Planning for Growth

When you're developing a new website, it's a good idea to plan room for growth. It's a common misconception that when you build a dental website, and finally launch it live on the Internet, you're done. Internet marketing success stories have taught us that the most successful websites on the Internet are those that are updated and expanded on a frequent basis.

The trouble is, if growth is an afterthought, you risk tacking new material onto a finished product in ways that create clutter or confusion. Eventually, you'll find yourself faced with an organizational overhaul project. This isn't a bad thing. It's better to reorganize than to force your website visitors to sort through the clutter, but reorganization can be minimized with an organized plan for future growth.

Similar to an architect planning for a building's future expansion, plan for the expansion of your website. This requires significant forethought. Will you have changing promotions on your website, such as community involvement, seasonal reminders, frequently updated new items, etc.? If so, ask your designer to build this into the design so that your promotions add to the design instead of detracting from it.

How likely is it that you would like to add new sections to the website that will require a new navigation button? What about the new RepairPost Fibre or an advanced dental implant procedure? If it's likely, or you know of some growth area of your practice that you would eventually like to include on your website, consider asking your designer to build the design with a navigation strategy that can be altered and added to without needing to redesign the entire website.

Consider creating some additional content in the beginning that will be added to the website gradually. This way, you know what the end result will be and how you're going to get there. You're not scrambling for website growth ideas each month or quarter. For example, Frequently Ask Questions pages are helpful to visitors, and can be added a page at a time without sacrificing the integrity of the website, simply by adding a text link at the bottom of existing pages. Include a complete list of FAQs for each substantive area of your website.

If you know that you want to add content on a regular basis, but don't want to pay a web designer to add it for you every month, consider adding a blog like this one. Adding a blog is inexpensive, and will allow you to grow your website without the need for technical assistance.

When you take measures in the beginning to accommodate growth in the future, you can save your practice some time and money in the future. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling the need to revamp your new site six months after its initial launch.

Jonathan Fashbaugh
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