Whether in a large market or a small town, every doctor (i.e. dentist/healthcare professional) needs a website to stay competitive in today’s market. Without a good website your business is just watching money evaporate, as there is no better way to market to customers than using the Internet. If your office does not have a website it is time to get one. Here are some tips for how to get your business online and how to keep the website viable once it is running.

1. Build a Website

A company without a website is not taking advantage of the most powerful marketing tool ever created. It is a good idea to speak with a professional web design company.
These experts can help transform your ideas into a useful website.

There are many things to focus on when building a website. SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is key if you want to get your website to the top of search engines like Google. Be sure to discuss different aspects of SEO with your web designer or preferably your SEO company.

 

2. Keep it Current

Once the website is up and running it is vital to keep all of the information current and up to date. Customers will usually not respond positively to a website that looks like it hasn’t been well maintained.

Out of date information could even be a sign that the business has failed, so be sure make regular updates to the website and keep all information current.

3. Be Social

It is also important to use the website as a way to interact with customers. The best way to do this is by adding customer service options that allow customers to ask questions or make complaints.

You should have a FAQ section, as well as a way for customers to send emails with any questions or concerns. Be sure to respond quickly to these complaints, as customers will have a more positive experience if they feel they are being heard. This is an easy way to create customer loyalty.

4. Social Proof

Online reviews are the new word of mouth. Fact is that most people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from a friend or family member.

For that reason it’s important that you have a review strategy in place and are actively working on getting as many reviews as possible. Spread that reputation that you have across the internet so as many potential patients as possible can find them. Never stop building up your review reach.

 

5. Blogging

Finally, you can promote your site by writing blog posts with relevant information. Take a leadership role in your field by writing about important topics. This will show customers that you are on top of the latest information in your field.

For some simple ideas of blog posts, think of what your patients are asking you when they are in your office. Are they asking you about the best teeth whitening methods? Write about that. Are they asking you about how they can prevent their gums from bleeding? Write about that.

Need more ideas for promoting your practice? You’re in luck. Check out this recent article I wrote about marketing your business.

While you may think that web design is all about creating the best looking and most fundamentally sound websites for business owners just like yourself, the truth of the matter is that proper web design is so much more than just creating something aesthetically pleasing.

Real deal web design professionals that have been at the game for any longer than a few weeks understand that most business owners are looking for not only web design that is eye catching but is also a proper selling tool. There is literally nothing more important than making sure all of the money you spend on web design has a positive return on investment.

It’s common to be able to find a skilled web designer who can create a fine looking website. In fact, some of the best looking websites are coming out of the freelance web design world.

The problem is that most of these same amateur websites any business owners who hire them are unaware of the simple fact that this looks and coding underneath a website have very little impact on whether or not it able to sell any of your products and services.

For that you need the kind of hard-won skills and inside information that only professional web design and marketers have.

If you are considering looking into having someone overhaul your current website or create a new one from scratch, you need to know

right off the bat that they are able to create for you a selling machine.

After all, the whole reason that you’ll be looking to spend what often amounts to thousands and thousands of dollars is to see a proper return on that money somewhere down the line, hopefully sooner than later.

But without the proper business focused and sales oriented web design, your website will probably look absolutely fantastic yet still flop right on its face.

A couple of things that you need to look for when choosing a new web designer is of course their portfolio, their testimonials, and whether or not they are familiar with or bring up tools and tactics like a sales funnel, email marketing, an opt in page, squeeze pages, or even take the time to ask where your website is going to fit in the sales process.

Rather than have your website do all of the heavy lifting, understanding that it is a new important cog to your overall sales and marketing process is mission critical, and something that will only be able to be achieved with the proper web design professional.

In closing, a ‘pretty website’ is not enough. You need to have website that converts traffic into buyers. A website that can be read properly by the search engines (On Page SEO), a website that is coded properly (something that most business owners simply won’t know just by looking at it), and a website that makes you money. If you need help getting a website like this, contact me; I work with doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals building them beautiful websites that attract their ideal patients, delivering them a product that brings them a return on their investment.

What separates you from your competition? In today’s day and age, sometimes the distinctions really aren’t that clear. With so many companies buying products from the same manufacturers, skill sets peaking and industry equipment becoming standardized, we’re left with industries that have few separating factors between competitors.

Yet it is these separators that dictate a consumer’s choice when presented with competing businesses. In person, you can convey your customer service and professional advantage directly to your consumer, but you have to get them in the door first—a task that you can do extremely well on the internet.

When it comes to your website and online presence, positioning yourself as an expert in your industry is paramount. There are quite a few ways to go about this, but perhaps the two most important involve the design and content of your website. So, when setting up your website, be sure to hire an absolute website pro to fill it with killer content and set you up for success.

Why Hiring a Web Design Professional Matters

The first step towards establishing yourself as an industry expert is establishing an expert website. For that, you’ll need a web design professional that can bring the quality and functionality to your site which viewers are looking for. A professionally designed web site speaks volumes to a consumer, immediately adding authority to anything published upon it.

Imagine if the government website had cheesy flash animation and was written all in Comic Sans font—not very comforting.

This is the same thought that goes into your web design. For instance, a web design expert working on a dentist’s site would want to convey not only a sense of authority, but also a sense of safety and well-being. They would likely go about this by using calming colors and soothing designs that won’t agitate the viewer.

You’ll also Want An SEO Consultant Expert

When you have your professional web site designed, it’s important to optimize the content for not only search engines, but for your readers as well. A skilled SEO consultant can achieve both of these goals at once, creating keyword-rich content that attracts targeted site, and then keeps them there with informative and helpful content.

