Website Design and Digital Marketing for Dentists and Dental Offices

Why Dentists and Dental Offices Need Custom Websites

Dentists and dental offices face unique challenges when it comes to marketing their practices. According to researchers, anywhere between 50 and 80% of adults in the United States have some degree of dental anxiety, ranging from mild to severe. More than 20% of dentally anxious patients do not see a dentist regularly, and anywhere from 9 to 15% of anxious patients avoid care altogether. As such, dentists need to work even harder to not only find new customers but get them to make an appointment and actually come in for it. One of the most important things about finding a dentist and making that decision is having a great website for your audience. In this blog, we will break down exactly what your dental office’s website design needs, why it is important, and why you should avoid website farms. Keep reading to learn all about our tips for website design and digital marketing for dentists and dental offices.

Understanding Your Target Audience

If you’re a regular to the Navazon blog, you know that we preach understanding your target audience as one of the most important things you could possibly do when it comes to crafting your marketing strategy. If you’re new here, we’re happy to explain why it is so crucial to get a handle on before you start ANY type of marketing.

As a dentist, you might be thinking: “My target audience is everyone! Everyone has teeth!” Well, we are here to tell you that you are absolutely wrong. Your target audience is, in fact, not everybody. At Navazon, we have a process of finding your target audience, pinpointing them, making them real, and crafting an entire marketing strategy around them. You would be surprised by the results!

Here are some questions that you will want to sit down, brainstorm, and write down the answers to when determining your target audience:

1. Where is my office located? “Los Angeles” isn’t a good enough answer. Are you located in the Valley? Not a good enough answer, either. Specifically, where? Chatsworth or Woodland Hills? What major cross streets are nearest to you?
2. What is the socioeconomic status of the people who live or work in my office’s location? There are ways you can find the median income of the homes around your office. You can also take note of what sort of businesses are around you—Are there a lot of law offices? Schools? Restaurants? Mom and Pop shops? People will visit a dental office that is close to their work, so it is important to take stock of what sort of businesses are in your immediate area.
3. Do I have a niche? We will dive more into drilling down your key offerings later in this blog, but you can start thinking about whether you have a niche or not. Do you cater to children only? Are braces your specialty? Sleep apnea treatment?
4. Who mostly calls and makes the appointments? Take a look at your patient list and see if there are any trends you can make. Dive a little deeper and see who actually calls to make those appointments. Is it the person themselves? Their wife? Their husband? Parent? Caretaker? Learn who your decision-makers are.

Drilling Down Your Key Offerings

Now that you have a better handle on who your target audience is, it’s time to shift gears and look at your menu of services. As a dentist, you probably offer all of the typical stuff—cleanings, fixing cavities, root canals, things like that. Most people assume that all dentists offer these services already and therefore are only searching for dentists that are either close to them or look comfortable enough to visit—more on this later in the blog.

However, you need to make sure these people decide on YOU when they are searching. This means you need to jump out to them. As such, you need to figure out what your key offerings are, especially if someone in your target audience is looking for that specific thing. Not everyone knows that not all dentists offer the special thing that you do. Chances are you might already know what that special something is; however, if nothing jumps out at you immediately, all you need to do is take a closer look.

Here are some things to consider:

• Do you use any special or new type of technology?
• Are you or anyone on your staff specially trained in something specific?
• Do you offer a service that the next closest dentist does not, even if it is simple?
• Is your office newly renovated?
• Do you offer something not all dentists do, such as sleep apnea treatment or TMJ treatment?

What Makes You Special?

One of the first things we mentioned at the top of this blog is the unique challenges that dental offices face. Not only do you need to find your target audience, but you need to convince them to overcome their fears, make an appointment, and actually show up for it.

One of the ways you can do this is by showing them what makes you so special. And, if you’re having a hard time differentiating yourself, then that “special something” can be just how friendly, comfortable, and welcoming your office is.

• Video production can help make people feel familiar with your staff and office
• Load up your website with a ton of reviews and testimonials from current or former clients
• Walk through the procedures from start to finish—fully explain everything that happens from the second they walk into your waiting room to when they’re free to leave. The more familiar with the process they are due to your expertise, the more likely they will be to choose you

Talking To Your Audience—Creativity Matters

Now that you know who your target audience is and what your “special something” is, it’s time to craft your marketing strategy. The specific part of your marketing strategy that we are diving into in this blog is your website and landing pages.

