You’re getting website visitors, but no new patient bookings. You’re paying for ads which point to a landing page, but your ROI is extremely low or even non-existent. Why does this happen? I recently spoke with a dental practice owner about her Google Ads, and she mentioned that she’s getting calls from patients about another practice entirely! What a waste of hard-earned money. As a practice owner, you’ll already know the CPC for your target keywords; they are not cheap by any means.
Getting traffic to your website is only one part of the battle when it comes to patient acquisition. I am implying the same when it comes to your landing pages as well. The other part is converting those website visitors into patients at your dental practice.
In this post, I’m going to break down 5 website fixes that will instantly turn more website visitors into dental patients.
Key Takeaways:
- Clear Call To Actions
- Mobile Speed
- Fluid Online Booking
- Trust Signals
- Patient Reviews
5 Website Fixes That Will Instantly Turn More Website Visitors Into Dental Patients
Fix 1: Clear Call To Actions
Most dental websites are typically flooded with the same call to action: ‘book a treatment’, ‘book an appointment’, and ‘book a consultation’. However useful these may seem, they’re also not the most effective. Intelligent business people and marketers roll with two main types of call to actions. These are:
- Transitional call to actions: Use this when a visitor is not quite ready to buy. You don’t want to let that prospect go to waste, so you need to put an asset forward. This is typically a downloadable asset. E.g.. “A nervous patient’s guide to a comfortable hygiene appointment”. This would appeal to the crowd, provided that they are a nervous patient and are considering a hygiene appointment. You need to think of the best transitional call to action that can be engaging.
- Direct call-to-actions: These include “call today”, “book an appointment”, and more.
If you’re unsure about your call to action, you can ask our good ol’ friend, ChatGPT, to lend a hand. Here’s a prompt you can try.
ChatGPT Prompt: “I want to improve the conversion rate of my service pages. I pay money for ads and work on SEO campaigns. When a visitor lands, I want to maximise their chances of converting into a patient or at least an interested one. I need a transitional call to action and a direct call to action that will help me convert faster. Use your expertise and give me 2-3 ideas to implement.”
Fix 2: Mobile Speed
Mobile remains the leader in devices where people can access the most information and perform daily tasks, such as booking a dental appointment. Irrespective of the device, your website should maintain exceptional speeds, load fast, and help get the patient the help they need. I’ll give you some pointers to help you get your site moving faster if it’s not that fast. You can check how healthy and fast your website is by using GTMetrix.
GTMetrix is one of the most powerful tools for inspecting the technical SEO of your website. Use it to discover your website’s health and speed for now.
A few more tips for you.
- Ensure your image sizes are not large. If they are, consider resizing them and reducing the overall resolution. This will help make the image files smaller, which means they load faster on your website.
- 2. Use a video hosting service for practice introduction videos and testimonials.
- It’s incredible for your page speed.
- You can increase your brand’s visibility by sharing it on YouTube or Vimeo.
The reason to host your videos on YouTube or Vimeo is that their streaming is significantly faster than your website’s servers. The videos will load rapidly, thus answering the questions of your customers faster.
Fix 3: Fluid Online Booking
The fluidity of your booking system needs to be flawless. Any friction caused during the booking process will likely frustrate your client, leading them to avoid using your system for booking appointments or treatments. Always run checks on your system’s booking process to ensure it’s super fast for patients to get booked into your system.
Some dental practices, primarily those within the NHS, tend only to have a contact form on their websites. Which I totally understand. But there are other ways to support your patients, too, such as having a simple yet effective booking system for appointments. Alternatively, if the receptionists are really good at responding, they can also have enquiries sent via WhatsApp (it’s just faster).
Alternatively, there are some leading tools out there, such as Boxly.ai and EnquiryBot, that work as your ‘24/7 receptionist’ when it comes to getting appointments scheduled into your clinic. Alternatively, some practice management software, such as Dentally, provides booking pages. This way, patients can book directly into the system. It’s frictionless.
Other Tools To Consider For Appointment Bookings
Read more about the 20 best dental practice software. There’s a lot you probably don’t know about in here.
Fix 4: Trust Signals
Trust signals are the biggest strength boosters for your dental practice. Many dental practices are going above and beyond for their Google Reviews and media these days. It’s amazing. However, these trust signals need to be introduced much earlier on your landing pages. The key is to provide your prospective patients with all the reasons they need to trust you.
For example:
- Google Reviews
- Awards
- Patient Testimonials
- Brand collaborations and partnerships
- TrustPilot
You can present this by incorporating logos into your website page or navigation, provided there is space and it makes sense.
Another trust signal I want to discuss is the overall design of your website. Your website should exist to convert visitors into patients, not confuse them. I’ve seen a lot of websites that practice owners have, and I mean a lot, which are extremely cluttered and in your face. It feels like you’re reading a recipe website with so many things flashing and trying to grab your attention.
In this context, it’s about all the things that pop up, the amount of space it occupies on the screen, poorly contrasted imaging and colour use and more.
Keep your websites clean and simple. They don’t need to be clinical, but they should get the patient to where they need to go, and you should be able to convert much faster, too.
Lastly, on the topic of trust signals, images are particularly important. I appreciate that many people struggle to budget for professional photos of their practice and patient treatments, but investing in your photography and videos is essential.
A practice video shows people what it’s like at your clinic. The decor, environment and the team. It’s important for patients to feel comfortable; you already know that.
Avoid using stock photos; it’s tacky and doesn’t paint the right picture of your practice. If you struggle with resources, then use your phone and a tripod. I promise it will do the job if you get it right.
Fix 5: Patient Reviews
Patient Reviews can be presented in a few different ways. It can be through a section, video or review slider that’s integrated as a live feed. Showing reviews earlier starts to ease the patient’s mindset when deciding if you are the right practice for them. This is supported by a patient video testimonial that effectively conveys the desired message.
My thoughts are that dental practices present very polished testimonials. The reason I’m sceptical of those is that the patient likely feels pressured to say certain things. I prefer UGC style testimonials where the patient can be very real in their environment and sing their praises about your practice and services.
For example, if you look at my services, there are testimonials from practice owners who are in their environment and say what they need to “without pressure”.
This isn’t hard and fast, but it’s my personal opinion.
