website conversion

Conversion: 2nd Part of The Equation

Top placement of a dental website in the search engines is the most efficient means to acquire visitor traffic. Together with visibility, configuring the site to effectively convert visitors into new patients will enable the dentist to realize its full potential.

The Call To Action
Any website must serve a particular purpose; the site's owner should have a desired goal, or a "call to action" in mind. While dentistry websites are mostly brochure pages providing basic information, you still want people to perform a certain action.

This desired action might be a phone call for an appointment, filling in a form, newsletter subscription, or referring the practice to a friend. A website's task is to provide the stimulus to do so.


Understanding Website Conversion

There are several factors which affect conversion; altogether, they combine to create a user-friendly comfort zone that compels a person to take action. Establishing this comfort zone is accomplished by considering the limitations of the user's computer, respecting viewing time constraints and how people interact with websites.

Further attention imparted to content and images should make a future patient feel confident in the dentist's abilities. Providing helpful, free information on dental procedures will help keep the individual on your website, while adding photos and personal tidbits about the staff can add a human touch visitors can resonate with.

First Impressions Are Important
You get one chance to make a great first impression. Universal to any introduction, the initial impact your website has on its visitors can cause them to either leave, or venture farther into the site. The idea of course is to establish a positive opinion immediately and engender trust, value and confidence on every page visited.

Your website is a representation of your dental practice; it can be instrumental in how a person perceives the overall value of the practice and even treatment. Through a blend of text, colors, images, or website videos, your site's message should convey an experience of credibility, professional accommodation and accessibility.

Know What Patients Want
Prospective dental patients respond to the same impetus as other shoppers. They also comprise two distinct categories; one group desires cosmetic enhancement of their smile, the other simply needs dental care. For a purchase involving health care decisions, the possibility of pain, or spending significant money, the dental website can overcome objections and dispel fears by displaying assurances, incentives and happy customers.

That given, here's a short list of basic guidelines for the dental website:

• pleasing to the eye site design
• fast Web page download speeds
• pages that do not auto-play music
• easy access to contact information
• credentials of dentist and staff info
• educational content for treatments
• patient testimonials and real photos
Offering visitors other incentives...
People like to save money and time; they prefer convenience too. If your practice has free offers, service discounts, payment plans, or referral opportunity benefits, make sure you place them where Web site visitors can find them easily. Another effective strategy is to record specials for your office telephone "on-hold" messages.
Find A Design That Works Best

Always remember your website's prime objective and what action you want people to take. Gently guide them toward the primary action with as few distractions as possible. Don't make your visitors jump through hoops; remove obstacles and facilitate easy access to phone numbers, email forms and especially your office address. It is essential that your website be developed in such a way so that it will solve your visitors' problems.

Get feedback on your web site design from others, including patients. Know what your unique selling points are and capitalize on them. Dental patients are also interested in a map and/or simple directions to the practice location. Websites that best convert visitors into appointments and new patients use a combination of design and informative material that arouse a person's curiosity and encourages them to investigate more of the site.

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