Robyn Rivera
In 2021, it’s no secret that every dentist needs a website. It’s where prospective patients go to learn about the dental services you offer and team, to schedule appointments and so much more.
However, it’s a mistake to think that all dentist websites are created equal. There’s not much point in having a website if it doesn’t convert. Read on to learn about a few things you can do to build a dentist website with conversions in mind.
While people visit your dentist website for all kinds of reasons, in general, most people are looking for four main things — who you are, what you do, how they can contact you and what the next steps are. It’s imperative that your homepage communicates all of these things — and that it communicates it quickly.
Data shows that if you can’t communicate those four key things within the first few seconds (2.5 seconds to be exact!), you’ll lose out on traffic, which means you’ll also lose out on new patients.
This doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out the example above. In just a few words, this website communicates to visitors that it’s for a family dentist who provides dental care for children, as well as how to schedule an appointment.
Pro tip - Ask a friend or a member or your team to look at your website to make sure that it communicates the right information as quickly as possible.
Most searches for local businesses, like dentists, happen on mobile devices, and it’s safe to say that most of the traffic that comes to your dentist website will be mobile users.
Build a strong mobile-friendly foundation for your website by choosing a responsive website design. This means that your website will reconfigure itself for the best experience on the device being used.
It’s also important to leave lots of space around clickable elements and break up your text into short paragraphs and simple sentences. Any time you make changes, make it a point to test them out on a mobile device to ensure everything looks great and is working smoothly.
The biggest website design mistake a small business can make is trying to cram too much information or too many design elements into a single section of your website. This ends up looking busy and unprofessional.
The most important part of your website to get right is above the fold, which is the part of your page that can be seen without scrolling. This area should be focused on a single message that communicates the things we talked about in the first tip — who you are, what you do, how to contact you and what the next steps are.
Don’t try to communicate too much at once. Keep your message straightforward and simple, and your website design free of clutter. One way to ensure that your website stays simple and professional is by using plenty of white space in your website design.
Pro tip - White space doesn’t have to be white. It can be a color, pattern or even a picture, like in the example above.
Whether a website visitor comes to your dentist website looking for information about your team or services, to preview pictures of your lobby or to see if you take their dental insurance plan, make it easy to find the information they need.
Don’t get too fancy when it comes to your website’s navigation. Use a straightforward, menu-style navigation bar.
Most internet users are very familiar with this style of navigation and know well how to use it. This allows them to find exactly what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
It’s no secret that a lot of people have fears when it comes to going to the dentist, and the sharp, sinister-looking dental tools used to scrape plaque off of teeth certainly don’t help matters.
On a dentist website, it’s more important than ever to build as much trust as you can. Placing trust badges and information about your certifications can certainly help, but the very best thing you can do is to include reviews or testimonials from real patients.
People trust what your existing patients have to say about your dental practice a lot more readily than they will trust what you have to say about yourself. Adding reviews and testimonials helps to ease fears and build much-needed trust.
Build a conversion-based dentist website for your practice with Websites 360®. Get started.