Dentist Internet Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Your dental website is your most important marketing tool. A properly designed dental website is more than a business card or description of your practice. Many of your new patients will find you through a search engine, so your website needs to be a dentist Internet marketing tool. Far too often, though, dentists’ websites turn off prospective patients rather than bringing them in. Does your dental website make these common dentist Internet marketing mistakes? Dentist Office Music on Autoplay Audio on autoplay is one of the most common peeves listed by Internet users. If you must have audio on your website, skip the music and don’t set it to play when the page loads. Most people find autoplay music or audio annoying rather than helpful. If your dentist Internet marketing expert talks you into an autoplay video, insist that he also provide an obvious way to turn the audio off. Generic Templates Skip the “professional dentist templates” if you want a website that will bring in new patients. Consider the market you want to reach and have a website designed specifically to appeal to them. If you’re a pediatric dentist, for example, make sure you include information that parents want and create a family-friendly feeling. If your practice focuses on high-end luxury cosmetic dentistry, your dental website should have a sophisticated, high-end feel and look. No Pictures The common wisdom when designing websites that load fast has always been to keep pictures to a minimum. Throw the common wisdom out the window. Keep images light on the home page and landing pages, but provide plenty of photos elsewhere on your website. Potential patients want to see your work and want to feel comfortable with your surroundings. Post photos of your dentists and assistants – and make sure they look friendly and approachable. Put together a before-and-after album of your patients. Put your office on display with photos of your waiting area or any special perks that are a selling point for your services. Don’t forget to post photos of any community events in which your office participates – sponsor a softball team? Put them on your website. Do outreach at local schools? Show photos of your staff with the kids. For a dentist, Internet marketing is more than just SEO. It’s not enough to get people to your dental website. Once they’re there, you have to engage them and convince them to call for an appointment. Avoid these common dentist Internet marketing

mistakes and you’re well on your way to that booking.

Top Dentist Internet Marketing Tips

If you want to be a successful dentist, Internet marketing is a must. Once upon a time, dentistry and marketing didn’t have a whole lot to do with each other. You hung out your shingle, put an ad in the local Yellow Pages, and if you were a good dentist, word of mouth took care of the rest. In just a few short years, that’s all been turned on its ear. The Yellow Pages are online and a listing in your local phone directory isn’t enough to bring in new patients. If you’re going to bring in new patients – and serve your existing ones to the best of your ability – you need a well-designed dental website. If you don’t have a dental website or if your existing website isn’t delivering the results you need, try these Internet marketing tips to get your website and your dental practice noticed. Let a Pro Handle the Work You know the old saying: as a web designer, you’re a fantastic dentist. You wouldn’t want a website designer working on your teeth, right? Shop around for a web design form that’s got expertise in designing websites for dentists to create your dental website. Understand What Goes Into a Dental Website That doesn’t mean you should sit back and accept whatever you get. Learn enough about dentist Internet marketing so you can give your designer direction. Look at websites put up by your competition to get a feel for the various dental website options so you can show the web designer examples of what you want and don’t want. Use Niche SEO Marketing Search engine optimization is vital to getting your website discovered when people are searching for a dentist. Avoid using overly general keywords – optimizing your dental website for the keyword “dentist” is a losing proposition. Dig down and go niche – are you a “family dentist” or a “pediatric dentist” or a “TMJ dentist” or a “cosmetic dentist”? Those keywords help your potential patients find you. Use Local SEO Marketing Dentist Internet marketing also counts on going hyperlocal. If you have a dental practice in Houston, it doesn’t help you much if someone in Schenectady finds your website. Use local keywords: “Houston TMJ dentist” is better than either keyword on its own. The more local you get, the better the chances of your dental website

coming up when someone searches for, for example, “Hunters Point dentist.”

How is Internet Dental Marketing Different?

If you’re in the process of building a dental practice website, you should know that Internet dental marketing rules are different than other site’s. That’s because you’re marketing a physical business with a very specific clientele. Hiring a general Internet marketing expert may actually backfire because they can make marketing decisions that just aren’t right for the dental professional. Common Mistakes in Internet Dental Marketing There are some common mistakes that many dental practices make in their Internet marketing efforts, and if you don’t hire a expert who understands the industry, you might find yourself in this category. Here are some things that a dental expert will tell you. • SEO for dentists

is different. Because your business is located in a specific area, you’ll only want to try and reach those people who are within that area. But most internet marketing is designed to reach a nationwide, or even worldwide, audience. But for a dental office, that could lead to a lot of wasted resources. An expert in Internet dental marketing will know how to reach those people in your target area. • You need to specialize. Does your dental practice specialize in sedation dentistry or Hollywood-type smiles? An expert who understands SEO for dentists will tell you that you need to create a keyword list that will reach your specialized market. Consumers use very specific keywords when searching for a dentist, and if your site isn’t built on them, you’ll miss out on a lot of patients. • Your visitors are looking for information. Today’s consumers are informed, and if they are looking for dental services, they’ll seek out information before they decide on a dentist. The best dental websites provide that information. But without the right SEO for dentists, even a ton of good information will sit on your site, unread. Don’t give your competitors the advantage by not having a good Internet dental marketing plan in place. Instead, get the most out of your dental website by hiring someone who understands the industry and what it takes to put your practice on the map.

