It takes the average person less than 15 seconds to decide if they’re interested in a product or service after landing on a website. So, having prospective patients follow a link to your website is not enough. Once they arrive on your dental website, you need to grab their attention… and hold it!
At Silvercode, we help our dental clients convert website visitors to patients. In this article, we discuss 10 elements every dental website should have.
Easy navigation
Most people would agree that easy navigation is a key website feature. And it makes sense. It is infuriating having to tirelessly search a site for the information you’re seeking. A dental website that is easy to navigate encourages website visitors to move between pages of logically presented information. Your menu should follow a sensible flow and your search function should be both easy to find and use.
Psst! Don’t make it too hard…
…for your potential new patients…
…to find the information they need…
…about your dental services.
A professional design
Your website is what is going to make a great (or not so great) first impression for many of your potential patients. So, it is worth investing in a professional design. Professional design ensures that your website is functional, nice to look at and that it provides a great user experience. Clear headings, minimal clutter, a limited colour palette and simple fonts are features of a great website design.
The ‘must-have’ pages
Every dental website needs to have the ‘must-have’ pages. Used correctly, these pages can position your dental practice as a stand-out amongst the competition. The ‘must-have’ pages are the:
- Services pages. Where you answer your prospective patients’ questions.
- About us page. Where you build trust and rapport.
- Contact us page. Where your contact details and opening hours are easily accessible and making an appointment is simple.
The services pages should include all the necessary details about the specific services you offer. These pages should also address FAQs about your services. If prospective patients can’t find the answers to their questions with ease, they’re likely to abandon ship.
The ‘about us’ page is where you should introduce your dental team. It’s where you let your prospective patients know about your dental practice’s motivations. This page is a great opportunity to explain what your practice does differently.
Your ‘contact us’ page should allow prospective patients to connect with you, whether by phone, email or by booking an appointment. It should include your opening hours, directions to your practice and parking information.
Well-written copy
It’s easy to get lost in the design elements of your dental website. We don’t blame you – it’s the most exciting part. However, the content is crucial to the success of your site. After all, it is essentially the copy that will tell your practice’s story, as well as being the main factor behind your Google search rankings (but more on that later!).
Well-written copy is easy to read. It’s broken down into digestible sections, separated by clear headings. Flawless copy, free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors encourages prospective patients to perceive your dental practice as trustworthy and professional.
Your copy needs to grab attention
Appropriately placed call to action buttons
A successful dental website converts visitors to patients. Your website should prompt its visitors to take action. This is achieved by the appropriately placed call to action buttons throughout your website. It’s important to include a variety of call to action buttons as not everybody will want to connect with your practice the same way. For example, it’s a good idea to include prompts like, ‘learn more’, ‘make an appointment’ and ‘call us’.
We also recommend having an opt-in newsletter subscription form (like the example you see below) to help you build your email marketing database.
User experience and speed optimisation
Responsive web design enhances user experience and is recommended for several reasons. Well-optimised website designs require two essential features:
- The ability to adjust to fit the browsing device [i.e. desktop to mobile]
- Pages that load quickly
Google states that most users access their search engine via a mobile device. To the extent that Google has been making use of mobile-first indexing since mid-2019. If people are unable to access your site or view your content optimally, you may lose a patient.
Silvercode websites are built from the ground up with responsiveness and load time in mind. We are proud to produce many of Australia’s fastest websites with a combination of advanced WordPress optimisation techniques and our ultra-fast web hosting servers.
- How do we really compare?
Check out how our hosting servers did when put to the test against 5 of the largest hosting companies in Australia and beyond!
Search engine optimisation
While SEO isn’t everything, it is a key marketing strategy when it comes to ranking on search engines, like Google. An SEO optimised website includes the following elements:
- Target keywords. Using keywords relevant to your dental services in your website copy can help achieve a good listing position in search engines. However, effective keyword research is crucial to identify which keywords and patient search terms your dental practice should be focusing on. It’s a good idea to use your most important keywords in titles and headings.
- URLs. Long strings of numbers, symbols and other hocus pocus in your URLs does your site no SEO favours. Think clean and descriptive URLs to improve your visibility.
- Meta descriptions. Meta descriptions are shown beneath the page titles when your pages are shown in Google search results. They should be around 150 - 160 characters, and once again, contain your most important keywords.
- Quality scores. In terms of SEO, a quality score is a measure of a page’s relevancy to a primary search term in relation to the other searchable pages. Google favours content that provides browsers with relevant content to its main keyword. For example, a page about dental fillings that includes well-written, relevant information about dental fillings, will produce a good quality score and as a result, is considered SEO friendly.
Quality imagery
According to many studies, a third of businesses cite imagery as one of the most essential forms of content for their marketing. Imagery includes the use of photos and videos. While video is not essential, it has what it takes to make your dental website stand out. Your ‘about page’ or ‘meet the team’ page should include professional headshots with your staff bios.
Good quality photographs of your dental practice can complement your website copy and give prospective patients a feel for your clinic’s environment.
An online booking tool
In 2021, time is precious and convenience is key. As such, patients like to be able to make their appointments online. Whether you use dental software with an online booking portal or prefer a simple embedded booking form, your patients should have the option to book online. You can also allow them to fill out any required paperwork before their appointment. This can reduce the time of their initial appointment.
A routinely updated blog
It’s no secret that Google rewards websites that consistently publish relevant and search engine optimised content. What’s more, a routinely updated blog post serves as a resource for your existing and prospective patients. It offers them the chance to educate themselves on good oral hygiene and different dental treatments. Having a routinely updated blog on your website is a great way of building authority in the online dental community.
While we’re on the subject, if you’re interested in some further reading you can check out our latest posts right here:
Want to talk?
If you’d like to discuss how you can improve your existing dental website, or perhaps start from scratch with something fresh, we’re here to help.
