UK dental marketing agencies and outsourcing
Is your website design and marketing being outsourced? Take care.
The days of extravagant fees for dental website design and marketing are numbered. Increasing competition is seeing prices driven down to sensible levels and it appears that even the most expensive UK dental marketing agencies are starting to reduce their lofty fees.
Another key indicator is that large teams are being down-sized together with increasing evidence that work is being outsourced to cheap, offshore third-party suppliers in a bid to preserve margins. We are also seeing a marked reduction in quality of services, particularly when it comes to the technical aspects of website design. So should you be worried by this changing landscape? For certain there are pitfalls to look out for, as we’ll discuss below.
Would you prefer to speak to a project manager or directly with your web designer?
One of the main concerns we regularly hear from clients who transfer to us from other dental design companies is that they were never properly consulted about their website. After an initial, superficial chat about requirements, they typically found it incredibly difficult to have further input to the design and it became a “done deal” very quickly. Simple requests for alterations were ignored or got lost in a convoluted project management hierarchy. This resulted in the end-product failing to meet the client’s expectations, ongoing disgruntlement and ultimately the wish to move to a different provider of websites for dentists.
Here at Dental Media we have a different philosophy and we understand that the best results are always achieved when there is a fully consultative approach between the client and the designer. Of course this is impossible where the web design agency is outsourcing the work – sadly you tend to just “get what you get”.
Low technical standards
We are also seeing an increasing number of dental websites of questionable technical quality. This includes outdated coding techniques, lack of the latest on-site search optimisation features, slow-loading pages, coding mistakes and more. This results in a sub-optimal experience for the user and Google doesn’t like it too!
Inconsistency and lack of maintenance
Some companies are deploying websites which vary widely in terms of how they’ve been developed i.e. on different platforms, using different frameworks etc. The main problem arises when it comes time to do maintenance on the website and the original out-sourced supplier has either moved on or wants silly fees to revisit the work. There is then no-one in the core agency team who has the knowledge to step in to help.
We see this all the time where an agency allows a third-party to build a website using a cheap WordPress template where there is no future-proofing. Incompatibilities arise as the WordPress core code updates and no-one is able or willing to update the design template to keep it in step and secure. This usually results in “orphaned” websites which are left un-maintained and open to hacking attempts.
No web design experience
Did you really want a website from your video company or a guy who claims to be a marketing or coaching expert? These guys may be decent at what they do in their core work but do they really know about web design, technical SEO, conversion optimisation or anything else web related? For this you need to speak with the people who have the core skills, experience and track record. Many of our client transfers come where dentists have used a supplier who bolted-on design as an afterthought, but didn’t have the technical skill or knowledge to deliver a professional job.
Summary
Increasing competition continues to drive down the prices of website design and marketing for dentists to sensible levels. The days of the £8K website are all but over and companies are no longer able to charge unrealistic fees for services. In turn, this has resulted in some companies down-sizing and outsourcing services in an effort to maintain their margins. Commensurate with this, there has been a lowering of design standards and inconsistency creeping in. Sadly, it is the client who suffers when their website doesn’t meet expectations and fails to deliver new patient enquiries. Even worse is where the website is hacked due to a lack of maintenance.
So it pays to be cautious and really evaluate what you are getting before you sign-up. Here at Dental Media we do things quite differently. We don’t outsource your website design and when you call us, you speak directly with the designer, not the project manager. We guarantee that you won’t get lost in a convoluted hierarchy and that your requests will be addressed in person. All designs are signed-off, meet the latest coding standards and are built to be future proof and fully maintainable.
So please don’t get stuck with something you didn’t expect. Make sure you use a long-standing design company who looks after the work in-house and where you can speak directly to the people who matter. You can reach our team on 01332 672548 and we’ll be pleased to assist.