Why Dental Web Design is a Must

Are you wondering why your dental web design isn’t bringing in the business you’d hoped for? If your site was designed by a company that doesn’t specialize in dental office websites, that could be your answer. A web designer who doesn’t understand the specific requirements of a good dental web design won’t produce a site that will bring maximum results. Why trust your business to someone who doesn’t understand your industry? Good dental office websites are designed with dental patients in mind, and that means that they need a light touch in their marketing efforts. You wouldn’t want to design a dental site with continuous pop-ups or hard sell tactics because the visitors are most likely looking for information before they make a decision. But that’s not to say that dental websites don’t need marketing—they do. They just need to be a little more diplomatic in their efforts. Hiring the Best Dental Web Design Expert

In order to have a successful dental practice site, you’ll need to hire someone who understands your target demographic. They need to know how to reach that demographic through the search engines, and then how to design the site to make them want to stay once they arrive at it. In addition, they’ll need to understand what it takes to make them take the next step and set up an appointment. Not all website designers who claim to work with dental practices truly understand what it takes to build a successful dental website. To avoid accidentally hiring a dental web design professional in this category, make sure that you hire a company that does nothing but dental website design. They’ve built their reputation around the fact that they specialize in the dental industry, not just dabble in it. Do this by interviewing several agencies and asking them all questions about their experience in dental office websites. Ask to see samples of their dental website designs and if they can’t show you a good number, move on the to the next company. Remember, when you’re interviewing the companies, you’ll want to ask questions that will tell you if they have the necessary experience in dental website design, not general website design. The difference can make your dental website a success—or not.

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How to Rank with the Top Dental Websites

Websites for dental practices are rapidly becoming the most important marketing tools for any dental professional. Today’s adult is far more likely to turn to the web when searching for a local dentist than he is to open a local telephone book or call a dental referral service. That means that if you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business.

A Dental Website Isn’t Enough Anymore

A few years ago, you could slap up a basic Web page with your contact information and location and score lots of hits and quite a few new patients. It’s not that easy anymore. Dentists have learned their marketing lesson well. If they want to find new patients, they need to be online. These days, your dental website needs to hit the right notes and have the right information in order to rank among the top dental websites for your area.

Creating Websites for Dental Practices

Creating a professional dental website isn’t a job for your cousin’s nephew – unless, of course, your cousin’s nephew designs websites for a living. Even then, he may not be the right person for the job. The fact is that dental websites don’t have a lot in common with typical ecommerce websites or webstores or personal websites. There are specific elements that every dental website should include and a certain tone that websites for dental practices should take.

That’s why you should always work with a professional web designer who has experience designing websites for dental practices. Experienced pros understand the ethics and realities of marketing a dental practice, as well as understanding what prospective patients look for when they search for a dentist online. When you consult a professional web design company for your dental website design, you’ll get the benefit of their experience and knowledge in both the area of web design and the area of marketing for dental practices.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to rank among the top dental websites in the world, just the top dental websites in your area and specialty. Look for a company that specializes in local SEO with proven expertise in getting local companies and professional to the top of the regional search engine listings.

Three Pages that Belong on Websites for Dentists

The Internet has both simplified and made dental marketing more complex. Dental websites have become de rigueur for any dentist. Because people are more likely to search online for a new dentist than they are to check the phone book or city directory, dental websites have rapidly become the most important dental marketing tool for bringing in new patients. If you’re not happy with the way your dental practice website is performing – or if you don’t have one yet – it makes sense to consult a web design company that specializes in designing websites for dentists to get an idea of the possibilities for your own site.

There are a few pages that you expect to find on any website – a home page, an about page and a contact page, at the very least. But websites for dentists should also have a few important features that you wouldn’t expect elsewhere. These five pages can make a big difference in the number of new patients and referrals that websites for dentists can bring in.

Procedures

Your dental website should have a page devoted to naming and describing the procedures your practice performs. In fact, websites for dentists should have a separate page for each procedure so that patients can get an overview of the procedure. In addition, having a separate page for each procedure is good for your dental marketing because that page can be optimized for SEO purposes, making it more likely that your website will come up if someone searches for, for example, dental implants in your city.

