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It’s the worst feeling in the world.
You build your dream dentist website. You keyword-optimize your services pages. You craft some informative and entertaining blog posts. Then you sit back and wait for the clients to come rolling in.
You wait.
And wait.
…
[Cricket noises]
…
Nothing.
What gives?
Well, don’t worry. That’s what we’re here to find out.
5 Reasons Your Dentist Website Is Failing to Convert Patients
There are many different reasons why a dentist website might not convert effectively.
Your site may look too generic. It may be poorly organized, burying crucial details like client testimonials or contact info in hard-to-find places. Your appointment scheduling methods may be unintuitive.
Do any of these apply to your dentist website? Read on to find out.
1. Too Many Stock Photos
Do you use stock photos? Of course, everyone does! And there’s nothing wrong with that. (After all, the images in this post are all stock photos.)
Stock photos are a quick and easy way to add basic visual elements to a webpage. The problem some dentist websites run into is relying too heavily on stock photos.
Why is this a problem? Because stock photos look bland and generic. That’s the whole point. They’re meant to be used in a wide variety of different contexts, not to advertise a specific business or service.
Consumers these days see stock photos everywhere. They recognize them when they see them.
Using too many stock photos basically tells consumers “I don’t want you to know what my dental practice looks like.”
Instead, use real photos. Include nice, charming pictures of yourself, your staff, your office, etc. Establish a sense of trust and community with your prospective clients
If you have some extra cash, hire a professional photographer. But even some decent pictures shot on your phone are better than overloading visitors with stock photos.
Don’t be shy! Show people who you are! Use real photos.
2. Phone Number Is Hard to Find
This is a surprisingly common mistake among dentist websites and small business websites more generally.
Your phone number must be clearly visible on every page of your site. This is an essential feature of all good dental website design.
Practice Tech Solutions recommends adding a ‘contact banner’ on every page, just below your name and logo. It should include office address, phone number, and customer service email.
Better yet, add a link to your phone number so visitors can make a call straight from the website with one click!
Taking these simple steps will make a substantial difference in your lead generation. Remember, you always want to make it easy for prospective patients to reach you.
3. Burying Patient Reviews
In digital marketing, positive patient reviews are like gold nuggets. They don’t pop up very often, but you treasure each and every one you find.
Reviews are an essential tool for establishing trust between you and your prospective patients. No dentist website should be without them.
However, sometimes dentists will bury their reviews in hard-to-find places like a separate “Testimonials” page or something. While you certainly can have a Testimonials page, that should not be the only place your positive reviews appear.
No, put your positive patient reviews front and center! Display them on the home page of your dentist website. A rotating display of 3–4 reviews that switch out every 10 seconds or so is a solid choice.
Trust us, patient reviews are among your most valuable assets. Don’t let visitors overlook them.
4. Failure to Advertise Special Offers
This one is a no-brainer. If you’re offering special deals or discounts, make it abundantly clear on your website.
Use big, bold CTAs to advertise your offers. Just in case you weren’t aware, WordPress Elementor has a CTA widget for just this occasion.
Add these special offers to the appropriate landing pages. If you’re offering a limited-time discount on teeth whitening, make sure that CTA is up top on your “Teeth Whitening” landing page.
(Side note: separate landing pages for each of your services is another great website design tip!)
5. Limited Options for Scheduling Appointments
The dental industry is always pushing the limits of scientific and technological advancement.
Yet, when it comes to administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, many dentist websites are surprisingly behind the times.
To this day, many dental clinics require appointments to be scheduled over the phone. While you absolutely should have this option, you should also expand your appointment scheduling options and incorporate online scheduling into your dentist website.
To reiterate point #2 above, always make it easier, not harder, for patients to reach you.
Some people work very hard 9–5 and only really have time to think about dental appointments late at night. If they can’t find an online scheduling feature on your site, they’ll probably go to another dentist website instead.
Expand your scheduling options. Get online scheduling. Make booking appointments easy as pie.
Conclusion
As you can see, a lot of different considerations go into website design. Don’t worry if a few of them slipped through the cracks when building your dentist website.
Are you looking for a little website design assistance?
Practice Tech Solutions is a healthcare practice digital marketing firm that offers dentist website design and dental online marketing as two of our core services.
We love working with dental clinics of all shapes and sizes to refine their websites, boost their SEO, and draw in new patients.
Is your website up to date on cybersecurity? Check out this post on SSL certificates for dental websites.