dental website
The Use-it-or-Lose-It Factor That Attracts People to Your Dental Marketing
We have two young adult daughters. The youngest (in her early twenties) was involved in a car accident that totaled her newly purchased vehicle.
Yeah. I know! Bummer.
The frustration she’s experienced reaching an acceptable insurance settlement is proof that having one thing matters.
Leverage.
And leverage is an essential reason why you must be in a position of authority in your dental marketing.
Two fortunate things about my daughter’s accident. One, she wasn’t injured. Two, it wasn’t her fault.
But the no-fault issue isn’t without loads of hassle. Of course, I’ve been the supportive Dad (why wouldn’t I).
My unfortunate experience with auto accidents gives me a certain amount of leverage. I can use it on her behalf to get what she deserves from the at fault’s insurance provider.
Leverage is essential to getting what you want, what you need, or what you’re entitled to.
You have more authority than you’re leveraging as a dental professional.
- You’re educated.
- You have solutions to people’s problems and pain.
- You deliver a valuable and useful service.
The magic of leveraged authority
In a previous post, you discovered how to leverage your expertise via your Platform Content (PC). Revisit the post to understand how your dental website has essential cause and effect value.
It’s time to amp-up your website (PC). And your Authority Content (AC) is the energy you need.
Gone are the days when a mere website is all you need. Sure, it’s a start.
Search engines (e.g. Google) recognizes that you have one. But if you want to vault to a higher ranking as a dental provider you must…I repeat, MUST prove that you’re a useful resource worthy of people’s search.
There’s more to being useful online as a dental professional than common Services and Procedures web pages packed with dental keywords.
PC + AC = “Leverage”: How to leverage your authority into an ongoing stream of profitable relationships.
- Keep your blog updated with fresh, informative content. Answer the questions your patients, clients, or readers are asking via your blog content.
- Tap into patient’s or client’s questions with responsive, relevant, quick & easy surveys. Develop your own surveys/questions instead of using standardized approaches.
- Avoid “bait-and-switch” tactics when surveying and promoting your content on your website and through social media channels. Do it just-because and be up front about your reason(s).
- Re-purpose your blog content into a downloadable e-book. Offer the e-book (free) on your website or via a designated landing page. Share the download link every opportunity you get and you’ll develop a reputation of being a go-to resource.
- Start a podcast. It’s a fresh way to spotlight your “authority.” Check out these resources:
Pat Flynn’s How to Start a Podcast Tutorial
Rainmaker.fm – The Showrunner podcast
And who knows…
You might create a passive income stream out of your content development. And who couldn’t use that kind of financial and career leverage?
Stay tuned. In an upcoming post you’ll get the final content piece that increases your influence.
The First (of 3) Snooze-You-Lose Strategies That Eliminate Panic and Propel Your Dental Marketing
If you’ve ever attended a family reunion you understand. I’ll explain.
At the core, it’s the same principle that connects your dental marketing to the big-picture strategy.
My dad made a statement at our most recent family reunion. I can’t get it out of my mind.
It answers the question, “Why am I here?” And I’m not talking some existential, meaning of life idea.
The essence of his statement to our gathering of nephews, nieces, cousins, spouses, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren defines what it means to be family.
We were circling up prior to our reunion meal. My dad (the current family patriarch) pointed to the displayed, vintage portraits of my grandmother and grandfather.
Then, tearfully gesturing to our gathering, said, “They caused all this…”
Cause and effect
Everything starts somewhere. Before a tree, family or otherwise, extends its branches, there’s a simple seed (the cause).
And your dental marketing impact (the effect) is no different.
What seeds are you planting? And going a step further, do you have a strategy that’s easy to implement?
Reacting isn’t a strategy
You’re accustomed to it. For example, as a dental provider, you react to the pain a patient presents with.
Your education, training, and experience teaches you to diagnose the situation and prescribe a treatment plan. I realize it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the imagery.
Reaction can grip you too when there’s a need to market your services.
- New patient scheduling is down
- Recare has stalled
- Web search analytics are showing downward traffic trends
And the dentist down the street is your community’s new rock star with their state-of-the-art…cutting-edge this or that (and if they use “state-of-the-art” or “cutting edge” to describe whatever in their latest postcard mailer or on their newly designed website, you should stop worrying…because no one cares…seriously, nothing says boring, “numbing,” marketing copy than those two phrases…but I digress).
