Is Your Modern Dental Website Missing These Important Features?

When a potential patient pays a visit to your dental practice’s website, they will be there for different reasons. One, they will be looking for more information about your practice. Two, they will be visiting because an outbound link led them to your site. In either case, most modern-day internet users will be looking for specific links on your site.

Social Media Links

Social media has grown to be the go-to way for prospective customers to get to know a business they are considering visiting, including healthcare professionals. Many site visitors will look for social media links on your website specifically for that reason. Therefore, these quick links should be in a visible spot across your website pages.

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Online Appointment Booking

Offering the ability to book an appointment online is a modern-day convenience for any dental patient. This can save them from placing a phone call when text and email communication may actually be the preference among some groups. Additionally, online appointment booking can reduce in-office call volume substantially, which helps your staff better manage patients in the waiting room or who may be calling for more pressing reasons.

Patient Forms Link

New patients like to be prepared for their visit before their first appointment. Plus, if you require forms from longstanding patients for other reasons beyond new patient history forms, you can simply direct customers to your website to input their information. Therefore, incorporating a forms link on your website is a feature that most patients will appreciate, and one that can simplify processes in the office.

Reviews from Other Patients

Reviews from other patients can be one of the most profound ways to garner positive traffic to your dental practice. Most modern patients will actively seek online reviews of a dental practice before they make an appointment. Making good reviews available on your website makes it simple for visitors to see what patients are saying.

Need Help with Your Dental Practice’s Website?

When built appropriately, your dental practice’s website can be a functional hub for information, attract visitors, and even simplify some of your everyday operations. If you suspect your dental practice website needs work, reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals to schedule an appointment.

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A Close Look at Why Your Dental Practice Needs a Website

Does your dental practice have a website yet? If not, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to serve all of your patients and attract new patients. Building a new website may require the help of professionals, but the effort is well worth the outcome. Here is a look at the three reasons you need a website as a dentist.

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1. Patients use the internet to make care decisions.

Around 72 percent of patients will turn to the internet to get information about healthcare providers, including dentists. While simply having your business listed on Google and patient review sites is important, your website is like your digital presence that can be used for an introduction to services.

2. Your website simplifies everyday operations.

Websites are a digital hub for information and to attract new patients, but they can also simplify several aspects of your dental practice’s operations. For example, you can integrate a chat feature that gives patients immediate access to an intelligent program to answer common questions. Likewise, you can allow patients to request appointments online instead of having to call the office. You will deter a lot of calls to the office simply by having a website, which can free up your staff members to take care of in-office objectives.

3. Get the opportunity to keep your patients informed and engaged.

Patient engagement helps to retain those patients. They will feel more in touch with your practice, so they are more likely to feel that sense of trust and familiarity and stick with you. A website gives you an easy avenue to make that happen. You can offer information about:

  • The types of services you have available
  • Changes that could affect your patients and their care
  • Special announcements, such as new service hours or insurance changes

Build an Effective Dental Website with Digital Marketing Help

At the end of the day, a good website can bring so much value to your dental practice, especially in the modern-day. If you don’t have a website for your practice or your dental website is not performing as you expect, reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals to discuss how we can help.

 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/72-of-consumers-use-the-internet-to-find-healthcare-info-6-survey-findings.html

 

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3 Tips for Encouraging Positive Reviews of Your Optometry Practice

Did you know that 90 percent of patients evaluate healthcare providers, including optometrists, by their online reputation? With that being said, it is easy to understand why reputation management can be so important for your optometry practice. Part of reputation management is encouraging people to say something nice about your practice online, via online reviews or otherwise. Here are a few tips to help you encourage positive reviews.

1. Offer follow-up emails with a link to provide feedback.

If a patient has offered you their email for appointment reminders and other pertinent care information, be sure to use that line of communication to also request positive feedback. For example, after a patient has visited the office, send them a thank you email with a quick link where they can offer their feedback about the experience.

2. Welcome patient feedback in the office.

There is nothing wrong with requesting feedback face to face. If a patient visits the office and is especially happy with their experience, hand them over a business card with details about how to leave a review. Or, simply mention that you love to get feedback and let the patient know how they can share their experience. You may be surprised about how many patients are more than willing to leave a positive review.

3. Request a review on your office’s social media profile.

Social media is a casual way to keep in touch with your patients, but many social media platforms have areas where followers can leave a review of your business. Some patients will automatically gravitate to these social reviews because they feel they are especially reliable. If you don’t yet have a lot of online reviews, on your social media pages or otherwise, create a post that requests feedback from patients with quick links to review areas.

