Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

November 12-18, 2012United Kingdom Edition Web Focus tists), treatment guides, and even a practice blog. Though of course, creating an exclusive practice website is a significant task, this isn’t a task you need to achieve on your own. After all, you’re a dental professional, not a web designer, and you should rightly spend your time con- centrating on that which mat- ters most: your patients. To make the most of your online marketing efforts then, it pays to trust experts with experi- ence in dentistry to help you achieve the best website to help your practice grow. The first thing anyone sees when they open a new web page in their internet browser is the design. If your website looks cheap or poorly designed then chances are the user will choose to look elsewhere. Re- member, your website is a 24/7 “shop window” for your busi- ness. How you present yourself through your shop window says an awful lot about you and your business. It’s therefore vitally important that what you display looks good! Compatibility is also anoth- er important factor to consider for any practice website. Poorly designed, static web pages will not display very well on port- able devices, and can prove particularly difficult to navigate if viewed through these medi- ums. An experienced web de- sign team will know that good web design is much more than just what a website looks like – it also includes the techni- cal elements that many people will just take for granted. If a potential referrer visits your website and either can’t see or can’t navigate their way around it easily, then you may well find your website turns away many more referring clinicians than it attracts! The third “pillar” of good website design is content. Good content is absolutely key to all successful websites, as ulti- mately people visit websites in order to digest information. Content is also extremely im- portant from a technical per- spective as well, as high qual- ity, regularly updated content can help boost your search engine results and can also influence your “conversion rate” – that is, the number of people who contact you as a result of visiting your website. Indeed, many practices nowa- days will run a practice blog as a good way of engaging patients in issues relating to oral health. As a referral practice, you might also like to consider posting case studies and examples of complex or particularly difficult cases you have treated. This can be a great way of demonstrating your com- mitment and skill, and will show colleagues the type of specialised service you can offer. To help you make the most of your online marketing efforts, em- ploying the services of an experi- enced web design team really can make all the difference. Compa- nies such as Dental Focus ® Web Design for example can really help make your referral practice stand out with an exclusive web- site design that is search engine optimised, GDC compliant, and fully compatible with all internet browsing devices. In this highly competitive age of dentistry, it’s absolutely essen- tial that you market yourself ef- fectively to the world. For referral practices, this is especially impor- tant, and it is crucial that you make use of all the tools at your disposal. To make your practice an online success, invest in an exclu- sive website, and see your refer- rals grow. DT About the author Adrian Adler aka The Wizard is a Project Man- ager at Dental Focus ® Web De- sign. His passion is in creating ex- clusive websites for dentists that perfectly reflect the individual and business. For more information call 020 7183 8388, or visit www.dentalfocus.com “An experienced web design team will know that good web design is much more than just what a website looks like” 15