Meanwhile, back to your challenge at hand…
Your marketing dilemma is a different cause for reaction than you’re typically educated, trained, and experienced to handle. You know when a tooth has erupted and what to do to fix it.
Now your marketing presents with pain. What to do?
A road paved with “good intentions” that leads you nowhere
Well intentioned dental professionals do what they know best to do when marketing challenges arise. Right?
You leave a Post-it® note on the desk of your office manager or designated front-office team member that reads, “See me about an email blast…” (or something related to a panic-driven “marketing” blitz).
Is that the best you can do?
Your dental marketing deserves better than a random, reactively conceived, out-of-their-depth (with all due respect reference to the person tasked) email blast. You’re panicked. I get it.
Take a deep breath.
Better…?
Now let’s assess the problem and nail down a more effective solution to your ongoing marketing dilemma.
You WILL be in panic mode again. That is, unless you readjust your perspective and realign your approach.
The first (of 3) marketing content resources you’ll ever need to build your dental practice or dental industry business (and stop burdening an already focused and busy business assistant).
1-Your Platform Content (PC)
Consider your website your office’s front door. Before a new patient or anyone else walks through the door of your dental practice they’ve probably invested a portion of their time hanging around in your digital “lobby.”
This assumes you have a website. If you don’t…well…we need to talk (and we should have that conversation, like, NOW).
Having a website is only the beginning. These days there’s more to an established, effective, useful, search friendly online presence than a mere website.
Home page-check! About us page-check! Services pages-check! Contact us page-check! Social media buttons-check!
I’ll even go so far to say Blog-check! You’d be surprised (perhaps) how few can check that one off the list these days.
And if you do have a blog page, how fresh and/or recent and useful is your content?
More on that later.
How to make your dental website a solid, home-base platform
Consider it the “cause” of your intended “effect” (to borrow from my earlier family reunion story).
If you want to avoid reactionary, panic-stricken marketing make certain your website platform is solid.
- Visit your website as if you’re searching for a dental provider. How informative is it? Do you know where to go next from page to page? Does it communicate relevant, benefit focused information (rather than “hey, look how great, equipped, educated, etc we are…”)? Are there clear calls to action page to page? Does the content ultimately lead to scheduling an appointment or consultation?
- Clean up your language. Make sure your entire site is “you” (reader/patient/client) focused. It should read as if you’re having a personal conversation with the person reading your content.
- Stop talking so much. Reduce your page word count if necessary. You should be able to inform and compel a response with 250 to 500 words per page on average.
- Keep it real. Evaluate your page header images. If your images look cookie-cutter, your site can appear that way.
You want to avoid having the reader feel like, “oh, I’ve been here before…just another dental website…” Imagine them feeling instead that your practice story, culture, and voice is different than most…and unique to yours.
Your dental marketing starts somewhere. And your website platform is the most strategic place to begin if you want to solve the panic mode problem in your marketing.
Process and act on this for now. Stay tuned…there’s more to come in an upcoming post.
2 Actions That Will Protect Your Dental Website from Being Left-Out-in-the-Rain
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.
Where the Line Forms: How to Build Anticipation with Your Dental Blog Content
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.
The Case for “Simple” and What Works on Your Dental Website Platform
I’m not here to debate their music. In fact, I’ll go on record and say that I’m a major U2 fan.
It’s their platform – like your dental marketing platform – that enables them to deliver consistently whenever and wherever they choose to make music.
Speaking of wherever, New Yorkers were drawn to a gathering of “street performers” on a subway platform. Imagine the signature sound being created not by some local tribute band but Bono and crew themselves.
I experienced U2 a few years ago in a massive, produced, high-energy, sold-out stadium show. It was epic and I would expect nothing less from an impromptu, street gig as well.
It’s what fans expect from an iconic band.
And it shouldn’t surprise you that the simplicity of an unplugged, street-level gig would have the same awe inspiring impact. That’s U2.
Whatever your “music”, simply deliver
These days dental website copy and content seems to migrate towards a massive, produced, shiny-object approach. Maybe it’s an attempt to legitimize your services in an increasingly competitive market.