Find Help with Reputation Management for Optometry Practices

Between encouraging reviews and handling social media profiles, reputation management can take a lot of time and effort. Enlisting the help of a digital marketing company that offers reputation management services is always recommended. Looking for help with managing your reputation as an optometrist? Reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals for a free quote!

 

https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/how-patients-use-online-reviews/

Google My Business Store Front

Why Is Google My Business So Important?

Google My Business is a free tool from Google that allows business owners to take control of their online presence. When your patients search for a business online, the keywords they use can trigger the search engine to pull up your business name and location on the map.

Many business owners forget about just how important it is to reach the people who are physically closest to them, and just how much one search engine can impact their bottom line. Prioritizing their searches can be the key to boosting your revenue across the board.

Google My Business: The Business Profile

You may know from your own Google searches that there are plenty of businesses that show up in Google searches that don’t actually have a website. If you click on their information, it may provide little more than an address and a name. It begs the question: why would business owners establish a profile but supply practically no information about what they do?

The answer is that it’s possible the business owner didn’t set up their profile at all. Not everyone thinks it’s important to be online, especially if they’ve gone this long without it. A basic business profile only takes a few basic facts about the establishment to create it, which means that a total stranger can set up the profile and cause it to pop up on the map.

If you don’t want the narrative of your business to run away from, you need to have a concrete approach to how your customers are finding you. This will not only help you reach customers, but it can also help you find out what other people are saying about you.

Mastering the Strategy

Finding the right strategy for Google My Business starts with getting acquainted with the different features. Staying engaged with the available tools will show customers that you’re engaged with them. For instance, customers can ask you questions through Google My Business and get the answers they need to determine whether they want to take the next steps.

Local connections are powerful for a number of reasons. These are people who know everything from the customs to the streets of your city or town, and that common knowledge can be a foundation for the loyalty you need to both help your patients and get ahead.

You can also use analytics to determine how to adjust your profile and whether you need to add more information to it. From photos to hours to brand information, you’re building a bridge that can take your business to the next level.

Contact Digital Healthcare Solutions to Improve Local SEO

We are experts at finding out where your customers are, how they find you, and how you can find them. If you want to learn more about how we can best incorporate Google My Business into your larger local SEO strategy, contact us today to learn more.

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Does Your Optometry Website Need a Virtual Assistant?

Your optometry website should be attractive to potential clients. This means it must be user-friendly as well as fast and informative. Visitors to your site should navigate pages to find the information they need without making unnecessary clicks. One way of ensuring this happens is to add a virtual assistant, sometimes called a chatbot or virtual agent, to your site.

Adding a virtual assistant to your website benefits both you and your customers in multiple ways, including:
Customers are able to find answers to their questions anytime of the night or day.

  • Phone calls and email questions to your optometry office are decreased.
    You and your employees spend less time fielding inquiries.
    Consumer satisfaction rates increase.

Consumers love interacting with well-built websites, and studies have shown that not only do millions of people shop for goods and services online, but more and more, they’re adding phrases such as “near me,” “open now,” and “nearby” to their requests. This is why your optometry website must provide instant access to your daily hours of operation, your brick-and-mortar location, and the services you provide. This information needs to be easy to find, and your website must be responsive and simple to use. A virtual assistant is your first line of defense.

What Does a Virtual Website Assistant Do?

Your virtual assistant is usually an animated character that pops up when visitors to your site spend time on a page.woman-Thick-Frame-Glasse It’s capable of starting a chat session and providing answers to simple questions via hyperlinks to the correct page. In this way, consumers don’t waste time clicking from page to page to find the answer they need. Chatbots such as these use artificial intelligence to provide solutions to consumer problems.

How Do I Add a Virtual Assistant to My Website?

You can partner with a marketing company such as Digital Healthcare Solutions to create a chatbot that guides clients around your optometry website. You can even customize what your animated character will say by submitting a greeting and keywords that pertain to your site. This ensures that someone is always available online to answer simple questions and provide a basic level of customer service. Better, you won’t have to pay an employee to constantly monitor the site.

Contact Digital Healthcare Solutions Today

Digital Healthcare Solutions can improve the way your optometry website looks and performs, and we’re eager to discuss options for tweaking your online presence. Contact us today for a professional consultation.

https://www.chatbots.org/virtual_assistant/
https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics

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6 Effective Dental Marketing Ideas

Today, a successful dental marketing campaign requires practices to combine online advertising methods with traditional advertising techniques. Below are six dental marketing tactics that are simple, actionable and highly effective for growing any dental practice.

