Invest In Your Website – Step 3

WHY INVEST IN YOUR WEBSITE?

It is true to say that a professional website is an essential marketing tool for any business today. It is now proving to be worthwhile to seriously invest in your website. Many dentists are now seeing a major contribution to their monthly income from patients who make contact through their websites. The surprising fact is, many of these dentists are unaware of this as they do not regularly monitor its activity.

One must understand that the secret to a successful website does not lie in being listed number one on Google. Admittedly it helps increase your hit ratings, but it can be costly and will not definitely guarantee new enquiries. Most inner city private practices are achieving better results through their websites than suburban or rural surgeries. This is understandable when comparing locations, respective target markets and internet activity within their areas.

HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL DENTAL WEBSITE?

Every practice is different and therefore its website’s appearance, content and marketing must be looked at individually. There is no instant success formula. Dentists must recognise and focus on the opportunities a website can offer their practice and its potential patients.

Your dental website is a virtual shop window available to view 24/7, 365 days per year. It must be portrayed as part of your brand, selling your dental treatments, your staff and your capabilities. A website can offer patients so many oral health and cosmetic dental opportunities. The more precise information and content you can provide for the user, the more assurance you will give them. This will encourage them to chose your dental practice as opposed to someone else’s.

CREATE A GREAT USER EXPERIENCE

You can also include many features and functions such as a virtual tour of your practice, online appointment requests, testimonial or case study videos, dedicated patient areas, news features, an online product shop, a blog and much more.

The more you invest in your website both financially (using the right dental marketing company) and with your time, the more success you will have. Creating a clear plan with regular content developments and expert SEO management will pay dividends generating a great return on your investments.

WHO DO YOU CHOOSE TO PRODUCE YOUR WEBSITE?

For any website to be a success, you need to make sure the dental website design company you choose has a combination of up-to-date coding skills as well as experience of brand, design and marketing. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves a range of specialist services and there are many opportunities which could help boost your websites performance online. Most experienced dental web designers will be able to ensure that all basic elements are covered. However, to drive targeted traffic to your website you will need a an expert to facilitate this part of your marketing. They are likely to recommend dental SEO and other sources such as social media,

The right website design company will ask you lots of relevant questions. They need to understand your business, your brand and your market. Before you sit down with them, make a list of what elements you feel are essential to your website. It’s also useful to find some other websites you really like and show them to your web designer, explaining why you like them. They do not have to be dentistry related.

BUY CHEAP, PAY TWICE

Whatever you decide, do not jump in and choose a company that offers you the cheapest deal. It can be tempting to use a friend or family member who will produce your site. A well designed bespoke website requires experience, planning, and careful thought. Your designer needs to consider how your website brings your brand to life, and how it fits with all your other marketing tools. If you do choose to use a number of different suppliers, make sure you give a clear brief to everyone. Appoint someone in your practice to look after the project making sure that your branding is consistent.

CONTINUALLY INVEST IN YOUR WEBSITE

With the speed at which our world changes, you should also review your site on a regular basis. Allow a budget for maintenance, continual expansion and regular content changes throughout each year. Finally, make sure that you are tracking usage of your site. Google analytics enables you to see how many people have visited your site, which pages they have visited and how long they have spent viewing them. Ask your receptionist or practice manager to track the source of any enquiry you receive. This way you will be able to track returns that you invest in your website as well as identify opportunities to improve the website.

STEP 4 – CLEAR & CONSISTENT SIGNS

How important is your dental signage? >

WHO AM I?

Alex Nicolaou is a Brand Designer and Advertising Strategist who partners with company directors, dentists, specialists and entrepreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands. Having 20 years experience in dental marketing and a total of 30 years designing and advertising in all industry sectors, Alex knows how to make your brand get noticed and communicate with your ideal target audience.

Alex has always been artistic, creative and passionate about art and design. His natural talent enabled him to develop his career working on blue chip accounts for successful London based advertising and marketing agencies. The skills learned and experienced gained placed him in good stead for running his own business which he has successfully managed and directed for 20 years.

His expertise has helped dental practices and other businesses to win national awards for design, branding and marketing. If you want your business to turn heads, he’s the man.

Read more about Alex Nicolaou here >

DENTAL BRANDING & MARKETING

For more information call Alex Nicolaou on 01923 609770 to find out about making the most of your website marketing opportunities.
www.design4dentists.com >