Equally popular is the trend towards content “fluff.” Dental-speak, tech-speak, call it what you will.
And even more trending are the easy-way-out, set-it-and-forget-it website platforms that replace your unique “story” (your dental practice brand) with cookie-cutter branding.
It’s time to simplify.
Your dental practice story deserves a platform. In fact, to cut through the noise, it’s required.
You’re in the business of providing dental services and skilled treatment to people. As you’re aware, those who seek your services are, more often than not, motivated by pain (e.g. a tooth ache, swollen gums, tooth loss, etc.).
They don’t wake up daily with the notion of, “Hey, I think I’ll surf the internet for dental information…” But if they’re in pain or if they’re aware of the benefits of dentistry to their overall health, your opportunity to create a “fan” is higher.
So what’s unique about your website?
I’m not talking about graphics, flashy design, pop-ups, sliders, slide-shows, YouTube videos, stock images of beautiful people with Hollywood smiles, page headlines that include the words “state-of-the-art” (promise me you’ll STOP using those words…PLEASE!) and any words that end in “-est.”
Think simplicity.
Okay, let’s define it.
Ready?
Be useful.
Time is of the essence when you capture the online attention of a current or potential dental patient. They stop to listen for one reason – they found YOU.
YOU – in a massive, produced, crowd of dental websites.
And they aren’t there to admire your website.
They want information. Easy to read, easy to understand, take-action-on information.
Information they found by a simple question or word typed into a popular online search tool (Google, Bing, etc.).
The question that defines how “useful” you are: Do they find an answer?
Here are some simple strategies to help:
- Publish blog or article page content that’s readable, conversational, lacks dental-speak, and could be understood by a 5th grader (not sounds like it was written by one…there’s a difference).
- Create downloadable, free information (e-book) on a trendy, seasonal dental topic (teeth whitening for wedding season, back to school dental care, how to use your insurance benefits before it’s too late, etc.).
- Produce a 5 minute weekly podcast episode on Frequently Asked Questions (answer one question per episode…how’s that for being simple and useful).
- Design a monthly or quarterly e-newsletter available by (free) subscription only. Give your readers your behind-the-scenes stuff here and make it appealing to belong to your “tribe” (special offers, promotions, etc just for joining).
- Brainstorm more ideas. Let your mind run free (or email me and we can start a conversation…why not?).
Remember this…
Your online success doesn’t depend on your ability to impress. It does depend on your ability to deliver simply what people have come to expect when they find you.
Simple, useful information.
How to Make Your Dental Website More than a Digital “Brochure”
The squirrel was efficient, I’ll give him that. But as I watched him, I wondered about something.
And it prompted my thinking about the set-it-and-forget-it approach to your dental website.
These days a website is essential…but it’s far from enough.
The diligent squirrel outside my office window makes sure he has adequate food supply. He finds a food source, searches for a storage location, and buries it.
It’s fascinating to watch (and often a significant distraction). My question: does he remember where he buries all his resources?
That’s a question of survival for the squirrel.
What about you?
Will YOU survive?
I’m not talking existentially. What concerns me here is whether or not you’ll survive the online marketing landscape.
You were wise – however long ago it was – to bury (invest) a significant amount of marketing resources in your dental website. Having a website is as basic as…well…brushing and flossing is to your oral health.
But what good is a website, really?
For starters, your website home page and/or about page captures your reader’s attention. The unique benefits of your practice story and culture should compel readers to click through to the all-important reason they visited your site.
We’re talking treatment, right?
Your dental services pages highlight the benefits of your treatment expertise. And the copy/content should compel them to ultimately click to your contact page to schedule an appointment or connect with one of your team members via email (an ongoing gold-mine if you use it effectively).
Hopefully, your website copy is designed to accomplish those primary functions. If not, we should talk.
The bigger issue
I intentionally omitted what (these days and I suspect for a long time) is the linchpin of an effective online presence.
Be warned, if you’ve adopted my friendly squirrel’s approach – burying it and forgetting it – you’re missing something that will turn your precious website into nothing more than an electronic brochure (and we know what people do with brochures once they’ve read them…).
