When was the last time you really took a good, deep look at your website and asked yourself if it was presenting the best version of your practice that it possibly can?
See, your website is the first impression most prospective patients will get of both you and your practice. As Will Rodgers once wrote, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” What impression is your site making?
A quick Google search will dig up countless tips and tricks for making your website stand out, rocket to the top of search results, or do any number of cool things. Those are the easy things to share, I’m going to give you the deep, inside secrets that only a select few know about.
Without further ado, here are:
Three Tips to Ensure Your Website Makes A GREAT First Impression
- Remove Excessive and Overly Complicated Content – I greatly respect that you are an extremely intelligent and highly regarded doctor. Unfortunately, most of the prospective patients who are visiting your website have not completed in-depth training in the field of dentistry. Content on your site needs to be written so that prospective patients can understand what you do and what makes you special. Avoid using industry-specific acronyms or abbreviations. Have a relative or friend who is not in the dental space review your content and see if they understand it. The general public needs to be able to grasp what it is you do.
- Complete Your Staff Page – The prospective patients who visit your website are trying to make a connection with your practice. Not only do they want to see what your office looks like and if your services meet their needs, they also want to see WHO they’ll be interacting with. Being able to associate faces with your practice helps personalize your office and is a great way to help build a relationship with prospective patients.
- Custom Photography For the Win – Adding your staff is a perfect segue into paying for high quality, professional photos. Spending the time and money to get professional photos taken of your team and office makes your website pop. Want to know a secret? Images make or break a website. A site with photos that are out of focus and potato quality give the impression of a dental practice that is out of touch, behind the times, and unimpressive. The use of stock photography is a small improvement over poorly done photos, but are still lacking. Stepping up to professional photos, with quality lighting, good composition, and skillful retouching grab the visitors attention and give your practice the appearance of being cutting edge and modern.
These three tips, in the grand scheme of things, are pretty simple and obvious, but you’d be surprised how many websites we see that ignore all three of them. A poor user experience won’t be totally resolved by addressing these three items, but they will go a long way towards being a welcoming experience for potential patients.
