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Mike Pedersen
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Studies have been published that up to 50% of all dentists across the country do not even have a Web site. If you are in this demographic, this article won’t be relevant to you, but you can definitely get some takeaways from it, when you get your Web site done. For those of you who do have a Web site for your dental practice, I ask you one simple question. Are you getting the results you had hoped for when you launched your Web site?
This is a question either you or your marketing person should be asking on a monthly basis. The reason being is you invested money into the design of your Web site and, as a responsible business owner, you need to see a return on investment from it. Unfortunately, a big majority of the dentists I speak to have no idea if their Web site is getting them new patients, or even phone calls to their practice. This is the “kiss of death” to your dental practice online.
When evaluating the performance of your dental Web site, have these goals in mind.
Goal No. 1: Getting New Patients
The only reason for even having a Web site is for attracting new patients to call your practice, and get started with treatment. If you are not keeping track of where your new patients are coming from, you’ll be an uninformed business owner, throwing darts in the dark with your marketing. This would be as simple as your front desk staff asking the question, “We appreciate you calling our office, may I ask how you found out about is?” Once they receive the answer, enter it into a call log for tracking.
Goal No. 2: Answering All the Questions a Visitor May Have
When people arrive on your dental Web site, they may have questions in their head. You want to answer as many of them as possible, so they feel assured you are the right choice for them, and possibly their family. Make a list of the top 20 questions you get in your office from new patients. Now create an article around each question, and answer it as thoroughly as possible. This then makes your Web site a valuable resource for the person inquiring about dental work in your locale. The best place to insert these articles is in a blog, or a FAQ section of your Web site. Preferably a blog, as Google does, likes to see Web sites with blogs that are updated frequently with fresh content.
Goal No. 3: Where Is Your Practice Located
For any service business, the first question in a person’s minds is your location. How far do they have to go to get their dental work done? If you don’t make it clear on every page of your Web site where you’re located, you will possibly lose that person, as they will get frustrated and leave, never to come back. The most effective way to do this is by inserting a map location of your practice. This must be on the homepage and the contact page at a minimum, but it can be on every page, at the bottom of your Web site, which we call the footer area. The great thing about the Internet is you can create a fantastic Web site that will attract people from other areas looking for a credible and caring dentist. I have dental clients that have patients coming from 45 minutes away.
Conclusion
As in any business, you have investments to sustain and grow your practice. I hope the information in this article, has given you some “food for thought” when it comes to your dental Web site. Your Web site was an investment and, like any investment, you want to get a good return on investment, so you want to make sure you track the results and that your Web site is designed and laid out to get people to take action.
Mr. Pedersen, a 14-year Internet marketing veteran, has built 2 successful online businesses. He now works exclusively with dentists helping them grow their practices using strategic Internet marketing methods. He can be reached at aznetmarketing.com.
