Flash Web Site Designs for Cosmetic Dentists

A few years ago flash was all the rage. Every client I spoke to wanted a flash web site because it looked cool. There were two problems with this. First, flash can take a long time to load. This is less of a problem now because most web site design firms now build flash movies very efficiently minimizing load time. The second problem still exists - the search engines can't read the content within the flash movies.

Google and other search engines are developing new technology to allow them to read the content within flash movies. It's still not there yet, which means, you have to use flash carefully.
We have never been big believers in flash web sites for cosmetic dentists. First, we believe their web sites should be about communicating information, not about pretty pictures. If you are an ad agency or somebody in an industry that sells glitz and beauty, flash makes more sense. In general terms dental websites should not do this.

That doesn't mean there is not place for flash in a dental website. We often incorporate flash into portions of our dental website designs and still keep the sites content rich. Examples of this include Dr. Sue Wendling in Portland, Dr. Charley Varipapa's Center for Esthetic Dentistry in Virginia, and Nature's Design Dental Spa in Vancouver, B.C.

All of these dental websites do well on the search engines even though they use flash technology. The key with each is that they don't sacrifice delivering good information.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Dental Website Marketing

Dental website marketing starts obviously with a website. There are thousands of website design companies out there, but how do you choose a website marketing company? Start with their philosophy of website design. Do they focus on making an online work of art, or are they more sales oriented, striking a balance between aesthetics and functionality? You really need the latter.

A website marketing firm should approach website design with the following in mind:

1) Function from a marketing perspective - Your website must use intelligent marketing strategies to move visitors through the buying cycle and ultimately prompt the visitor to contact you.
2) Search Engine Optimization - Your website is useless if it is built in a way that will thwart search engine optimization. If no one can find your website on the search engines, you're dead in the water.
3) Aesthetics - Professional design is a must. Your website's image must reflect the image of your dental office: high-end, professional, focused on great results.

Ask to see examples of their dental website design work. If they can't provide you with numerous examples of dental websites, then move along to the next firm on your list.

Remember, dentists need more than just a website, so look for a website design firm that also focuses on search engine optimization. In fact, look for a search engine optimization company that also offers award winning website design.

Of Phone Numbers and Calls to Action

So why have a website anyway?

If you're a dentist, you may see all the other dentists’ websites out there and say - "I better get one too." And that wouldn't be such a bad idea. A website is pretty much a requirement for any business these days.

It may be that you have enough business already. Maybe you have too many dental patients and you don't want to get bigger. You get all your patients through referrals. If that’s the case, a website can serve as a good credibility reinforcement tool.

If that’s not the case, continue reading. Many dental practices want a website as a tool to generate more patients - patients they would not get through traditional referral sources. Some dentists don't want to advertise on radio or TV like some of their high profile competitors, but they still want to generate patients. Maybe you're a radio or TV advertiser yourself, but you want to appeal to prospective dental patients who are not likely to hear your radio ad or see you on TV. With the growth of the audience on the World Wide Web and the differences in the demographics between the typical TV generated patient and the typical internet surfer, you can appeal to a whole new group of prospective clients with an effective web presence.

So, if you want to generate new business directly off the web, why in the world would you make it hard for a prospective patient to contact you? You've got me. Then why do I see so many websites out there that hide their phone number or make you go through multiple steps to contact them? If you build a website so you can generate patients, make sure you prominently place your phone number at the top of every page. In addition, give the prospective patient easy access to an email inquiry - put a mini-contact form on every page - preferably near the top. And, finally, encourage them to call. Anybody who gets to your website found you. You didn't force them to go there. So tell them to take advantage of a free consultation with no obligation.

You will won't you? Make it easy to contact you and your website will work for you.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Design or Update Your Website

If you are creating a new dental website, or making an update to a current one, be sure to get a search engine positioning expert early in the process, if getting it to show up high on the search engines is an important objective.

How a website performs on the search engines is directly tied to how a website is organized, written, programmed and optimized. This is magnified even more when you are in a large, highly competitive market area (such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, etc.).

Unfortunately, most dental website design firms or independent website designers are not search engine optimization or positioning specialists. They simply design websites. Engaging a search engine positioning expert after a website is completed, may require you to redo elements of your website to make it more search engine-friendly. Involving a search engine positioning expert at an early stage will save you valuable time, money and frustration.

Bill Fukui
Page 1 Solutions

Do It Yourself SEO

Many cosmetic dentists are interested getting their websites to show up on the top of Google and Yahoo for important search phrases. Only a few will succeed. The question is, should you do it yourself or hire a search engine optimization expert who specializes in dental website marketing.

