Your website is part of your marketing platform. Marketing works when it offers people “what they want”. (And sometimes “what they need” – if they agree they need it.) Before designing a dental practice website, one must find out: What do most prospective new patients actually “want” from a dentist, and dentistry?
We conducted a marketing research survey on over 100,000 dental patients across the country to get the answer.
Only 9% of all patients surveyed mentioned their “smile”. 91% did not. Yet when one looks at most dental websites what “message” is most prominently headlined? “…Your Smile” in one form or another. Why is this happening?
Ask a website company: Do you survey dental patients before you design our website? Likely (99.99%) answer: No. (“What’s a survey?”)
Instead, they make the website “look good to you” – the paying client. If “you” like it, you’ll pay for it. Right? It works. “Beautify Your Smile” stimulates visions of patients pouring in wanting to pay for whitenings, teeth straightening, veneers, etc., easy, nice, high profit margin patients. Who wouldn’t want them?
Except it doesn’t work. It ISN’T what 91% of dental patients want. So right from the get go, with a “… smile” message boldly headlined, visitors are being turned away.
Does this mean you should not have any pictures of people with beautiful teeth and a great looking smile on your website? No. Of course not. Such pictures add to the aesthetic (beauty) and appeal of your website. But the message that goes with these pictures is what has to be correct!
