Copywriting: Save Time, Solve Problems
Often webmasters and copywriters representing dentists make the common mistake of presuming to know what the public wants from a dental website — or what people expect from a dental practice.
Say Hello To Dr. Copycat
A review of dental sites today reveals the majority are only cookie cutter replicas with nearly the exact same information about treatments, the assistants, the operatory, new equipment, scary photographs of dental procedures, and/or how they sterilize their tools and instruments to prevent contamination, etc.
Most people shopping for a dentist online already assume every dental practice has sterilization and safety measures in place and that every dentist has the training and requisite skills needed to work on their teeth. They really don’t care how wonderful and great your life and times are though; people want to know how you can enhance THEIR lives — and make them feel better.
Just Important Stuff — Please!
People are busy and tend not to read much from dental websites. They are basically just looking for a dentist in their neighborhood. They want the office address and phone number and they may take a quick glance at the dentist to make sure he wasn’t a recent star on America’s Most Wanted, plus maybe see a few “before & after” photos of other patients.
Easy access to driving directions and contact details given, the best websites will also use words and headlines that answer the needs of potential patients. To be more successful, your site must have content directed toward solving a person’s problems, and hopefully quickly before they leave.
Commitments — In Plain Sight
Your patients have specific problems and fears that properly written copy can help alleviate. Make your content easy to read too. Paragraphs are best composed with only 3 - 5 lines each. Use bold headlines, bulleted lists and/or thumbnail images to break up the page into more readable segments and to bring attention to important key points.
This in mind, it will behoove the dentist to have carefully composed language which extols solutions to primary issues which are basic to every patient. People want to feel comfortable and that they’re in good hands, so you’ll want page content that assures patients of these things.
- you can eliminate any discomfort or toothache pain
- patients will be free from pain during treatment
- you can help remove the burden of high costs & make it easy to pay
- your patients are able to schedule an appointment quickly
- patients are seen on-time and they are not kept waiting
Summary
Be different, don’t waste time — neither yours nor your patients. Write compelling content that immediately conveys your message well, a message with a can-do attitude that speaks directly to the inner needs and desires of your target audience. Got new equipment like CEREC? Sell the conveniences; tell your patient how it helps save their time — not how it mills the crown.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Nice post John. There is a lot of risk involved in being a copycat, as you know. Duplicating another websites content will generally end in disaster. Duplicate content is filtered out of a search engines index and the dental website will wind up with zero search engine visibility in most cases.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Yeah a lot of guys who build websites for dentists often don’t realize they may be hurting their client’s chances for better ranking when copying another website’s content. Still as many more guys just don’t give a damn about the quality or originality of their work — only the money.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Nice post, but I wonder if it is worth the time and effort required to come up with a lot of original content. I agree that duplicating content from websites is generally a bad idea, but what can we do to ensure that the people who build our websites won’t copy content?
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Alan, yes it’s certainly worth it to produce original material. To ensure this, website owners will want to be actively involved in the content creation process and/or check their site with programs such as CopyScape.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:41 am
Great thoughts– This is why I started a business writing services for dental websites. I have been a clinical dental hygienist for many years, freelancing in different offices. Each dentist and office has a very unique approach and atmosphere. I spend time analyzing demographics and the unique contribution of each dentist. I don’t need to physically meet my dentist/clients but I do need for them to think deeply about what they have to offer and what type of patients they want to attract. Long established practices have many patients similar to the dentist in ethnic background, location, interests, age and interests. Honest communication and sincere listening is the key along with a happy atmosphere. Mint means quality, green and fresh.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:12 am
Kathryn, thanks for your input.
As for “mint” — would that mean freshly printed money?
John
July 1st, 2009 at 5:36 am
I am putting a link to your site on my website
Kathryn
January 25th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Thanks for the post - it emphasizes two key questions in marketing:
1) How is my product different from the competition’s? As you note, professionalism, cleanliness, and caring are nice features, but every dentist claims these; they fail to differentiate from competitors.
2) How do my patients benefit from my features? Your comment on CEREC is illustrative here. Indeed, the five points you list all speak to the patient of benefits.
Though a novice in marketing, I would suggest that testimonials are very complementary to good copy writing. Apart from conveying credibility and trust, testimonials let the patient base express what benefits it most appreciates (often relative to the competition). Testimonials don’t presume the practice’s strengths, they capture them. In fact, they are a good way for the dentist to learn about his/her own practice.