When a family shops for dental care, they are making an important decision. But unlike many other important financial decisions, these shoppers aren’t buying something tangible. You can’t exactly take a root canal for a test drive after all.
This is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to marketing for dentists and other health practitioners. While patients have the final say in the treatment they ultimately choose, they are reliant upon you to provide them with advice and recommendations so they can make a choice they feel good about.
What you are really selling is trust. And this is why your website is so important.
When people in your area search for a new family dentist, your website will be the first contact they have with your practice. Just as we often tell people who are considering cosmetic dentistry, first impressions matter.
What impression would you take away from a website with an outdated design and poorly written copy with lots of errors? A website like this tells visitors that the dentist doesn’t take a lot of pride in their practice or doesn’t have very good attention to detail (not a quality most people want in their dentist!).
In other words, this website doesn’t inspire trust.
Now compare this first website to a site with an attractive layout and thoughtful, up-to-date content and imagery designed to connect with the patient, demonstrate empathy, and convey your practice’s culture. Right away, the patient knows that this dentist takes a great deal of pride in their work.
That first spark of trust is ignited.
Of course, a website isn’t intended to build complete loyalty and trust right from the get-go. It’s designed to motivate people to take the first step and call you to learn more about the practice and (hopefully) schedule an appointment. At that point, you and your staff take over and continue the process of building trust so that your patients will come to rely on your advice and suggestions for better health. But without a positive initial interaction, you may never have that opportunity.
Trust is a tricky thing to sell, but having experts on your side makes it easier. If you’re concerned about the condition of your current website and the message it might be sending to visitors, we invite you to give us a call so we can help you develop a new site that will better represent your practice and inspire potential patients to give you and your excellent team a chance.