Back to your dental services – this is where your current and potential new patients often decide via their ever present smart phone or tablet to schedule. A keyword (e.g. dental implant, dental fillings, dental veneers, dental crowns, etc.) landed them on your site.
But here’s the scary part.
They could have landed on any of the 100’s of dental websites locally. How do you stand out?
You tell me…you’re the expert!
I’m not being sarcastic. Actually, I’m paying you a compliment.
The missing element that sets your dental website a part from the crowd is content. Your expertise is the reason people schedule.
It’s also the path to how today’s search engines rank you. No longer is it enough to have a website.
You must have a reason for existing online. Being useful and helpful is first and foremost.
3 Basic Strategies to Prevent Your Dental Website from Being a Wasted Investment
1-Blog consistently
This is content-101. A regular channel that provides useful information is now a marketing essential.
But this is vital!
The content you post, publish, or otherwise share on your blog must be relevant and above all useful. Your blog content will be ignored and possibly penalized (by Google) if it’s lacking authenticity.
By authenticity, I mean – true to your voice, practice culture, expertise, etc. No longer can you post warmed-over, stale, keyword-baited “crap” just to “tease” the search engines (they’re smarter and for good reason).
Be useful! Enough said.
- Dial into the questions your patients are asking (are you listening?) and write blog posts about THAT!
- Make your content interesting at the same time you make it search effective.
- Give patients, site visitors something they can use at the bathroom sink when they’re practicing good oral hygiene.
- Provide first time site visitors something they can share with others about good dietary choices and their link to healthy teeth.
- Be the go-to dental expert in your local search area for not only good dental care but also outstanding dental information.
They find you by your dental keywords. They return by how well you create content around those words via a channel like your dental blog.
2-Showcase your authority with sidebar content (ebook, case study, Podcast, YouTube channel, Social media, etc.)
Think of this as the “something-extra.” Sidebar content is the mint-on-the-pillow (throwback to when 5-star hotels did this kind of thing).
No one comes to a dental website expecting anything more than smiling stock photos of pretty people, right? (That’s another post for another day…don’t get me started.)
Give them more than they expect.
Now, I’m not suggesting that people are reserving precious reading time for your 10 page ebook on teeth whitening. But, they will consider you above the norm if you provide them a compelling title and useful info to go with it.
Make it easy access. Ask for their email address (this is gold). Deliver content to their inbox or smartphone at the click of a sidebar button.
And speaking of smartphone – make certain ALL your online, delivered content is readable on a smart phone or tablet. You greatly reduce your reach and your relevance by missing this all-important benefit.
Use a variety of content products.
- An ebook (10-20 pages) on a frequently asked question (what are patients asking about – teeth whitening, veneers, non-metal braces, etc.?)
- A podcast or downloadable mp3 featuring you and a noted expert on a popular dental product (Sonic Toothbrush, oral cancer, etc.). Portability is key here. Many might not read your expertise but they’ll listen to it on a walk, run, during a workout or on a commute to work.
- Social media relationships. Set up and maintain an active Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Vine, etc. relationship with your patients and site visitors. And by active, I mean more than a random post every 4 weeks. Or only when you’re promoting an office special. And please stop gaming your social relationships with prizes (they get the angle and it makes you look…well…you get the picture).
Connect just because. And if you maintain an active blog presence you should have plenty to share and engage with via social media.
3-Use email better than most (newsletter, blog links, promotions)
This is why I earlier said the email address is “gold.” Once you have this resource you can communicate freely.
Be careful…
Don’t always be hitting their inbox with promotions, treatment specials, and product pitches. This will numb your readers and they’ll hit delete or unsubscribe quicker than you can rinse and spit.
Be intentional, strategic…and (once again) useful with your email content.
- Give as much thought to your subject line as your email content (this will make or break…open or spam your content).
- Balance your email content – less promotions, more usefulness (are you seeing a theme here).
- Tell a story in the first few lines to gain reader attention (like my squirrel story in the this post – you’re still thinking about that spunky lil’ guy arent’ you?)
- Transition naturally from your intro story to your reason for emailing and your all-important call to action.
- Link to your valuable, useful content (speaking of a call-to-action).
And about that squirrel.
He does remember where he keeps his food supply. I’ve watched him.
Instinct is a fascinating thing.