics that people are searching for on Google. Promoting your blogs on your social media channels will help drive more traffic, engagement, website visits … and more new-patient calls to your practice for your team to convert!
- Keep customers informed about COVID-19 protocols and considerations.
Businesses are affected differently by the pandemic which makes it difficult for prospects and patients to understand what to expect at your practice. Are you open? Closed? Do you have safety protocols that are religiously followed by staff? What do patients need to know when they arrive? Google has made the value of certain information very clear and I have adapted them to be relevant to your dental practice:
- Make sure you adjust hours of operation. Did they change as a result of COVID-19?
- What are the arrival protocols for your patients? Temperature checks? Hand sanitization? Mask requirements?
- Do you offer online appointments? Tele-dentistry?
- Are you explaining delays on specific services as a result of COVID-19?
- Ensure patients know about the extra services you are providing for the community to assist them with their dental challenges.
Final Thoughts
It’s time to simplify and create a great user experience for your prospects and patients. We are living a new normal that includes the use of a lot more technology than ever before. Your patients are relying on your website to inform them. Remove question marks from people’s minds when they land on your website.
Contact Patient NEWS today for a FREE Web Audit so you know exactly where your strengths lie and where you can improve to increase production and profits. We will help you grow your practice, starting today! Call now.