Dental Websites From £8k – £12k. Why You Don’t Need To Pay It!

Have you ever wondered why some dental website providers charge so much?

It’s accepted that the dental industry suffers from elevated supplier charges, known affectionately in the community as the “dental tax”. Unfortunately this is prevalent in the marketing industry too, whether that’s suppliers charging huge fees for managing social media marketing, SEO or indeed building websites.

On average, fees you will see charged for a website designed for a dentist, can be as much as 2 – 2.5 times as much as a typical non-dental business might be charged. There is no real difference in the standard of the design or functionality, just a hugely inflated price charged to the dentist. So why is this and what can you do to avoid paying through the nose for your practice website?

Why are their website design and management fees so high?

There is no real answer to this other than the companies concerned seem to be able to get away with it. Despite what some may try to convince you, there is no real technical difference between a website built for a dentist and that built for a general business, indeed most providers these days use the very popular WordPress system.

What is different of course is the content and also some requirements to comply with the GDC regulations – but frankly this is not onerous. Dental website designers use exactly the same resources as any other web designer and so the elevated prices are really quite hard to explain. Whilst it’s fair to say that you can be more confident that a dental provider will make sure your content is accurate and fully compliant, is it worth paying through the nose when those checks are easy enough to complete?

I think what has happened in the industry is that a couple of suppliers pushed prices up to test the water and as they got away with it, other suppliers followed. Now it’s difficult to find any of the well-known larger firms charging what I’d call sensible fees for their services but fortunately there are good alternatives as we’ll discuss next.

How can I get a cost-effective website for my dental business?

Having established that fees for dentist’s websites can often be hugely inflated, what are your options to avoid paying through the nose? When examining this, it’s also important to note that not only can you be charged huge fees for the initial design of your website but also huge fees for future maintenance, often involving onerous monthly contracts. This make the overall “ownership cost” of the website even worse.

There are alternatives to consider as follows – some good, others less so, but at least you can evaluate and make an informed decision before proceeding:

• Use a company like Dental Media, which is long-standing and specialises in websites and marketing for dentists at sensible prices. Dental Media looks after hundreds of dentists UK wide and has been established for 23 years. Pricing is set to be on the same level as for general businesses – so no “dental tax” applied. Please take a look at the design portfolio and get in touch for more information.
• Use a small company or freelancer who is just starting out. You can get good value here but please be aware that there are potential downsides. For example, we’ve seen lots of companies come and go in the dental sector over the years and we’ve helped out many dentists whose websites have been cast adrift by failing companies. Another issue to watch out for is where companies “off-shore” their work and have very limited control. This can cause big problems down the track.
• Try a DIY development using something like WIX or Squarespace. These DIY website platforms have improved over the years and you can get something that, although very generic looking, might get you by for a few years if you’re on a very tight budget. These types of platforms still fall short when compared to a professional, bespoke development so I’d only recommend using them if you are pushed for cash or really do want to try some DIY.

Please also watch out for so-called website designers who use platforms like WIX etc because it gives them a route to market without actually having the necessary skills to use pro platforms such as WordPress. You’ll always be working with compromises if you go that route unfortunately; however it is an option you may wish to consider depending on your circumstances.

Summary

The world of dental web design is characterised by huge price increases, way beyond what you would expect if you compared to similar designs done for non-dental businesses. Much of this is unjustified.

As we’ve discussed above, there are alternatives to consider, some good, some not so good, but with care and suitable evaluation beforehand, it is possible to get an excellent website for your dental business without breaking the bank.

If you would like help to plan your new website journey, together with transparent pricing and advice, please call the Dental Media web team on 01332 672548 or use the website contact form.