Content creation is a tricky skill to master, but when a SEO consultant does it right, it can increase your business exponentially—simply by establishing you as an authority in your field. This provides you with the perfect blend of performance and functionality, two hallmarks of a professional website that increases business.

What this Shows Your Clients

But above and beyond performance and functionality, what these two aspects of your website show your potential clients is that not only do you understand the value of the Internet and providing quality information, but by extension, you understand the value it provides your clients. This is the ultimate mark of a consummate professional—someone who provides value to their audience at every level, even in a blog.

By hiring a top web design professional, you show your current and potential clients that you care about their experience online. And that translates directly to their visit to your brick-and-mortar location. A customer-orientated website speaks directly to your audience, saying, “If your online experience was so great, imagine what it’ll be like once you’re in our dental chair.”

The same goes with hiring an SEO consultant—not only are you making it easier for your clients and leads to find you, but you’re providing them with valuable information and content, as well as an easier way to interact with your business. For example, it’s much easier for people to book an appointment online than over the phone—that gives your customers added incentive to visit your business while at the same time, increasing the chances that they do.

To find out just how simple this all really is, click here right now and get hooked up with a Salt Lake City SEO consultant and web design expert that can establish your authority as an expert in your industry.

An effective dental website model can ease the pain of inefficient search engines, foster trust between you and your potential patients and help you gain traction in a fast paced and fiercely competitive market. However, there are a few tried and true methods that successful business models have adopted. Here are a few key pieces of advice that will get you and your new website for dentists off the ground.

1) Choose a Solid Domain Name

A name says a lot about you and your business and one of the first things your visitors will see. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of businesses competing for the interest and attention of visitors. Choose for your dentist website something forgettable can doom you to the sea of anonymity. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Confusing names that fail to communicate what you are about and overly long or complicated acronyms can be the death of a small business websites, so there are a few things to keep in mind.

• Choose a .com over a .net or .org if it possible
• If your chosen URL is already taken, try adding your city and/or state to differentiate
• Keep your URL is kept short, striking and simple
• Avoid using symbols, numbers and hyphens whenever possible.
• Keep it original and not already copyrighted. Litigation over something as simple and easily avoided as a domain name can be the death of a small businesses.
• Register your domain name with a reputable service provider for a lengthy period of time.

2) Contact Information

Keep your contact information especially your phone number somewhere prominent, usually at the top of every page where it can be easily found even
if they leave the home page.

The internet has also made the world a smaller place in terms of communication; to that end, it is imperative you keep your usual operation hours and location posted, along with your time zone (if appropriate for your business) in case your potential customer lives overseas and wants to contact you at a respectable business hour rather than 4 AM in the morning. Easily accessed contact information saves both you and your potential customers potential headaches.

3) Logo, Images and Video

Show your visitors who you are, and what you are about. For that, there are a few things to keep in mind. Have a company logo prominently displayed somewhere on the home page. Put up a few
professional pictures of yourself, your workplace and the finished product. If applicable, a video introducing yourself and your company goes a long way in putting a human face on your website, boosting both credibility and approachability. A short welcome video can help acclimate visitors to your website, and studies have shown that this increases the amount of time visitors will spend on your website. (In case you’re wondering, the Cacioppo & Gandhi DDS logo is one I designed for a New York Dentist. You can see a few more cool logo’s over on my portolio page.

4) Relevant Pages

Along with your home page, there are a few other pages to keep in mind, the first and most obvious should be the products and services pages rich with informative descriptions, along with an ‘about’ page to let your customers know about your business and goals. Last but not least, you should leave a page open for testimonials ( I prefer the term ‘reviews’ for multiple reasons, but I’ll save that for another post) and news articles featuring your business. This particular page lends to the credibility of your business and can leave a good first impression upon visitors.

5) Social Networking and Subscriptions

You shouldn’t underestimate the power of social networking. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and Youtube can be great places to get feedback and potentially attract new visitors and customers. As always, it helps to leave a helpful link to all your social networking sites next to your contact information or in the header of your website. Let visitors know that if they would like to get more updates, they should subscribe or follow your channels for the latest updates.

6) Search Engine Optimization

As stated previously, the internet is a rapidly growing medium, and most people will be finding you through a search engine. To that end, optimizing your dental SEO strategy can generate leads and traffic that a poorly executed one would not. Speak with your web designer and try to have them construct a format that works smoothly with the most commonly used search engines. Be careful though, MOST web designers are NOT SEO professionals. Most web designers build websites, not perform SEO. Don’t confuse a web designer with an SEO professional. They are USUALLY completely different roles and areas of expertise.

As for the keywords, 3-5 about your business and primary objective should suffice. (Reminder-a keyword is a term that somebody will use to find you in the search engines.) Avoid any oversaturation (keyword stuffing) of keywords in a sentence. These things are frequently shuffled away through a spam filter most major search engines have. Keep it short, sweet and relevant with a minimal amount of clutter. Position the key words near the beginning of every page so the engine will take note of their importance and direct visitors that way. It usually makes sense to hire out for the SEO portion of the promotion of your website, it is extremely techical and time consuming, and if done right can really explode the growth of your practice.

Follow these 6 steps and you’ll be well on your way to success. Don’t want to do them yourself, contact me and we may be able to work together.

Titan Web Agency-Specializing in Healthcare SEO for Doctors, Dentists, Orthodontist, and more.