Keeping your dental website up-to-date
Your website is your number 1 marketing tool – keep it fresh!
It is widely accepted that a professionally produced and Google optimised website is the number one tool in the dental marketing armoury. However, take a look around at the dental websites that are out there and like me, you may be amazed to see that the large majority of dental practices either have a poor website or, worse still, none at all!
Websites now generate over 60% of all new patient enquiries so it is difficult to understand why a practice would not want to maximise the potential of this most effective asset – and yet so many fail to do so. Given that a first-class website can be produced for significantly less than £2k, even in a financially challenging climate, it would seem remiss to neglect the clear opportunities that a professional website delivers.
Why are dentists neglecting their websites?
I suspect there are several reasons why dentists are not putting as much effort into their websites and web marketing as perhaps they should. Firstly there is the element of “always done it that way” for example, depleting the marketing budget on near defunct services like Yellow Pages when the web delivers far more. Secondly there is still a lack of understanding of the benefits that a carefully planned and implemented web marketing strategy can deliver. Thirdly there is the “techno-fear” element where the prospect of running a website and taking part in social media still makes some shudder.
But all of this can be overcome very easily, particularly if you elect to use the services of a professional dental marketing company to assist and advise. The returns are well-worth the effort, so it really does make sense to get underway.
The key benefits delivered by a professional dental website:
- a shop-window for your services 24/7/365
- a statement of your professionalism and the opportunity to differentiate from your competitors – particularly where they don’t have a good website
- a show-case for your skills and experience
- a platform for publishing your patient testimonials, ideally in video format
- a vehicle for showing your latest offers and news
- a source of information for your patients – minimise administration at the practice by providing educational videos and downloads for useful information
- an easy portal for patients to get in touch using your website contact forms
There are also B2B advantages as well as B2C – for example, if you accept referrals to your practice, the website can easily be extended to include the necessary referral information, technical details and even secure on-line referral management systems. The possibilities and scope are huge.
Keeping your website current
The web moves quickly – continual introduction of new technology e.g. mobile browsers, tablets etc necessitates the development of new design techniques and standards to stay in touch. Styles also change and websites tend to look dated after a couple of years as browsers are updated to support eye-catching new features. A great example of how the web has moved is the demise of “Flash” for displaying moving images. With Apple refusing to support Flash, new techniques had to be developed to replace it.
With this in mind, it is prudent to allocate a sum of money in the marketing budget for a website face-lift every 2 -> 3 years.
It is also important to ensure that the content of the website is updated regularly – this may be to maintain compliance with regulatory guidelines, to provide fresh and compelling new content for your users or to build the website’s foot-print and authority to improve its Google ranking.
Summary
Your dental website is the your main marketing tool and your “always-on” shop window for existing and potential new clients. However, to remain effective, it needs to be updated regularly to keep it fresh, relevant and compliant and also periodically “face-lifted” to stay one-step-ahead of the competition.
Please call us on 01332 672548 if you would like to discuss a cost-effective revamp of your existing website or if you are starting from scratch with a new development.