First, create a person. Literally—it’s called Empathy Mapping, a process Navazon has mastered. Who is your target audience? Is it a man or a woman? Is she filthy rich or middle class? Would she make appointments at your office for her children, for herself, or for both? What are her likes and dislikes? Her pain points? Her favorite sports teams? Really get granular here; it will help you in the long run!

Let’s say your target audience is a woman named Leslie. She’s a mom who lives nearby and has a husband who suffers from sleep apnea. She’s sick of his snoring, he’s too stubborn to do anything about it, and she’s taking action. Her kids go to The Local High School a block away from your dental office, and she’s very involved. If all goes well with her husband, she might choose to take her whole family to your practice since it is so conveniently located.

1. Speak to her! Use professional copywriting to reach her specific trigger points such as, “Sick of your partner’s snoring?” or “Take 20% off when the Local High School Bulldogs win!”
2. Use imagery made for her! Photos of an annoyed partner dealing with their partner’s snoring, the school colors of Local High School, and happy families with beautiful smiles are all things to consider.
3. Comfort her! Show her a video of the inside of your office, your smiling, friendly staff, a host of reviews and testimonials from current and former patients, and much more to make her feel comfortable enough to pick up the phone and call you.

Why Website Farms Are Harmful for Dental Offices

As you’re reading this blog, you’re quickly learning that your dental office is actually very different from the one across the street or who you believe your closest competitor to be. You are unique and have unique offerings that will cater to a group of people, and all you have to do is find them.

But, let’s face it. You’re busy running a dental office. You’re not a marketer, and you’re not aware of the fact that bad marketing can do a lot of irreparable harm to your business. You’re probably thinking that as long as you have any marketing at all, you’re ahead of the game, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

Here are a few reasons why website farms can be really harmful to dental offices:

1. They use the same copy for all their clients. Remember Leslie and her specific trigger points that you’re speaking to? You can forget that when it comes to website farms—they use the same copy for all their clients with minimal changes. This can lead to a host of issues.
2. You’re not going to rank high—or even at all. That duplicate copy being used for so many websites will be seen as spammy duplicate content by search engines. Even if they change it substantially, the AI bots of Google recognize the duplicate copy and will not rank it. In some cases, they will penalize the site and not show it anywhere.
3. Their landing pages won’t work for you. You need a highly targeted, customized landing page that is easy to use, has fully functional forms, pictures, and videos of your actual office (not stock photos!), and is full of copy and graphic design that speaks specifically to Leslie—your target audience.

Affordable Custom Websites for Dentist and Dental Offices with Navazon Digital

One of the upsides of website farms is that they are really affordable, but it comes at a price. At Navazon, we build affordable yet fully customized websites for dentists and dental offices. We get to know your dental office from the inside out by interviewing you and your staff, learning about the local competitors, and angling your special offerings. We are specialists in working with sleep apnea and TMJ dentists and can work with dentists nationwide.

Here are just a couple of examples of our dental office landing pages:

• Digital Marketing for Dentists
• Sleep Apnea & TMJ marketing

Ready to get started?

Navazon helps businesses increase profits through data-driven marketing that expands opportunities and reduces risk. As marketers and entrepreneurs, we understand the value of developing a memorable brand through creativity and consistency. This is accomplished through targeted graphics, videos, and websites that reflect our proven, time-tested methodologies and detailed analytics. It is an approach that’s proven effective for companies of all sizes, from start-ups and medium-sized businesses to large firms with an international presence.

We are content creators who listen to our clients so that we can formulate ideas and strategies based on your unique goals and philosophies. Thinking through those goals with our analytics-based approach, we study not only your tendencies but those of your competition and the market as a whole.

Equipped with this knowledge, we develop a powerful plan, test it and then roll it out on a modest scale. Once we arrive at the winning formula, we can scale up rapidly to meet even the most optimistic growth projections.

At Navazon, we do not believe in “one size fits all.” Every part of the marketing plan is customized to address your unique niche and positioning strategy. It’s how we excel. It’s why we succeed.

Schedule a free consultation with us now! Visit us at navazondigital.com for more information.