Just like every other industry, dental practices need a cutting edge website to stay competitive. No matter how good the site looks, it is important to have a few key features to ensure that visitors can find your site, and get what they need when you get there.

Focus on Useful Content Instead of Pretty Pictures

A stunning website will certainly turn heads, and you will pay dearly for this type of design. The problem is, these types of sites leave little space for the elements necessary to drive up your search engine ranking.

Instead, focus on the content on your site. Frequent updates with unique, relevant information will not only please your clients, but the search engines as well. If you do not have time to create the content yourself, there are plenty of services that exist to help you.

This content not only helps people find your site, it offers a unique opportunity to prove your expertise in your field. Talk about the services you offer and use the space as a way to introduce clients to new technology that will benefit them.

Give Prospective and Current Patients the Functionality They Need

More than half of all travel plans are now made using the internet. While online bookings in other industries have not yet reached that level, but they are increasing. Online appointment booking for other services has lagged behind a bit, but many people will appreciate the ability to set up their appointment online. As long as you are using a computerized appointment system updated within the past few years, a developer should be able to integrate your online bookings with your current appointment system.

In addition, you may wish to give customers an idea of what your pricing looks like, advise them on any specials you are running and allow them to email you with questions about your practice. Just be sure that a member of your staff is assigned to answer these questions as they arrive. Just like having someone answer your phones, your potential clients will appreciate a timely response to their problems.

Ensure You Have the Customer Support to Assist Your Customers When Something Goes Wrong

You have always supported your patients when they had issues with the service or staff, but maintaining an online presence means that you will need to maintain a strong customer service presence in the digital world as well. Likely, your web developer will offer a support contract which will allow you to refer all technical issues to them. Clients will not need to be aware that you have outsourced your tech support, they only care that their issues are resolved efficiently and respectfully.

Include a Call to Action

A common mistake with business websites is to make sure you provide all the relevant information, but forget to ask customers for their business. This shouldn't dominate the visitor's experience (You probably don't like popups either!), but it does need to be included. Each page should include a request to set up an appointment or start talking to your staff.

Keep in mind that many people will only glance at the top of your page, so the most effective call to action statements are located at the top of the page. Your website developer can help you set up a simple system that you can add to pages to make this happen.

In order to ensure your practice stays successful, you need to keep your appointment book full of patients. By creating a website that better serves your clients and tells them more about this topic, you can keep more people coming in. As technology improves, your website has to do the same.

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