Selling through email

Just a thought - When you build or update your dental website, you may want to make sure the pages you develop, not only help generate leads, but also help you close the deal by turning prospective patients into actual patients. Utilizing links to these important pages in your follow up to email leads can be an effective way to:

1. Get potential patients back to your site so they remember who you are and to brand your site/practice, and

2. Communicate a lot more detail to prospective patients, without having to compose or send bulky emails with large bodies of text.

Your dental website will almost always generate more email leads than telephone leads. Make sure you really think through how you can better leverage email-based communications and sales.

Bill
Page 1 Solutions

Common Website Writing Mistakes

So, you're a cosmetic dentist. You've got a website but you’re not getting any leads. Your first thought should be to critically review your website content.

Your written content is probably the single most important key to generating business from the web. From a search engine perspective, search engines are trying to provide their users results (read listings of websites) that are most relevant to the user's query. So, search engines want to deliver listings of websites with rich and relevant content. That way, the user is more likely to trust the search engine's results and continue to use that particular search engine rather than another one.

From a dental consumer's perspective, they also want substantive relevant information. The potential dental patient wants to see that your practice has the specific expertise in the type of procedure they expect to undergo. Most important, however, the potential patient wants to see how your expertise will benefit him or her. Does your practice’s website explain that?

Here are some common mistakes we see when we review cosmetic dentists websites:

1. Lack of relevant content. Far too many dentists just list the types of procedures they perform without going into detail about each type of procedure or area of expertise. You should have a separate page for each type of procedure. Your website is not like a brochure. You don't have to pay to print each page. Yes, it is a little more work up front, but the resulting website will be far stronger.

2. Failure to focus on the benefits to your prospective patient. What is the goal here? You want to generate leads ... prospective patients who have important dental health concerns. Think of it from the prospective patient’s perspective. They assume that you graduated from medical school and have some experience. What they want to know is how you can help them. You have got to communicate that your focus is to help each patient get the treatment that best suits him or her. But it is more than a simple tagline. Your entire website has to speak to them. Sell your expertise and the benefits of becoming a patient with you.

3. Use Testimonials. This can be a challenge in some states because of laws limiting the use of testimonials, but if you are in a state that permits testimonials, use them. Use them throughout your site, not just on one page. Everywhere the prospective patient looks, a testimonial should be staring him or her in the face. A third party endorsement speaks far louder than you shouting how great you are.

4. Ask for the Business. I can't tell you how many websites we see that don't ask the prospective patient to take the next step by contacting the practice. If you don't ask, they may just look at your website as a good information source and move on. Each page should offer a free consultation. You have a great selling point in that you don't charge a fee to learn about your potential patient’s needs and expectations. Use a web form rather than just an email address as they tend to generate more information.

There is a lot more to effective website content development for a dental practice than what I have described above, but this is a start.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

More About Content

In order to create more keyword-rich content on your website (which helps with search engine positioning), and build relationship and credibility with site visitors (which helps convert site users into practice patients), why not develop a FAQ section with links to printable resource pages that prospective clients can use long after they have left your site? If your website visitors are prompted to print a page, chances are they will, and out from their printer comes a firm brochure that has a tendency to end up displayed on their coffee table, posted on a refrigerator, or filed for future reference and use. Even better, it is a checklist that they can take with them when comparing you against your competitors – and so they take your logo and contact information with them every step of the way.

Examples of printable resource pages include: "How to Choose a cosmetic dentist," "Basic Dental Health Care Tips," and "How to Determine If you’re a Good Candidate for Sedation Dentistry." Printable resource pages can help you brand your practice with prospective patients (and patient referral sources) well beyond the point of first impression, and increases the odds that your practice will be the one they finally contact when they are ready to pursue a cause of action.
Jessica Espinoza
Page 1 Solutions