Dentists: Key factors to improve website conversion rate

Your prospective patients come to you via the internet, most likely. They may have heard your name from a friend or family member, but they will check out your website – and possibly scan the web for reviews from former patients. If they have a dental problem, they might have a pretty good idea what treatment they need.

A few tips to help you engage prospective patients – and convert them into paying patients.

Rule One: Simplify your website

To attract prospective patients, you need to engage them. They need a sense, right up front, that your service is valuable and that you (the dentist) is trustworthy. They want to see expertise. They want to see that you care about their well-being.

Your website must convey a customer-friendly attitude at all levels. Can they easily find information about your background? Can they easily find information about treatments you offer? Is the home page welcoming and easy to navigate – or will visitors get confused and start searching other nearby dentists?

If you install the software “Hotjar” on the homepage, you can see exactly where patients are actually clicking. It’s a goldmine of information. When you analyze the results, you’ll see just how easy or confusing your website is.

Analyzing your home page

Too many distracting photos, text blocks and buttons on the home page turn people off. They won’t really know where to go next.

For example, does your website have a “slider” or “rotating banner”?

These have been very popular among designers, but in truth they move too fast for the reader. The text is gone before they can finish reading. They don’t have time to click the button. These sliders and rotating banners are notorious for bad user experience and reducing conversion rates.

A few more key points:

Think about what people look for when first arriving on the site. Is it treatments and price? Do they want to know if you’re taking on new patients?

Do you have a value proposition prominently displayed on the home page? This is a short “tag line” that summarizes your unique selling points.

A well-designed home page should have these features:

• One dominant photograph at the top.
• Your value proposition.
• Logos of partners and organisations that convey trust.
• A section of text boxes for each major treatment – implants, dentures, etc.
• A“new patients welcome” section.
• A section for testimonials.
• Social media icons for social proof.
• Main menu in large font, i.e. Treatments, Membership, Testimonials, Our Practice, Contact Us.
• A Book an Appointment button in a bright colour so it stands out.

Treatment pages

These pages are obviously critical to your practice, so patients need to find them easily. How is your website set up? Do patients have to click multiple times to see your treatments – to find the one they need? Simplify, simplify, simplify.

We don’t want patients hovering over images to see text.

Organize your treatments into categories. If you offer multiple types of braces, you need one “Orthodontics” page plus boxes at the bottom for each individual type – Invisalign, etc.

The ideal Treatment page content layout:

• Describe the problem
• Talk about the solution, use images
• Prices at the end
• Add some testimonials
• Boxes for the other treatments in a specific category like Orthodontics

All the required information must be on one page, so the user does not have to hunt around.

A “fly-out” is a tool we can install that lets the reader access the main menu from each treatment page, so they can easily navigate the website.

“Contact Us” form

This is key to converting patients. This form should appear on each treatment page. The form needs these elements:

• A better headline: “Get in Touch” is preferred to “Make an Appointment” or “Arrange a no-obligation appointment.”
• Another idea: “Looking for a better smile? Want to see how we can help?”
• Include a photo.
• Use compelling text and a colour that stands out for your 'Submit' button.
• Add a drop list so can select the treatment they are interested in.

Contact Us page

This important page should follow the same guidelines given above. Add a map, and telephone/address should be displayed prominently.

So, have I overwhelmed you with all this detail? Constructing an effective website definitely requires an eye for detail and knowledge of patient expectations.

I am happy to analyze your website and provide advice on how to strengthen it for optimal conversion.