5 dental website myths you just might believe

With an increasingly competitive environment for dental services, the 21st-century dentist running their own practice is faced with far more challenges than practitioners in the same situation only a decade ago. Suddenly, there is a shortage of patients!

The panacea for this chronic shortage, it seems, is to make sure your practice has a website, as this will be the tonic you so desperately need.

Whereas the contemporary dental patient will often research a new practice they intend to visit on the internet well before ever soliciting an appointment, it is important to remember that a website can do you both harm and good. To illustrate my point, here are 5 dental website myths you just might believe!

Myth 1: Build it  and they will come

According to interlivestats.com, the number of websites in the world hit the one billion mark in September 2014. This means your new website is 1 of 1,000,000,000 websites in the world.

While internet users have definitely grown over the years, the fact is, if you don’t promote your website, it’s likely no one will know about it or visit it.

Don’t believe me? Create a website, don’t tell anyone about it and see how many hits you’ve had after 6 months/12 months. If you make it to a  hundred hits a month, lunch is on me. Another way to test how well your website is doing is to type the URL into Alexa.com. But if you’re not promoting your site, be prepared to be depressed.

“I mean, really? Can you imagine a dental website saying ‘Come be our client; we provide crap service and shoddy dentistry’? The problem, therefore, is that good service and a passion for dentistry are basically assumed. Why else would you spend all those years at dental school?”

Bottom line: you need to promote your website as much as possible, on your letterhead, in your email, via online directories and potentially, through paid advertising.

Myth 2: The most  important thing is an  aesthetically pleasing website

Outside of dentistry, I have dabbled (a lot) in property investing. In fact, I’ve had almost as many conversations with dentists about property investing as I have about dental marketing!

In property investing circles, there is a phenomenon known as “trophy houses”. These are the houses that you have a photo of on your mantelpiece to impress friends and relatives because the property is so beautiful. The only problem is, such trophy houses often make poor investments (but that’s another story).

Like the “trophy houses”, dentists can sometimes be drawn into having a website that is beautiful (and nice to show to your friends/relatives) but may not effectively convert browsers into patients. I’m not suggesting for a second that your website should be ugly, but aesthetics are actually only one element in effective website design.

Bottom line: don’t be fooled by a pretty website; the real test is how many visitors the website turns into clients. Often that’s more about the text (“sales copy”) than the aesthetics.

Myth 3: It’s really  important to have lots  of pages with lots of  details about dentistry

I’ve visited many dental websites and am amazed at the level of detail some practices go into on the services they offer. I almost wonder whether they are writing for clients or for other dentists.

It’s helpful for clients to know the range of services you offer, but just remember, most potential clients really don’t care about the 7 types of braces you offer, or your new piece of equipment. Can you imagine your mechanic’s website going into fine details about numerous spark plug types, oil additives and lubricant options?

News flash: in their mind, patients don’t buy treatments, they buy outcomes. Same as with getting your car serviced – you just want it to run well – patients just want a result like a nicer smile, or an absence of pain, etc.

The other statistic that may shock you is that 50% of visitors to your website will NEVER go beyond the home page. So, unfortunately, your pages and pages of technical details about the services you offer may be just be collecting dust.

Bottom line: provide some detail on the services you offer, but put most of your effort into the home page. Promote patient outcomes rather than your latest bit of equipment or dental technique.

Myth 4: The first words  on our website should be  “Welcome to our clinic”

I don’t want to scare you but when it comes to your website, you have hardly any time to get a potential patient’s attention. Research on this topic varies, but some data suggests you’ve got about 5 seconds to capture a first-time visitor’s attention. 5 seconds!

If that’s the case, the ubiquitous “Welcome to our clinic”, or similar, is a horrible waste of time. Think about it. You’ve got a website about your clinic that, by virtue of its presence on the world wide web, is completely in the public domain. The “welcome” part is utterly inferred. Can you imagine landing on a business’ website that said words to the effect of “Go away, you’re not welcome”?

In 5 seconds, you’ve got to try to communicate the three key questions that are in the visitor’s mind:

  • What’s this website about?
  • Who is this for?; and
  • What’s in it for me?

Bottom line: you’ve got such a short amount of time to capture a visitor’s attention, you need to be really clear on what you offer and why they should engage you. Forget “Welcome to…” and try headlines that speak to the client’s need/fears. E.g. “Experience a dentist that…”, “You’ll never wait more than 15 minutes, or your consult is free…” etc.

Myth 5: Mentioning we’re  “passionate about dentistry” and “provide good customer service” is an effective way  to distinguish your offering from competitors

Take a quick tour of your competitor’s websites. If you were to aggregate the results of 10-20 websites, there would be some common themes. Virtually every dentist claims to (i) provide good service, and (ii) be passionate about dentistry.

I mean, really? Can you imagine a dental website saying “Come be our client; we provide crap service and shoddy dentistry”? The problem, therefore, is that good service and a passion for dentistry are basically assumed. Why else would you spend all those years at dental school?

Similarly, these claims are hard to measure and validate (particularly where testimonials in Australia are a no-no for dentists). You really add nothing to the understanding of a potential client with these vague claims.

Bottom line: critically evaluate what makes your practice actually different from/better than your competitors, and tell your customers about that. Contact me for a free worksheet on uncovering your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

This article was first published on Australasian Dental Practice Magazine – May/June 2016 Issue