Helping Your Dental Website Build Trust

An oral health survey revealed that 74% of patient respondents “strongly agreed” that the main reason they stay with their current dentist is TRUST. Interestingly, another long-term study shows that people trust each other less today than ever before.

But what does trust have to do with your practice website?

With a history of working alongside dental practices for over 30 years, Patient NEWS^® truly understands how tricky navigating the online world can be for dentists and their marketing managers – it’s like tackling a complex dental procedure! Whether you’re a seasoned pro refining your online game or a new practice aiming to make your mark, we’re here to help.

Our mission? To equip our clients with the tools and insights they need to make their practice stand out and grow! A big part of meeting this goal means we’re helping them improve their ability to shine brighter online, generating more new patients, and watching their return on investment grow. Having a web presence that immediately builds patient confidence and trust is key.

Based on feedback from our community of dental partners, the digital squad at Patient NEWS has a strategy that works extremely well and includes several crucially crafted steps that guide dentists and their teams through the online process to ensure our clients’ websites become a beacon for prospective patients seeking quality dental care. If you’re not 100% confident in your current website, schedule a free consultation and speak with one of our dental marketing experts today!

Here’s a glimpse into four vital steps we take while developing our clients’ dental websites:

Step 1: Defining Clear Objectives & Identifying Your Audience.

The first conversation we often have with our clients is that website development is not just a digital platform to house practice details! The development of a successful website must be approached as a substantive marketing tool created to attract, retain, and convert audiences to visit your practice.

• Clarify the marketing goals: Clearly defining your marketing goals is a vital step that requires thoughtful consideration. Is your aim to attract new patients and boost appointment bookings or is it to refresh your site and present your services in a more modern framework? These discussions are pivotal when making decisions for the foundation upon which your website’s core elements will be built. They lay the foundation for a strong pillar that’s set in stone – or in this case, in code!

• Identify your target patients: Whether it’s demographics, oral health needs, or preferences, having a marketing partner that understands your unique target audience will improve the ideation and selection of content required for your website. A good connection between your site content and what appeals to visitors is not just about UI/UX, but it also provides an in-depth understanding of what your ideal patients are really looking for.

• Understand the competition levels: As a local business, you probably have a good sense of your dental competitors in market. But what are they doing online to be at the top of search? And how will your dental website differentiate your practice and boost your search ranking? Understanding the physical locations as well as the digital activities of your competitors can reveal opportunities for your practice. This is a critical, critical element when creating digital budgets and determining how to craft content and functionality that will help ensure your website is presented on search engines when your target patient is looking.

Step 2: Crafting A Strategic Website That Establishes Credibility.

The key word here is “strategic.” Establishing credibility is not a one-day job! From the inception of your site to launch (and regular updates), your interaction with patients must be strategic, relevant, and credible.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a significant role in establishing credibility for your dental practice online. While the primary goal of SEO is to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results, the practices and strategies that contribute to effective SEO also enhance your practice’s overall credibility through:

• Authoritative content: Informative, expertly written content that establishes your practice’s credibility.

• Backlinks from reputable sources: High-quality links from trustworthy websites that boost your online reputation.

• Positive user experience (technical SEO): A seamless, user-friendly website that enhances credibility and search rankings.

• Reviews and ratings (Google Business Profile optimization): Not only do patient reviews build trust through positive patient
  feedback, they also contribute to a strong online reputation. In fact, reviews boost organic page visits because they create positive content that search engines value, demonstrating that your practice is an authority in your field.
  
  
• And much more!

With the fast-paced, ever-changing algorithms hitting regularly, SEO is a worry for many dentists. Patient NEWS can help with our location-based, 100% white hat SEO programs that are based on competitive levels and practice goals.

Step 3: The Importance Of A Secure Website: Are You Protecting Patient Data?

Think of your website as a digital vault for patient information. Just like you secure physical records, protecting patient data online is a must. A secure website is like a shield against cyber threats, ensuring that sensitive details stay private and away from the wrong hands.

By using strong security measures and following regulations like HIPAA (if relevant), you show patients that their information is safe. Today, every website should be HTTPS secure. This contributes to trust and reassures consumers that their privacy matters. A secure website isn’t just a technical detail – it’s a promise of safety that can make patients feel confident in choosing your dental practice.

Step 4: Consistency In Brand Messaging. 

Every part of your marketing plan, from office signage to direct mail and your website, must contribute to your practice’s and consumer’s (patients and prospective patients) awareness of your brand style and services. A consistency impact study found that “consistent presentation of a brand increases revenue by 23%,” and the Oxford College of Marketing reports that “when a company’s branding is inconsistent across their communications, it breaks the link that the consumer makes in their mind with the brand.” This has an “adverse lasting impact on the customer’s loyalty and positive connection to the brand.”

Make sure that your website reflects the vision you have for your practice today. Is it clear and easy to navigate with up-to-date content that inspires new patients to book appointments? If so, it will build and strengthen trust when patients and prospective patients visit it.

If you’re not getting the results you want, our dental website design and unique digital marketing packages will help you achieve your goals. We don’t like to brag but here’s what our clients say about their experiences with our team:

“I’m so glad I stayed with Patient NEWS (14 years), as they have been so supportive, innovative, professional, and responsive. They have contributed significant values toward my success. I look forward to many more years of success from having their strong support in marketing my practices.” – Dr. Dilip Dudhat (Official Dentist of the Philadelphia Eagles)

“Patient NEWS allowed me to have a system that captures prospective patients, gets them in the office, and gives us the necessary data to navigate our growth into the future. Highly recommend.” – Dr. Ben Winters (AKA, The Bentist)

“I first started working with Patient NEWS on an acquisition newsletter and to develop and launch my practice website. Call tracking lets me know where my calls are coming from, call scoring helps me see where my front desk team is doing great or needs help, and [Practice ZEBRA] shows my results in one easy interface! Highly recommend.” – Dr. Steve Sokolovskiy

So, whether you’re ready to fine-tune your existing strategies or embark on a new digital journey, we invite you to join us in helping propel your dental practice to new heights!

Joanne Bishop