North Texas Dentistry Volume 7 Issue 2 NTD 2017 ISSUE 2 DE | Page 14

Websites that Beat the
Corporate Dental Machine
practice marketing
7 keys to a website that will help you win against corporate dentistry
by Marc Fowler
Are you different than the corporate
dental outlet down the street? How
would a prospective patient know?
Before a new patient calls or steps into
your office, research shows that they will
already have a first impression of your
practice. It’s probably why they called you.
Sometimes it is from word of mouth,
but increasingly that impression is formed
online.
Most dentists understand that their phys-
ical office is important to their brand
image. You want it to be professional,
clean and make patients feel comfortable.
So, you invest a lot of time and money in
your office, rightly so.
Yet, the majority of your new patients will
visit your website before they ever step
foot in your office. So, it would make sense
to invest in your website just as you do
your office. Your website is as large a part
of your brand image as your office.
YOUR WEBSITE IS YOUR
VIRTUAL FRONT OFFICE
Stop reading for a minute. Put down this
magazine, pick up your phone, and go to
your website. If you were a new patient,
would you be impressed by what you see?
Would you call?
Simply having a website isn’t enough. To
beat the big budget corporate dentist down
the street, your website must connect with
potential patients and show why you are a
better choice.
YOUR WEBSITE IS YOUR
FIRST IMPRESSION
Wouldn’t it be nice to meet all potential
patients before they choose a dentist and
have a conversation about why you are the
best provider for them?
While you can’t do that in person, it hap-
pens every day online. More and more,
people connect online, watch TV online,
work online, shop online, date online, and
yes, choose their dentist online.
YOUR WEBSITE IS NOT
AN ONLINE BROCHURE
Choosing a dentist is often a personal de-
cision. Do they feel comfortable that you
will be right for them – quality, service,
convenience and cost?
The purpose of your website is to connect
to your ideal patient and to convince them
to make an appointment. When building
their website, many dentists fall into the
trap of listing every service they ever have
or ever may provide in an effort to appeal
to as many patients as possible. Be careful
trying to be all things to all people, or you
may end up appealing to no one.
14 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
7
STEPS TO AN AWESOME
STEPS TO AN AWESOME
DENTAL
WEBSITE
DENTAL WEBSITE
So, what is the secret to transforming an
ordinary website into an awesome virtual
office?
Over the course of the past 11 years design-
ing hundreds of dental websites, we’ve dis-
covered seven keys to creating an effective
dental website that will help you stand out
from the cookie-cutter corporate office and
get more new patients.
1. Be clear about what makes your
practice the best choice.
If you’re a dentist in North Texas, you have
a lot of competition. To beat them, your
website has to stand out. But before you
start designing, you need to be clear why
you are a better choice than the dentist up
the street – your brand positioning. Are
you the “eco-friendly” dentist? The “fam-
ily” dentist? The “modern” cosmetic den-
tist? Find out what makes you special and
own it.
When you are crafting your website, this
should guide the entire design. We clarify
brand positioning with every client before
we start work on design.