Building a website in many respects is an art form, a blending of colors, elements, shapes, media and textual content that create a cohesive theme to convey a particular message — to a specific group.  

Design Basics

While there are no rigid guidelines for building a dental website, your design should at minimum be well organized, present basic information quickly and serve to make potential patients visiting the site feel comfortable enough to schedule an office appointment.

The following are various design aspects we consider when reviewing a website. Although only a guide with questions for our own use, the list covers vital features we feel are important to dentists everywhere.

ONLINE VISIBILITY
- is the site easy to find with a search query for its city + a dental treatment?
- can you also search and find the website by the dentist’s name?

FIRST INITIAL IMPRESSION
- are you confronted with a Flash intro page that prevents entering the site?
- do you immediately know you are visiting a dentist’s website?
- do the images and colors used seem pleasant and inviting?
- does the site look professional, modern & organized, or amateurish?

WOW FACTOR - DESIGN NOVELTY
- has the webmaster done something a little extra special?
- does the site contain attributes you don’t normally see?
- is there something unconventional, yet still complimentary to the design?
- does media contribute to the theme in an exceptional way?
- would you like your friends to see this web site too?

ATTRACTIVENESS
 - has the webmaster made good use of colors?
 - do the images match the design theme?
 - are background and body colors in harmony?
 - does the site have a professionally made logo or branding mark?

INTUITIVE SITE NAVIGATION
- are you able to determine quickly how to navigate the site’s pages?
- are all the navigation links clearly marked?
- do the page links and their content match your expectations?
- can you get back to the main home page easily from all other pages?

LOCATION AND CONTACT DETAILS
- can you quickly see, or access the dental office’s address and location?
- is the office phone number immediately accessible?
- do they provide a street map on site, and/or an off-site link to a map?

DOCTOR OR STAFF/TEAM BIOS
- is there sufficient background and education information on the dentist?
- if applicable, is the dentist a specialist — do they elaborate?
- do they provide a professionally made photo of the dentist?
- does the website introduce other employees w/ their photos and info?

DENTAL APPOINTMENTS
- does the website let you know if they are accepting new patients?
- are you instructed on how to make an appointment?
- does the site enable online appointment requests?
- is there a phone number, an extension and/or person to call?
- can you download and fax to their office new patient forms?

ABOUT PRACTICE & PAYMENT DETAILS
- are you told how long they have been in business?
- do they provide an overall mission or philosophy of the practice?
- are the office hours and days of operation given?
- can you find what dental treatments are provided?
- do they tell you what insurance is accepted, or payment options they offer?
- are there photos of the dental practice, the outside building, or sign?

TRUST FACTOR
- does the site display emblems of recognized dental associations?
- are there patient testimonials that you can read?
- do they have a patient photo gallery of the dentist’s work?
- are there any awards shown, or articles referenced about the dentist?

ON-SITE VIDEO
- does the dentist introduce himself with a professionally made video?
- can you see, hear and understand him clearly?
- does the video present the dentist as a likeable and trustworthy person?
- are there any other videos available such as treatments offered?

PAGES & CONTENT
- are there sufficient pages to detail the main aspects of the practice?
- are there too many pages on the site, overwhelming you?
- does the linking structure make it difficult to find all the pages?
- are there off-site resources provided for explanations of procedures, etc.?
- do all links to pages work and there are no “dead” pages found?
- has the webmaster composed content in such way to enable easy reading?

TURN-OFFS & DISTRACTIONS
- are you faced with annoying pop-ups, animations, or auto-playing sounds?
- are pages too “busy” and/or have too many items seemingly unrelated?
- are there scrolling elements seen - evidence of an amateur webmaster?
- are there links which direct you off-site away from the main content?
- are there advertisements or links for other companies on the main pages?
- do navigation menus jump out at you, make noise, or irritate you in any way?
- is the dentist displaying images of bloody, or scary-looking procedures?

PAGE LOAD SPEEDS
- do you have to wait a long time for pages to finish loading?
- has any page caused your browser to lock up or fail?
- do only certain parts of a page (images) load first without other sections?
- are you inclined to just leave rather than stay and wait to see a page?

CENTRAL CALL TO ACTION
- is the office phone number, or appointment request form easily found?
- are you gently guided toward the site’s primary purpose (an appointment)?
- is the site’s “call to action” on every page, or at minimum the main pages?
- does textual content, links, or images suggest you request an appointment?
- are there discounts or other incentives for new patients who take action?

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There are more aspects to dental websites and search engine optimization that contribute to success — though this outline should help give the dentist and his webmaster some ideas on what constitutes a great website design.

This entry posted Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 7:36 am - Filed under Dental Website Critique, Website Design. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.