Here are a few things to consider when evaluating that question:

• Time vs. Expertise. Search engine optimization is an extremely time intensive process. If you have the time to learn the tricks of the trade and implement them - or if you have someone on your staff with the time for this endeavor and the commitment to succeed - you will probably outperform most of your competitors including many who hire professional search engine optimization firms. SEO is not rocket science, but it does take time.
  
  
• First, you need the time to learn the basics of optimizing your website.
  
  
• Second, you need to determine your target search phrases.
  
  
• Third, you need to implement and incorporate your search engine optimization techniques on your website.
  
  
• Fourth, you need to register with the search engines and directories.
  
  
• Finally, you need to consistently work on your link popularity over an extended period of time. And, it's not over yet. You still have to track your results and tweak the optimization as well as add content to your website on a regular basis. Now, if you have enough time to devote to this process and the commitment to succeed, you will surely do well. But be honest with yourself about how much time you can devote.
  
  
• Time vs. Cost. Search engine optimization firms like Page 1 Solutions charge a lot of money for their expertise and resources. If you do it yourself, you will save these out of pocket costs. You have to consider, though, whether the time you spend optimizing your website would generate more money if you devoted it to working your cases.
  
  
• The question is one of opportunity cost. It is a lot easier to evaluate if you charge a fixed fee like $200 per hour. Then you can make the determination pretty easily. Ultimately, you must decide if your time is better spent working your practice and procedures or working on your website.

If you do decide to do your own website optimization and you have the passion and dedication, you will probably do very well. If you are not happy with the results or figure out that you don't have the time to devote, you can always call a professional search engine optimization firm.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Search Engine Registration for Cosmetic Dentists

So you've got your dental website up and you want to get it registered on the search engines. There are literally thousands of search engines and directories where you can submit your site. A successful search engine optimization program will get you listed in as many of these as possible. However, if you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, here are a few of the big ones:

• The Open Directory - It takes a while, but it is worth it. Don't use self promotional language describing your site in your submission.
  
  
• The Yahoo Directory - In addition to the Yahoo! search engine, Yahoo also has a directory. The cost is $300 per year, but it is well worth it.
  
  
• Google - some people say that you should not submit to Google. Let the Googlebot find your site. If your site is listed as a link on other sites that Google spiders, this strategy will work, but you can also submit to Google directly and avoid the wait.
  
  
• Yahoo - Also covers FAST And AltaVista.
  
  
• MSN - The last of the big three.

There are many more places to submit your site, but this is a starting point. You should also check for any websites that list local businesses in your area.

Good luck with it!

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Pay Per Click Search Engines

Many cosmetic dentists are now familiar with the two major pay per click options - Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing. There are others, but these are the two most important ones. If your practice is using (or considering using Pay Per Click - PPC), you should start here. The way that I look at PPC is that it is great for a limited time focused on a specific campaign, especially when there is a lot of news on the subject. With YSM or AdWords, you can pretty much ensure that your site gets a lot of play and a lot of traffic - as long as you are willing to pay.

With Pay Per Click, you pay every time somebody clicks on the sponsored listing for your site. If they see your site, but don't click, you don't pay. Typically, the ads run above and to the right of the search results.

YSM is used on Yahoo and MSN as well as a number of other medium sized search engines. AdWords is used on Google and AOL and other search engines as well. They each control slightly less than 50% of the market.

With YSM you can control where you are positioned in the sponsored results- first, second, third, fourth, etc. It is all based on how much you are willing to pay. If you want to be number one for a particular search phrase, you either need to have software that constantly monitors your position/ranking or you need to manually update your bid. You can set caps on how much you want to bid per click, per day, per month, etc. You can also just prepay a fixed budget and when it runs out, you stop showing up until you put more money in.

With AdWords, it is more complicated - everything with Google is more complicated. With AdWords, your ranking depends not just on how much you want to pay, but on how frequently people click on your listings/ads and how long they stay on your site. Theoretically, you could be willing to pay more than your competitor, but he could get the top spot because people click on his ad more frequently and stay on his site longer. (Yes, Google tracks this.) This means, you have to have a very compelling ad and a strong site to keep people on it. Google also shows your ad on an irregular basis if you do not have a large enough overall budget to ensure that you can pay for all the click throughs. One major advantage of AdWords, however, is that you can be live with AdWords within minutes (they have an editorial review after you go live and may turn off or pause your campaign at that time) while YSM does a review before you go live which may take a day or two.

PPC is a great tool if you know how to use it, but don't ignore the natural listings. That is how you win the marathon. Both PPC and natural listings require lots of work and time and attention.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions