Effective Web Sites for Dentists
The new wave of technology in the field of dentistry
is not just limited to dental products--it extends to
interactions with prospective and existing patients.
With the emerging age of computers comes the dawn of
the internet. Many prospective patients in this day and
age surf the internet everyday for resources ranging
from cooking recipes to how to tie a shoe lace.
According to many case studies in 2005, an average of 69
million Americans go online each day which represents
54% of the nation. Furthermore, an estimated 31% of the
Americans with internet access utilize the search
engines. This is a significant number that demonstrates
how search engines have become an essential and popular
way for people to find information online. Statistics
also show that the internet is an excellent way to
market your business and sell your products and
services. More and more people are going online to make
purchases, buy services and more importantly, research choices they have when choosing
professionals. Because of this, paper ads have slowly
declined since search engines became available. Over 42%
of business owners have websites and the number is
changing every day. The dental field is not an exemption in
this trend, and as a dentist you should not limit your
practice to your current physical location when the
whole world is just a keystroke away.
A powerful
dental website can help you save time and money by
referring patients to valuable resources available
within your website such as: online appointments, hours
and directions, dental brochures, post-op instructions,
oral health articles, before and after pictures, online
forms and more. Having a website will promote your
practice to new and existing patients. Now the question
is how?
It is very important to understand and
determine how a dental website will fit into your
marketing strategy, which should be the prime objective.
We should look at it from the patient’s point of view in
order to ensure their satisfaction. With this in mind,
there are three categories of dental websites:
1) No
Dental Website: An office with no website is considered
by many patients as being ‘behind’. This presents a
disadvantage when portraying your practice image. In
this day and age having a website is not a luxury
anymore and in just a few years it will become an
integrated part of any business just like a phone is
today.
2) Unattractive Dental Websites: There
are dentists who started early but relied on
non-professional family or friends to create an
unattractive website, failing to realize that sometimes
not having a website is better than having a ‘bad’
website. Your website could be the first impression of
your practice. Does it reflect the true character of
your office?
3) Attractive
Dental Websites: These
websites are a good way to improve your practice image,
but in the mind of patients and prospective ones, what
is often missed is that there are more functions to a
website than just being simply a digital directory.
Having directions, some office pictures, and contact
information is just not enough. Your website should also
be a dental resource offering a wide range of tools such
as patient education, online forms, online appointments
and more. That is how your website can maximize the
number of referrals. Your website must stand out from
the rest, and more importantly, be a dynamic dental
resource to encourage frequent visits.
When you
compare the price of developing a website to what it
costs to promote your business in print or on the air,
you'll see that a website is the most cost effective
form of marketing ever created. The internet is
accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without any
labor cost to your office. Through this highly
affordable media, your website offers your services to
the world around you.
Dental website Design Options
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