May 2015

2 Actions That Will Protect Your Dental Website from Being Left-Out-in-the-Rain

http://pixabay.com/en/people-walk-rain-tree-trees-fog-314980/My first thought was, “On a holiday at 6:30 p.m.?” But when I saw him standing there, in the rain, at the edge of my front porch, another thought occurred to me.

His chosen approach has much to do with how you reach your audience via your dental website.

My soggy, evening visitor was going door to door selling the opportunity to “…have a few minutes of my time…” He wanted to talk about my home security system.

A number of thoughts raced through my mind in the brief moments I felt sorry for him standing there, on my doorstep, rain-soaked from walking door to door in my suburban neighborhood.

One thought dominated them all.

“There has to be a better way…!”

I’ve always admired door to door sales dedication. Seriously, it takes a level of perseverance (or desperation) to do it (I can relate having done my fair share of it a few years ago for a variety of reasons).

I peddled everything from products to ideas. And I gained much from the experience that serves me to this day.

That said, technology has vastly improved the “sales” relationship. Say what you will about the grass-roots, guerrilla marketing, bootstrapping diligence of the committed few who knock it out door to door.

There IS a better way. And how you’re attempting to reach your audience via your website could be the door-to-door equivalent of my soggy, holiday, dinner hour salesman.

“You had ONE job…”

Your dental website has one fundamental purpose. And depending on your specific niche it could be patient related or product/service related.

That ONE job? Compel action from your reader.

Let’s define action. And let’s bottom-line it, shall we?

For the dental practice, most often your website’s sole purpose is compelling a new patient, current patient, or referral patient to schedule an appointment. I’m not going to argue the sub-categories of appropriate purposes. Let’s keep it simple.

For the dental industry service or product business, the common driving purpose is compelling a new client, current client, or referral client to order products and services from you. Again, corollary purposes aside, let’s stick with the basics.

What gets the job done?

My soggy door to door sales-guy gets points for effort. But more important, and he knows this, it’s a numbers game.

Every “No” gets him closer to a “Yes.” It’s common sales motivation.

Is this true when it comes to your website? Does every visitor who searches for dental services, arrives on your site, and leaves with a “No” get you closer to a “Yes?”

And if that’s true do you have the time to measure it? (Understanding, of course, that you can deep dive into your site analytics and get a boat-load of relevant answers to that question.)

I choose to deal in the realm of what increases the likelihood that they’ll not only STAY but RETURN again and again.

In this instance, it’s about relevant, useful information.

And speaking of a deeper dive, allow me to clarify what “information” I’m NOT talking about.

There’s more to useful, dental website information than standard, overly technical explanations of crowns, fillings, dental hygiene, implants, etc. And there’s way more than talking about your latest, state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment. You know, the equipment you’ve just completed hours of training or CE credit for the qualification to use it on patients who you assume are laying awake at night longing for the opportunity to sit in your op-room chair to experience it.

I overstate my case. But that’s the door-to-door equivalent on many dental websites when delivering information.

“Hand that dude a towel…” (so he can dry off and throw it in).

It’s time to renew your website, the kind of information you share, and how you share it.

As I earlier observed following my dinner time sales intrusion – “There has to be a better way…”

Do this…

1-Build your authority by being a reservoir of useful information.

These days information translates into trusted expertise. Notice I added the word “trusted.”

I don’t have to tell you that a search for “dentist” in your city/region will return pages of apparent expertise. Most are trustworthy and treat their scheduled patients appropriately – you included.

How and where you rank in that search determines whether they’ll give you the opportunity to show your trustworthy treatment approach. You can pay for that ranking via Google Ads, etc. hoping they’ll discover you to be everything they’re searching for in a dental provider…and then some.

Or…

You can show up consistently as result of useful information about the treatment, service, or procedure that they’re interested in.

  • Blog content, podcasts, video, and social media content relevant to your reader’s questions, problems, and concerns spotlight your authority in today’s digital media world.
  • Build a list of topics from the questions your patients and people you consult with are asking.
  • Create useful, easy-to-access content.
  • Make the content available on your website’s blog/article page, via a podcast button (linking to a downloadable audio file or an iTunes channel), or a link to your dental practice’s YouTube channel.

2-Be consistently available with answers to the questions patients/clients are asking.

There’s more to answering questions than filtering a select few through your website’s FAQ page.

  • Make your web page’s sidebar a billboard for where site visitors can get answers to their questions.
  • Create compelling content titles that capture their attention (make them scream, “Read me!”) in the “Recent Posts/Articles” section.
  • Show your interest in patients by making your content about them and their questions…not you and your latest technological advance, credentials, etc.

