Our guide to effective dental website design

When potential new patients are looking for dentistry services, the first thing they will likely do is search the web. You want your dental practice’s website to show up early in local search results so you can demonstrate your professionalism and expertise.

A user-friendly, comprehensive dental website provides relevant information to make a great first impression, generate leads and grow your practice.

How do you make a dental website?

There are a few ways to make a website, so consider your options when deciding how to build your dental site. If you are building a new website, you can use a website builder or a content management system (CMS), program the website from scratch or hire a web design service.

Before you dive into your dental website design, start by registering a secure domain name. Your dental website’s domain name should have SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption software by ensuring the domain you register starts with “https://”.

The domain name itself should provide information about your service, so either your business name or something descriptive like “DentalClinicNameYourCity.com.” Web hosting packages typically include your first domain as part of the package.

Once you choose your domain, consider the pros and cons of each type of website build:

• Website builder tools offer pre-existing templates, so it’s possible to create a site without knowing coding languages such as HTML and CSS.

• Content management systems also provide templates but offer more room for you to customize pages. They require slightly more technical understanding, like how to use plug-ins and themes on your site.

• Individual programming requires the most knowledge and programming skills but also offers the most custom design options. By creating from scratch, you can build things how you want them if you have the technical know-how.

• Web design services can provide custom websites without you needing technical knowledge. The service provider will handle the technical details and should have a strong understanding of design elements.

What should a dental website include?

The best dental websites offer a smooth user experience and are optimized for mobile use. Potential patients will likely be searching from their mobile devices, so you want to ensure your site loads quickly, is responsive and easy to navigate on a phone screen and a computer screen. Consider including the following elements to create a great dental website.

Landing page

Your landing page should welcome guests and provide the most important information about your business. Discuss your services and expertise. A call-to-action (CTA) button can funnel patients to schedule consultations and appointments. A phone button enables smartphone users to call your office directly from your site without manually dialing your phone number.

About page

The about page can discuss the history of your practice, information about the staff and the equipment you use. Add a personal touch by including photographs of your office staff along with information about their role in the office.

Important information

Include your dental office’s address and hours of operation. If your practice offers emergency services, be sure to include that information here.

Scheduling and payments

Integrating a place for scheduling and payments improves patient engagement and demonstrates the ease of use to potential new patients.

Web Chat

Offering a website chat allows customers to get questions answered right away. There are several web chat services that use AI to answer routine customer questions and pass along more complicated queries to live chat agents.

Legal information

Provide the full legal name of the practice owner and their contact details. Also include proof that all dentists and medical professionals on-site are certified through state dental boards.

Testimonials

Patient testimonials establish trust with potential new patients looking into your practice. Consider featuring reviews from your Google Business Profile or Yelp, or ask customers for video testimonials to feature on your site. Good reviews will go a long way in forging new customer relationships.

Link to your social media accounts

Connecting your social media accounts to your dental site instantly gives potential customers a look into your practice. Make sure all social posts are HIPAA-compliant.

If you don’t already, consider offering virtual consultations through your website. Virtual consultations save you money while providing an opportunity to build trust and set expectations with a patient before they physically travel to your office to seek treatment.

What is SEO for dentists?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing tool that helps web crawlers recognize a business or site as a reputable source. With proper dental SEO, search engines will recognize your business as an authority in the dental industry. Your SEO strategy should target your site design on the back end as well as your content on the front end, like website layout and copy.

You can also improve your SEO by claiming your Google Business Profile and joining other online business directory sites. Make sure the profiles are filled out fully and accurately so that all business information online is consistent.

Create a blog on your website and consistently publish high-quality dentistry content. Research the most-searched terms related to dentistry and write blog posts on those topics. Include internal links to your other blog pages so web crawlers understand the scope of your expertise and rank you higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

What CRM do dentists use?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help dentists manage, track and store information about current and potential patients. By compiling data from across channels like social media, phone, email and live chat, CRM technology allows dentists to learn about their target audience and better reach them through marketing efforts.

Simplify your dental website design process with Broadly

Broadly can help improve your customer experience and market your practice more effectively to your target audience. Our team of experts will help you design and maintain a responsive, mobile-friendly website. We can add a web chat to allow quick responses to customer inquiries. By optimizing for local SEO, your website will appear at the top of search results.

Want to see how Broadly can help you generate more leads to grow your practice?