Dental Clinics 👩‍⚕️ - The importance of a website and digital marketing

Most consumers look up information online before they make any decision, whether that is buying a product, hiring a service or even visiting a company's premises. In fact, according to international studies, almost 90% of potential customers search the internet first and only then decide what to do. This behaviour is very common, especially when it comes to health. So if you run a dental clinic, know that a website matters if you want to attract patients looking for a dentist in Porto, Bragança, Lisbon or even Paços de Ferreira.

If you want your business to succeed in today's market, you need a professional site. Your online page is the front door to your company, and it supports every digital marketing action.

Why the site matters for marketing

Having a website is a fundamental part of the digital marketing strategy you adopt. Any communication, content or advertising you put online will send potential customers to that page. So it is important to give future patients a clear idea of what you do and what services they will find when they visit your dental clinic.

Start with social media: when you advertise to reach people and generate engagement with your clients, you need somewhere to send them when they want to know more about the dentist nearest to where they live. Your website then serves as a base that patients visit when they want a specialist in dental implants, root canal treatment or even a simple clean.

Your online page also has a huge influence on content marketing, because that content needs a place to ‘live’ and be seen. Whether it is a blog post about new invisible braces or descriptions of products and services, you will always need a shop window for that information. Your site is the perfect place to host all that strong content from your clinic of dentists who specialise in dentures and whitening, for example, and to reach the people who need those dental services.

Email marketing

When it comes to email marketing, the website also plays a fundamental role. If you are using this tactic to reach patients and create engagement, you have to send them somewhere to turn the wish for a beautiful smile into the purchase of a whitening session or veneers. You can do that through a weekly newsletter, so subscribers can find out more about what you do: when they click the links, they are sent to your site.

Paid ads

Your pay per click (PPC) ads also need somewhere to send consumers. This kind of advertising is a great way to reach more people who may be interested in your products or services, but you always need an online page to receive patients when they click the PPC ad. Look at this example:

With multiple destinations, you can offer more information and cover more areas your potential clients may care about. The main goal of your site is to answer every question users might have.

The relevance of a website for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is based on the marketing tactic you use. When current or potential patients use search engines to look for services, products or brands, those engines give them a list of pages relevant to the topics they searched. So if you want to increase traffic to your page, you need a site. The better it is optimised for Google, the more chance you have of reaching new clients.

Why it matters for sales

Sales are vital in any business. They are the only way to keep a company running properly. And increasing sales, or booked appointments at your implantology clinic, is the best way to improve your patients' oral health and your brand's financial health. For that, your website is a focal point. A strong online presence through the page is already halfway to reaching new clients.

The more consumers you reach digitally, the more opportunities you will have to close deals and sell fixed braces or Invisalign. On top of that, by optimising your site you improve the chances of attracting more quality contacts. Having a website not only increases your sales opportunities; it also grows accessibility.

With a site, you can sell products or services or take dental appointment requests at any hour without having to contact consumers yourself, because they find everything they need on the page.

Your site also gives you another sales channel, almost as if you had a salesperson working with you. Besides selling digitally, you can automatically answer patients' questions, so they buy or book with a clear understanding. In practice, this online content helps consumers get information and convinces them of the benefits of becoming your patients.

Building credibility

Building a solid reputation and generating credibility is another advantage of having a website. In today's digital market, dental clinics without a site can look untrustworthy. That is because most businesses have a website, so anyone who does not can look as if they have something to hide.

Word of mouth still works, but not with the force it once had, and not with the demands of today's consumers. So having an online page lets your patients see what you do. They can also see dental work already done, success stories and your mission.

By helping them get to know your clinic, you are working to establish trust, the first step towards a lasting relationship.

Use your site to build authority

When people talk about a well-known clinic, clients want to know exactly how good it is, and what kind of dentists work there. The content you create and publish on the website helps patients learn all of this and more. By providing valuable, educational content, you are strengthening firmer relationships and encouraging new purchases or even simple dental check-up appointments, and you set yourself apart from the competition.

If you want to stay ahead of your competitors, you have to analyse the situation and see where you can improve. If they have a site and you do not, you may be losing patients right now.

Make a good first impression with professional web design

Just as a smile is one of the first things we notice when we meet someone, your site will be your patients' first contact with your clinic. Even if your business is only local and has a short reach (imagine you are in a small town), there is a good chance people who need a dental appointment will search for your services before they visit.

The cheque-dentista (Portugal's dental voucher), for example, works anywhere in the country, even in small towns. So it is vital to have a site with professional design, built by specialists. If it is unattractive or hard to navigate, you may be turning potential clients away without even realising it.

In fact, a recent survey shows that 94% of people name web design as the main reason to distrust or reject a site.

Professional websites should include (among other things) the following elements:

1. Simple navigation

It should not be hard for visitors to find exactly what they are looking for without clicking countless times on several links. Navigation menus should be clean and simple, helping patients discover what interests them quickly, whether that is a scale and polish or gum treatment.

2. Attractive design

The page should be attractive, using colours and images that align with the brand but are pleasant to look at. A professional website has a perfect balance between appealing design and content that is easy to read and loads quickly.

3. Interesting content

Everything you put on the website should be informative and help visitors better understand your products or services. It is also essential to emphasise keywords that matter to your patients, which they may use to find clinics like yours.

4. Search Engine Optimisation

The structure and content of your page should be optimised for search engines such as Google. Design done by professionals usually includes SEO services, which helps you get more visibility online.

5. Loading speed

If your site does not load in a few seconds, potential clients may close the page at once. Improve the user experience by improving speed.

And if you need a new site, with professional design and optimised to improve your business's digital visibility, talk to INDIGIT.