Trust translates via being attentive. Your attentiveness shows up in being useful via quality content.

Don’t get left-out-in-the-rain on your dental website. Persevere, sure.

But be certain that your diligence is, above all, useful to those you’re seeking to compel.

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Where the Line Forms: How to Build Anticipation with Your Dental Blog Content

Image courtesy of: http://pixabay.com/en/users/wendybkoon-802029/

As a teen I remember standing in line alongside my dad, outside our hometown’s twin screen movie theater.

Tickets in hand.

The crowd and anticipation building.

Star Wars…enough said!

Blockbusters have a certain appeal. And that sense of anticipation works for your dental blog content like it does movies.

I recently introduced our young grandson to the Star Wars franchise. I’m building anticipation in him for the approaching release of the latest chapter in the sci-fi series.

He’s hooked. And the promotional teaser for the new film had him uttering a wide-eyed, “Wow!”

Good content – visual or otherwise – elicits an emotional response in one form or another.

What’s “Wow!” and are you getting it?

Unlike my dad and I full of anticipation years ago for the local premiere of George Lucas’ story from a “galaxy far, far away…,” I get that the general public isn’t lining up to read dental content on your website.

There are reasons for this.

The obvious ones: time and perception.

One of those you can’t control. The other you absolutely can.

Perception is everything. Start controlling it.

The first level of defenses fall the moment a potential new patient, client, or current one types in a dental search term in their web browser. Your published content goes to work on your behalf.

And this is where the current online reality shifts for you and your dental practice. The availability of relevant content increases the likelihood you’ll show up somewhere at or near the top of their search results.

Merely having a website with the words “dental,” “dentist,” etc peppered throughout just to stoke the search engine’s fire. Those days are gone.

Welcome to the new digital marketing world of usefulness (the key, by the way, to controlling perception and building anticipation).

Give them something.

If it’s written content, it must be readable, understandable, and above all, useful to their search.

Perception is that dental content is technical (much of it is).

Perception is that dental content is boring (much of it is).

Perception is that dental content is baited and weighted to lure you into the office for something “free” that will lead you into a consult room where you’re introduced to the “need” for hundreds or thousands of dollars of treatment (much of it is).

The rise of “just because” content.

Informed decisions are better than decisions made under pressure. Wouldn’t you rather have the reputation of being a trusted resource that educates people into a decision?

Become an authority. And when people trust you as an authority their perception shifts.

How to shift the perception about your dental content.

1-Launch, re-launch, revise, or revisit your dental blog strategy.

Did you give up blogging too soon? Have you delayed starting? Are there loooong gaps between your most recent post and today?

Your authority as a dental professional increases when you consistently deliver quality, useful, reader-focused information.

CE courses and credits can appear irrelevant (as a credential) for the general public. They’re looking for accessible answers to their questions.

And people are accustomed to reaching for their smart phone or tablet, opening their web browser, typing a word in the search bar…and viola!…reading something relevant to their need.

They will read. And vital to your authority, they’ll return for more if what they find leads to solutions on a physical or emotional level.

2-Keep your blog topped-off with a minimum of two fresh posts per month.

We could debate blog frequency all day. Let’s not.

Instead, set a goal to blog consistently. And by consistent, start with a fresh post every other week (minimum two per month).

Once you get in-the-zone you’ll actually find it easier to up the frequency. In fact, once a week will become your new blogging pace.

Set a goal to publish once a week as you complete a month or two of every other week publishing. Block out some time. Maintain a running list of topics and content ideas.

And if your time is limited or your desire to write is low (as I suspect both to be true since you’re a busy, thriving dental professional who’d rather be doing dentistry) secure the services of a dental copywriter or dental blogger to produce your blog content on a consistent weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly schedule.

3-Listen, learn, and leverage what you discover into new posts.

Be intentional about publishing content that people will read and return for more. And your best intentional strategy is listening.

What are your patients, clients, readers asking about? Talking about?

Ask your dental hygienists what they’re hearing from patients. They’re on the front-lines of patient communication.

Train them, your dental assistants, and front-office team to ask fruitful questions. You’re seeking information you can turn into informational content.

When you do this effectively, patients will get the idea that you’re tapped into their concerns, fears, health and appearance goals, etc. When they feel listened to and heard, they’ll naturally share your content with others.

And shared content equals referrals. And referrals help build your practice.

If you want people to be wide-eyed with anticipation – the “Wow!” – build anticipation through your informative, useful content.

They may not line up. But they’ll know where the line forms when the time comes.

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