11 Must-Have Features for Dental Websites

A dental website does a lot of things. If you’re starting a new dental practice or redesigning your website, there are a few features you need to have that will allow your website to do all of this, and more.

As dental marketing experts, we know what it takes to make a great dental practice website. Here are our 11 must-have features:

1. AHPRA Compliance

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency or (AHPRA) sets standards and policies for healthcare advertising for all registered health practitioners, including dentists. This guideline helps dental practitioners and their advertising representatives gain a clear and thorough understanding of the responsibilities and parameters in advertising a healthcare service.

‘Unlawful advertising can negatively influence healthcare choices and involve risks to public safety. When preparing their advertising, a health practitioner should always put the public first and ensure their advertising is not false, misleading or deceptive.’ Martin Fletcher, AHPRA CEO.

Advertising breaches may incur prosecution or financial penalty to the dentists. That’s why you want to work with a marketing agency who has a thorough understanding of the latest advertising guidelines set out by AHPRA when marketing your practice, especially online.

2. Pages for Each Treatment/Service

You know what services you provide, but prospective patients don’t. In addition, having a properly optimized page for each service gives you an SEO advantage. If someone searches “root canal in (your area)”, that page has a chance at showing up in search results. The more people that find you via search results, the more patients you’re likely to get without having to spend money on ads. That’s a win-win!

3. Location Pages for Multi-Location Practices

Similar to having pages for each treatment you provide, you’ll want to create pages for each location you have.

For instance, a dentist in Raleigh may also have a location in nearby Cary and Garner. While their website may be optimized for Raleigh, they should also have pages for Cary and Garner. This increases the chances that prospective patients in these cities will be able to find them when they search for local dentists.

4. Dentist Bios

Having bios for each dentist at your practice goes a long way in establishing trust and credibility before patients even pick up the phone or walk through your door. When patients know who will examine their teeth or treat them, they’ll feel more at ease trusting you with something as important as their oral health.

In your dentist bios, be sure to include your education, how long you have been practising, and any professional associations you belong to. Laying your credentials out can remove any hesitation and build trust.

5. Procedure Explanation Videos

Procedure explanation videos are exactly what they sound like: videos that explain procedures. These are perfect to put on your individual treatment pages and can ease the mind of someone unsure of what a certain procedure entails. Having the dentist themselves explain everything from root canals to simple cleanings and exams is just one more way to establish trust and prove your expertise.

6. Online Reviews

We’ve discussed a few dental website features that help establish trust, but this is arguably the most effective. Why? Let’s look at some statistics about online reviews:

• • 72% of people won’t take action until they read reviews
  • 15% of users don’t trust businesses that don’t have reviews
  • 57.5% of all reviews worldwide are on Google

Sure, people could read your reviews on Yelp or Google, but what if they don’t visit those profiles? They might never know about the amazing feedback you have! Adding them to your website increases the chances that prospective patients will see them. And since most people trust online reviews as much as they trust a recommendation from someone they know personally, making it easy to find your reviews can be a boon to your practice. Most dental practice management software programs give you the ability to automate review requests.

7. Lead Magnet

Over 95% of your website visitors are not ready to book a consultation yet. They are simply still at the research phase.

You want to have a way to keep in touch with these prospects, help them during this research phase, and when they are ready, you become the provider of choice.

A great way to get their contact details is by giving them a valuable piece of content such as an eBook in exchange for their contact details.

8. Downloadable or Digital Forms

Another convenience feature is online new patient forms. Ideally, a new patient will be able to fill out and submit the forms online. PDF forms that can be printed and filled out are better than nothing but aim for digital forms.

Be sure that these forms are tied to your dental practice management tool. Having a new patient file automatically created when they submit their forms online will save your team time and streamline operations.

9. Before and After Galleries

Few things are more powerful than before and after photos. Having before and after photo galleries on your website shows the results of your treatment and allows people to envision themselves getting those same results. Make sure to always get your patients’ written consent to use their photos this way.

10. Call Tracking

Call tracking allows you to see exactly where incoming calls to your practice are coming from. This helps you understand the ROI of your marketing campaigns so you can do more of what works. There are several call tracking tools available, but CallRail is our favourite.

Setting up call tracking on your website is quick, but it requires a bit of technical know-how. If you’re uncomfortable adding a JavaScript snippet to your site, your developer can add it.

11. Social Media Icons and Links

This is a small addition that can make a big difference in your social media following. Putting social media icons in the footer of your website makes it easy for patients to find and follow you on their favourite platform.

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Here at Content Maximiser, we have a program designed to help double dental practices in three years or less through digital marketing. It’s called the Practice Growth Program. We have helped one particular dental practice in less than a year, in just 10 months to be exact.

If you’re looking to invest in digital marketing for your business, we’d love to help you out. Click the button below, and we can organise a time to chat!

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