Dental and medical practices continuously change—new services, new staff or locations, new procedures and equipment. The same can be said of the Internet and web technology. What was cool and cutting-edge a few years ago may be obsolete today.
These days, your audience's first impression of your dental or medical practice is based almost entirely on your website. Website redesign can be daunting and requires time and money, but it’s enormously rewarding. A current and well-designed practice website is a great investment because it remains one of the founding elements of your marketing strategy.
While there are plenty of reasons to delay revamping your website, here are 5 good reasons why you should give your practice website a complete makeover now.
1. To Make it a Mobile-Friendly Using Responsive Design
The number of people turning to mobile devices in search of dentists and doctors are growing by leaps and bounds. If your site is old and inaccessible from mobile devices and different browsers, you’re missing out on potential revenue from a new generation of tech-savvy patients.
2. To Stay Competitive
Dental and medical practice remains competitive, so standing out in the crowd should matter to you. If your competitors have updated their sites and you haven’t, it makes them look new and inviting, which can negatively impact your bottom line.
3. To Rebrand and Reflect a Modern Practice
Your online presence is looking tired, dated or stale; giving your visitors the impression your dental or medical practice is just as dated. Impart the right impression with your visitors by showing them how your practice is up-to-date with services, techniques, equipment and products. Rebrand and introduce a new logo, cleaner layout, fresh content and easy-to-read fonts to get your current patients excited and attract new patients.
4. To Incorporate Social Media
Social media sites give your practice an opportunity to engage and interact with your patients in a modern way. It’s about connecting directly with your community and earning the respect and recommendations of your patients.
5. To Improve Functionality and Usability
Website redesign is the way forward if you want to integrate blog, reviews and patient portal. This ensures that everything flows seamlessly throughout the site, without looking like the new features have been forced.
If it has been years since your website was last designed, it’s time to splurge on an upgrade. Choosing a company like Solution21 that specializes in custom medical and dental website design dental and medical website is crucial to the success of your website redesign. Call Solution21 at 949-336-7575 and our web specialists will discuss how we can help make your website work better and assist you in reaching your marketing goals.
In this environment of stiff competition, where dentists or doctors are fighting for better online traffic, it can be highly challenging to keep patient or win new patients and grow
your dental or medical practice. So how do you differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd?
The big differentiating factor is your customer service. It's what will help you thrive in such a competitive market. Here, we compiled a list of 5 Customer Service Tips to help you and your dental or medical staff.
Fish for positive reviews
There are numerous avenues for your tech-savvy patients to post online reviews of dentists and doctors. There's ZocDoc, Yelp, Rateadentist, Healthgrades, Angie’s List, etc. Actively seek out positive reviews by encouraging your patients to go on one of these sites to post share their wonderful experience at your office. Remember, it is these very same reviews pages that prospective patients check out before deciding to avail of your services, so make an effort to regularly monitor what your patients say about you on these review sites.
Don't panic if you find some negative comments in your reviews. The first thing you need to do is understand what the complaint is about, see if your other patients are commenting on the same issue, listen hard and perhaps you will find that it's a valid concern that needs to be addressed, helping improve your services.
Get help from new technology
Impress your patients, starting with a dental or medical website that is both stunning and highly functional, and they will be talking about your practice with friends and families. You know by now how word-of-mouth is good for your practice. Nowadays, most patients seek dentists and doctors with offices that are technologically connected. In healthcare, technology means less paperwork, less waiting time, less invasive procedures and less pain!
Patient portals can give patients access to their lab results without having to call or come in the office to collect results. Online appointment or contact forms can save time for your patients and your employees. A report by the Internet Journal of Healthcare Administration revealed that message appointment reminders reduced patient no-shows by about 36 percent.
Survey your patients
Regularly surveying your patients two to three times a year should be a key part of your efforts to win over your patients and keep them for life. This allows for enough time to analyze the data and to work on the improvements to help you perform better for your patients. Separate your questions about your performance as healthcare provider and your office so that you can assess the information accordingly.
Educate your patients
Empower your patients with the right information by explaining procedures fully and completely. This is where resources , such as our Patient Education Videos, discussing conditions and procedures are important to help them get prepared. The more the patients understand, the less anxious they will be about their treatment.
Achieve a balanced atmosphere
Maintain a balanced atmosphere in the office— friendly, professional and strict. Greet your patient as soon as they walk into your office with a pleasant greeting and a smile. Ask them how their day is coming along, ask about their families and their pets or work. Never leave the front desk vacant, and always assist the patients as if they are your number one priority. Be a little more personal by standing up to talk to the patient to have an eye to eye contact.
When patients refuse or fail to pay, don’t brush it under the carpet nor confront or offend them. Instead, kindly remind them of the practice policies. If a patient is perennially late for appointments, gently discuss how it effects your practice. Build a trusting relationship with your patients and they will likely to return and stay loyal to you and your practice.
At Solution21, we’d like our clients to get ahead of the competition with great websites and exceptional customer service. Is there anything we missed? Write us and give us your feedback here or by calling us at 888-423-9235!
