Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Ad by unnecessarily delaying a visitor’s abil- ity to access the information they want. If your website currently features a splash page, it should be removed to provide visi- tors with fast, seamless access to your web- site content. No. 5 — Focus your home page on the patient: Your home page content should focus on how your practice can help pa- tients, and why they should choose your dental practice. A common mistake is for dentists to prominently feature on their home page a special offer or treatment. If your home page features this content, we suggest replacing it with content that ad- dresses key consumer needs and concerns. Discuss the experience of being a patient at your practice, include a patient testimo- nial,orspotlightyourdentistandhisorher patient-centered approach. No. 6 — Create a warm, personable “Meet the Doctor” page: Your “Meet the Doctor” page is the most visited page on a prac- tice website and should present a positive, friendly view of your dental practice. Fea- ture a large color photo of the doctor wear- ing non clinical clothes. Make sure the doctor has a warm, caring expression; if possible, include the doctor’s child or fam- ily members. Don’t use black-and-white photos or clinical images. Avoid including your doctor’s creden- tials and experience as a simple bullet list. Instead communicate this information in a warm and compelling manner. No. 7 — Include a “Meet the Team” section of the website with team photos: Your web- site should also feature a Meet the Team page that highlights each staff member. In each staff member profile, include a per- sonalized message to patients that com- municates the individual’s warm, caring personality and commitment to patient- focused care. No. 8 — Include a ”First Visit” page for new patients: Make sure your site features a “Your First Visit” or “For New Patients” page. This page should make a compel- ling case for why a prospective patient should choose your practice. List benefits of choosing your practice over others. Describe what patients should expect on their first visit. Consider including an “Of- fice Tour” section that features photos — 10 tips for a patient-focused website Your dental practice’s website is the on- line “face” for your business. You want it to reflect your capabilities and your phi- losophy. But at the end of the day, you re- ally want the answer to one key question: “Is my website doing everything it can to convince visitors to become patients … and current patients to become repeat pa- tients?” To answer these questions, Sesame Com- munications conducted a national market research study in partnership with Reso- lution Research. The results revealed key website characteristics that create a favor- able experience for dental practice website visitors. In this article, Sesame Communi- cations shares the 10 key features of an en- gaging, patient-focused website. No. 1 — Include personable, engaging photos on your home page: Your website’s home page is your first — and best — op- portunity to make a great impression on visitors. As revealed by the research, websites that prominently featured one or more photographs of happy, smiling people on the home page scored highly because of the emotional impact they cre- ated. Considering the fact prospective pa- tients will take only six seconds once land- ing on your website to decide if to read on, that first positive impression is critical. No. 2 — Focus on your patients’ needs — not your interests: Revolving your website around a sports or other hobby-related theme may seem like a fun way to show off your practice’s personality. But the market research study found that hobby themes on a practice website can negatively influ- ence a patient's perception of the practice. Focus your website on your patients’ wants and needs instead. No. 3 — Be careful with home page ani- mations and videos: While an animation or video can be a suitable feature for your home page, it must not distract patients or impede them from accessing the rest of your website. Be sure to disable your video from auto-playing, and add a play/pause button. This allows patients to choose if they wish to watch the intro video. No. 4 — Remove splash pages: “Splash” pages — introductory pages that users view before they can access your home page — detract from the user experience Reading this caption? That's probably related to research results showing that dental practice websites that prominently feature one or more photographs of happy, smiling people on the home page score highly in favorable user experience — because of the emotional impact the images create. Photo/ Provided by Andrew Taylor, www.dreamstime.com ” See WEBSITE, page A9 Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | May 2013A8 INduStry NEWS