Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

D entistry can be a challenging environ- ment at the best of times, but with competition for patients so rife it can be a challenge in itself to make your practice stand out. For specialist or referral practices in particular, this challenge can prove particularly tough, as you’re not only selling your services to patients, but you’re also selling yourself to fellow professionals as well. Given the massive change the internet has brought about in our world, it’s fair to say if you want to market your practice successfully, you re- ally do need to have a practice website. While some dental practices may be happy with a simple “nuts and bolts” web- site – one that contains just basic information and contact details – to really make a suc- cess of your referral business you should endeavour to cre- ate something that sets you apart; something that “sells” your practice and your prac- tice team to fellow profession- als and patients alike. There are many ways you can achieve this, and with the services of a professional web design team, you will find this far easier to accomplish than without. In essence, for your referral practice to be- come an online success, your practice website needs to be unique, it needs to be exclu- sive – it needs to embody eve- rything that is unique about your practice, but in digital form. For your website to be truly exclusive, it needs to be a number of things: it needs to look appealing, it needs to contain lots of interesting and engaging content, and it needs to be optimised for the web. In order to fully realise your practice vision, the very best websites will consist of a strong blend of eye catching, intelligent design, and content that reflects who you are, and the core values your practice team hold dear. For referral practices this point is particu- larly important – both for at- tracting patients, and practices seeking to refer. To meet the needs of these two different groups, many websites will now be split into two sections: one for patients, and one for professionals. In each section you will need to include content suitable for the target market you are seeking. This may include video, or written testimonials (from patients and/or den- Getting the right website for your referral practice Adrian Adler looks at why you need a good website for your practice “The very best web- sites will consist of a strong blend of eye catching, intelligent design, and content that re- flects who you are, and the core values your practice team hold dear” 1414 November 12 - 18, 2012United Kingdom EditionWeb Focus