Before and After Photos

People love pictures. Before and after pages are among the most popular and most visited pages on websites for dentists. Don’t however, buy photos for this. There will always be plenty of patients who are happy to allow you to post their pictures.

Insurance and Payment

Many people will want to know whether you accept their dental insurance and what other payment options your office accepts. Put it on your website where it’s easy to find.

One of the best ways to make sure that your website works for your dental practice is to engage a company that specializes in creating websites for dentists. Don’t leave your dental marketing in the hands of designers who don’t understand your needs. Choose the right web design pros to see the best results.

What Makes the Best Dental Website?

A dental website is more than just a business card or brochure on the Internet. Designing the best dental website for your practice requires understanding what patients look for when they’re looking for a new dentist. At the same time, a dental website designer must understand web marketing practices as well as dental marketing practices. The best dentist website designers specialize in creating designs that both advertise your services and attract the kind of patients you want for your practice.

The Best Dental Website Design Standards

The best dental website designs have several things in common. When deciding on a dental marketing company for your practice, look at other dental websites in the company’s portfolio and see how well they meet these important factors.

Image Presentation

Your website represents you on the Internet. The best dental website for your practice is one that offers the image you want to present to the world. Look for a company that will design a custom website for you rather than trying to fit your details into a pre-designed, one-size-fits-all template.

Easy to Navigate and Understand

Your website must capture a prospective patient’s attention within the first few seconds after he clicks on your link. The best dentist website designs are attractive and informational. Even more important, they are easy to understand and offer intuitive navigation. If a prospective patient can’t find what he or she is looking for easily, he’ll simply click away to another dentist website that makes it easier.

Dental Website Content

The content on your website must appeal to three very important constituents. The first is your market of prospective patients. For them, you need to present basic information about yourself and your dental practice. The second constituency is existing patients. Existing patients should be able to find quick contact information and before and aftercare instructions for their dental procedures.

The third constituency consists of search engines. Search engines are the device that delivers prospective customers to your website. In order to decide if you’re the right dentist for a particular searcher, the search engine has to be able to figure out what services you provide and where you provide them. It decides that based on the content on your website.

A good dental marketing company will design your website with all three of those constituencies in mind. The best dental website design company is one that understands how to market your dental services and provide your existing and prospective patients with what they need to know in an attractive, easy to navigate website.

Pages to Include in a Dental Office Website Design

Your dental office’ website design is an important part of your dental marketing services. Today, most people look online first when they need a dentist. If you don’t have a website for your dental practice, you’ll miss out on the lion’s share of new patients.

But an online presence is not enough to ensure that you’ll bring in the new patients. It’s important to tailor your dental office website to the patients that you want to attract, and to use the principles of dental SEO to make sure that your dental office website pops up when someone searches for a dentist in your specialty and geographical area. While there are many factors that will influence your dental marketing services and dental office website design, there are also a number of factors that all dental office websites should include.

Home

Your home page or Welcome page should include a brief introduction about your practice. Tailor it to feature your most popular services, any special technology you commonly use or your office philosophy. It’s the most visited page on your website and should entice visitors to explore your services further.

About

The About page is vital. It’s the second most visited page on dental office websites, and any dental marketing services company will tell you it gives you the opportunity to highlight the most positive features of your practice. Use it to let your prospective patients get to know a little about you personally. Don’t go into your whole professional history. Instead, focus on the “who” of you rather than the what – include a photo, either professional or family, and a short bio that makes you appear educated, capable and friendly.

Your About page can also link to more pages about your organization – a team page with photos of your dental staff, a community page that features your connections within the community as a volunteer and a mission statement for your dental practice.

Services

Each of the services you offer should be listed on a separate page, linked from a drop-down menu. The separate pages are important for dental SEO, and will ensure that your website gets the attention you need to bring in new patients.

Smile Gallery

Post before and after photos of your patients – not stock photos taken from elsewhere – along with testimonials from current and former patients. It’s optional for most dentists, but if your practice focuses on cosmetic dentistry, consider it an essential.

Blog

Many dental office websites ignore blogs, but the best dental office marketing services understand that blogs are great for SEO value and for providing ongoing contact with your patients. If you don’t have the time to write blog, though, don’t write a few entries and let it sit there. Most dental office marketing services will provide copy writers to write blog posts for you to help with dental SEO.

Other Pages

Discuss your website needs with your staff to come up with other page ideas for your dental office website design. No one knows your practice better, and your dental office marketing services company will be happy to develop pages for your website based on input from your staff.