Dental practices of thirty years ago did not need to worry about attracting and maintaining the attention of prospective clients whose focus was continually on the move. Their promotional efforts were clear cut, straightforward and almost always effective. Business cards, physical signage and print listings were sufficient for keeping their offices busy and their chairs full. Today, however, running a successful dental practice requires the ability to continuously attract qualified clients through a variety of online marketing and advertising platforms, the most important of these being the professional website of the provider.
Simply building a comprehensive website, however, will not suffice. The site design and the information that is included must be strategically chosen. You do not need consumers to merely arrive at your site. Instead, these individuals must be motivated by the format that you use and the details that you have shared to use your services. Thus, the goal of online marketing efforts for dental practices is never to just increase site traffic. Rather, it is to draw in qualified prospects and to convert them into paying clients.
There are several important features that websites must contain if they are to do this successfully and on a regular basis. These are the same details that new and potential patients are looking for when pre-qualifying dental care providers. They include educational details pertaining to both pre-doctorate and post-doctorate training, lists of available procedures and pain management options as well as before and after images of former clients, among other things.
Promotion has now, in many ways, become a multi-pronged effort. Sites must be built and they must be optimized for search engines. The must then be streamlined to ensure that they are reaching out to the right people and that they are providing these same individuals with the right information. More than 80% of consumers are using the web to search for their service providers, retailers and health care professionals. They are using the same purchasing process to both find the businesses that they need and patronize them. When you have all of the necessary website elements in place including persuasive calls to action, you move qualified patients through the purchasing process, ensuring that they complete their efforts in your office. When you do not, you are certain to lose this business to practices that have been more diligent and more aggressive in their online marketing efforts.
Posted in: Dental Marketing, Dental Website, SEO