How patient focused is your website?

Your website is the first impression of your practice that many of your potential patients get. Chris Armstrong discusses the key things that should be included

Your dental practice’s website is the shop face for your business. You want it to reflect your capabilities and your values. But the most important thing of all that you need to address is – ‘is my website encouraging new patients through the door and old patients to come back?’

A website needs to do so much more than just look pretty. We have created a simple guide to ensuring your web visitors have a positive experience when finding your clinic online. How hard is your website really working for your dental practice?

A good first impression

Your homepage is your first – and best – opportunity to make a great impression on visitors. Engaging photographs of happy people or a welcoming clinic waiting room will encourage people to head further into your site and ultimately book an appointment with you.

Focus on the patient

Your home page content should focus on how your practice can help patients, and why they should choose your dental practice over others in the local area. Try and immediately address fears and concerns, or frequently asked questions instead of promoting special offers.  Testimonials are a great way to gain trust and enable your patients to buy into you and your clinic.

Use warm, colourful images

Warm, colourful and inviting photos will give the impression of a welcoming clinic.  Stark, cold black and white photos will portray the opposite and give the impression of an uninviting, clinical environment which may put people off, particularly anxious patients.

Meet the team

Make your website more personable and give your clinic a personality by creating a “Meet the Team” page.  Profile each staff member, along with photos and provide both clinical and personal information.  This again will enable you to build relationships right from the off and give your clinic the compassionate edge over others.

Include a ‘first visit’ page

Make sure your site features a ‘for new patients’ page. This page should make a compelling case for why a prospective patient should choose your practice. List the benefits of choosing your practice over others. Describe what patients should expect on their first visit. Consider including a ‘virtual tour’ video which allows the patient to view your clinic before their visit, which will make them feel more
at ease.

Simple and user friendly

Making your website’s navigation simple and easy to use will help ensure a frustration-free experience for browsing patients. Avoid unconventional designs or layouts. Organise your navigation to focus on patient-centric information. Lead with first visits and FAQs, then include doctor and team information, contact information, and finally information about specific treatments/special offers.  Your website should be patient led and not clinic led, throughout the entire visitor journey.

Include a blog page

Add value to your patients by creating a blog page and update it regularly with interesting and newsworthy articles.  Become an opinion leader in your field and give your visitors something they will want to come back to read more about. Industry news, topical articles on health and wellbeing, oral care for children and the like. Aim for one a week if you have time!


Chris Armstrong is director at Apollo Interiors, which he founded in 2010. He has worked in the interior refurbishment sector for 25 years, in design and build projects for large  organisations, government departments and small-to-medium private  companies all over the United Kingdom.
Telephone: 01462 732991
Website: www.apollointeriors.com

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