Good dental website design is becoming more and more important for a successful clinic in today’s digitally focused world. Often your website is the first interaction a person will have with your business especially if you are active in Search Engine Optimization and are attracting new visitors from Google and Bing.
Building an informative, user friendly and professional-looking website is critical to having success. However, to create the best possible website, there are essential features and design elements every practice owner needs to know. Too often owners spend money on digital marketing such as Google Ads or specific dental marketing efforts getting new users to their site while neglecting their site itself and fail to convert more prospective patients into clients.
For starters, it’s important to know the top reasons why your website might not be helping your business:
- You don’t look trustworthy
- You’re not telling them why they should stick around
- You don’t stand out from others in your industry
- You’re not telling users what to do next (clear calls to action)
Here is a list of dental practice web design essentials every dentist needs to consider:
Real photos, not stock photos, of you, your practice, and your staff.
This should be pretty self-explanatory, but using real photos shows people you are authentic and genuine. It is also an excellent opportunity to showcase your staff and your office so your potential patients can get a feel for what it would be like to get their dental work done at your office. It also means you will seem familiar to them when you meet them in person.
An “About Us” page with real and personable information.
An “About Us” page should include real and personable information so that patients get a sense of your and your staff’s personality. This will help build credibility and trust about who you are, why you are different, and why you care so much about your work and your patients’ dental health.
Patient reviews with five-star graphics, not just testimonials – links to see the reviews live on Google, Facebook, Trustpilot, etc.
Including client reviews and links to other online reviews shows patients you are transparent and trustworthy. It also demonstrates that other people have had a positive experience using your services. An astonishing 95% of customers are in the habit of reading reviews before deciding to buy something so it is important to bring these to the forefront and show off the amazing service you give.
Video content that makes it easy for visitors to see, listen to, and get to know you.
Video is quickly becoming the go-to medium to connect with patients because it is easy to use, is faster to consume, and offers powerful visuals. When having video on your site be sure to use a service like YouTube or Vimeo to host the file so it is not coming from your site itself which would severely affect load time. There is no limit on the possibilities you can use for this medium for with anything from a walkthrough of your dental office, to dental hygiene tips and advice or even a run through on certain procedures.
Mobile-friendly design so that your website looks professional on every device.
Nothing is more frustrating than being on a website on your phone that doesn’t have a good responsive design. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and easy to use on any device so people can access it with ease and confidence. According to a study by seotribunal.com local small businesses are searched on mobile by 58% of people meaning it is essential the site looks good on any mobile device.
Clean navigation.
Use clean and simple website navigation with links to your services, about page, blog, and contact page. A simple font style and larger font size are best, as well as strong contrast of colors so your visitors don’t struggle to read it.
Main call to action.
If you want your visitor to do something in particular when they land on your website, then you need to make it obvious. By including a call to action, you have a much better chance of getting people to take action. I suggest including a big button right at the top of your landing page so people can’t miss it. Just make sure you don’t add too many buttons because this will take away from your main objective.
Hero image.
Use an image of yourself above the fold (meaning the top 25% of your website) so people know who you are. Showing your visitors who you are goes a long way to building trust and credibility. It’s also a great way to show your personality and what makes you different. Too many people shy away from doing this, but this is YOUR business, so be yourself and create transparency.
Promo area for services.
The promo area is where you start talking about the different dental services you offer. You could simply place your services here in any order you like, or you could show them in price order. Your services promo area is the best way to direct people where they need to go. It is also why we recommend your services are high up on the homepage so people can see them and, more importantly, click on them!
Images throughout the home page.
Using images on your homepage might seem a bit obvious, but there’s more to it than that. The photos you choose can impact how your visitors perceive you. Are you trustworthy, do you stand out from the crowd, are you relatable? Many thoughts and feelings are running through your visitors’ mind when browsing your website. It’s your job to make those images count and have them start to feel positive about being a patient of yours.
Email sign up form.
Your website should act as your best 24/7 salesperson. It should be a continuous source of new leads for your business. Ask people to sign up to your email list, and as long you provide value, they may well become customers in the future. Most people won’t book an appointment with you the first time they visit your website, so it’s important to ask your visitors for their contact information. One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding an email signup form to your website.
Links to Valuable content
Content is the lifeblood of your website, and your visitors crave it. You should always try to include links to relevant blog content, videos, podcasts, etc. That way, they’ll stick around for longer and consume more. It also helps position you as an expert if the content is valuable.
Social media links
Social media is another excellent way to show your visitors how trustworthy you are. Your potential customer may want to start following you online before they buy from you, so you should include links to your primary social media accounts and be sure they are active with different types of relevant and helpful content.
Lead capture forms to capture leads not yet ready to book that appointment.
A lead-capture form is the main focus of a landing page. This page’s ultimate goal is to get your visitors to fill it out with contact information in exchange for a piece of content, such as a coupon, educational information, or discount on a future appointment.
Dental web design and dental SEO have become specific areas that many agencies specialize in but are not the only way to go to have good dental website design. Like any service business great dental websites feature the same elements I have mentioned above. Remember you are being judged based on how you appear against your competitors, look at their sites to see what features and tools they offer and anything else you can learn from them.
These dental practice website essentials are important to consider when creating a useful website for your dental practice to help with your online presence.
For more information about building an engaging and professional website, make sure to download the first chapter of my book DentalEase – the Essential Guide to Building the Stress-free and Profitable Dental Practice of Your Dreams. The chapter is free to download and will give you even more insight into using dentist website site essentials.
