The field of dentistry has changed quite a bit over the past 10 years or so, and that means that the methods used to promote your dental practice have changed as well. For example, it’s no longer enough to just show up in the Yellow Pages, local newspapers, and on TV or radio ads; if you want to be successful with new patients, you also need to have a website where people can learn about what your practice has to offer. In this article, we’ll give you five tips for making sure your website will make the most impact when it goes live.

1) Key steps in the process
In order to create an effective dental website, there are several key steps you must take.

The first step in building a website for your dental practice is to take inventory of your goals. Most likely, you have multiple objectives, but these should all be aligned with one another. It’s important to have a cohesive plan before building because it can make design and development much easier. If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there—but that doesn’t mean that path is right for you or your business.

For example, set realistic goals, identify your target audience and make sure you have an in-depth understanding of SEO best practice before developing a site.

2) Customer expectations
When building a new website, it’s important to consider what your customers expect from your site. By understanding how you’re different and better than your competitors, you can build on those differences and stand out. For example, if you have a great review page with testimonials, why not offer video testimonials?

3) How websites can build trust
The first thing you need to know is that most of us judge books by their covers. We want to trust your business, and having a professional website with all of your information on it is an excellent way for people who are new to your practice (or haven’t heard about you from friends or colleagues) to learn more about you and build trust in your services.

4) Budget considerations
As with all things in business, budget considerations are paramount. When designing and building your website, you want to be realistic about what you can afford. So start with a figure, add in costs for other essential services (i.e. marketing), and then ask yourself: Do I have room in my budget for these?

5) Your business is constantly evolving and so should your website
Your website serves as an ongoing marketing tool for your dental practice. As your business grows, you may find yourself having to expand or change your website. So it’s important that you have a design and build plan in place from the start.

To find out more about our website build and ongoing maintenance plan at Hive – where ongoing content updates are included in your monthly hosting fees – get in touch with one of our team today.