1. Engage the Local Community

Making a dental practice visible within the community can be accomplished by sponsoring a local baseball team. Bydental-mother-daughter purchasing shirts for the team and adding the practice’s logo, the advertising information is now directly in front of parents who have children needing dental care. Another way to gain new patients is by stapling a child-size toothbrush to a custom-designed postcard with information about the importance of biannual dental cleanings. This advertising method can also be used when targeting teens and adults.

2. Build a Social Media Presence

Incorporating social media into a practice’s marketing plan is one of the best ways to build awareness. By creating social media posts, practices can highlight the benefits their patients receive as well as any unique qualities that will place them above their competitors. Consider creating posts to acknowledge staff birthdays and major holidays. In addition, practices can recognize celebrations that specifically relate to dental care (e.g., National Dental Hygiene Month, etc.).

Be sure to include photos of smiling staff members as well as pictures to demonstrate the practice’s welcoming atmosphere and office’s chic interior. By providing these visually-appealing photos, potential patients may be more inclined to schedule an appointment.

3. Create an Easy-to-Use, Informative Site

While traditional dental marketing prefers brick-and-mortar offices, a successful digital marketing campaign requires that the practice optimize its website’s capabilities.

Since the practice’s website is frequently the first point of interaction with a potential patient, the content and photos on the site must appear professional. In addition, the site must be easy to navigate.

4. Create Monthly Newsletters

Monthly newsletters are vital to a practice’s marketing strategy. The purpose of a newsletter is to maintain top-of-mind awareness and preserve relationships. These newsletters should be easy to read, helpful and, whenever possible, fun. With a newsletter, a practice can keep patients familiar with their dental staff, inform patients of current specials, new products and upcoming events (e.g., A Halloween Candy Buyback, etc.).

5. Provide Patients with Appointment Reminders

Whether providing patients with appointment reminders via a mailed postcard, a phone call, a text message or an email, these communications are essential to ensuring a patient arrives for his or her scheduled appointment. These same methods can be used to remind patients that it is time to make an appointment (e.g., for their bi-annual cleaning, etc.).

6. Mailed Offers and Postcards — Direct Mail

Despite the regular use of social media for advertising purposes, direct mail is still a feasible method for advertising, especially when it comes to Baby Boomers. Direct mail advertisements should draw attention to the practice’s specialty as well as outline any competitive price points.

 

  1. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/11/30/dental-marketing-ideas
  2. https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/blog/10-dental-marketing-strategies-you-can-implement-right-now/
  3. https://mysocialpractice.com/2020/04/7-dental-marketing-ideas-you-can-work-on-from-home/
  4. https://markitors.com/dental-marketing-strategy/
  5. https://www.ccpedo.com/october-national-dental-hygiene-month/
  6. http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/
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4 Things the Modern Patient Looks for in an Optometrist’s Website

When the internet first started out, there really wasn’t anyone looking for specific information online. Over the years, however, the worldwide web has grown to be the most pertinent place for prospective patients to go to look for information, including prospective optometry patients. Here is a close look at a few things modern-day internet searchers expect to see when they land on an optometrist’s website.

1. Detailed information about services offered.

Naturally, you should provide a list of the services that you provide at your practice. However, the modern-day prospective patient is going to be looking for more in-depth information about what services you offer. For example, simply stating that you offer pediatric exams is no going to be as attractive as explaining your pediatric eye exams and why you are a trustworthy provider.

2. Clear information for prospective patients.

Patients who get online and look for an eye doctor in their area are going to want a clear listing of things they would want to know as your patient. Some items that are important to include on your optometry website include:

  • Your exact location, including a map or directions
  • What types of insurance or payments you accept for services
  • Your business hours
  • What to expect when a patient comes in for a visit
  • Links to forms for new patients
  • What services you are equipped to handle in-office

3. Professionalism and expertise.

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but roughly 1 of every 20 internet searches is related to health information according to Google. The modern-day optometry patient is likely going to get online and look for information about the issues they experience, and they will expect to see details from true professionals. Your blog is a good place to provide your expertise and poise your practice as a trustworthy establishment looking to share reliable eye health information.

4. Easy points of contact and convenience.

For a long time, contacting any kind of healthcare provider would typically involve a phone call. However, the modern optometry patient may expect more convenient points of access and a higher level of convenience. For instance, it can be convenient for patients if they can request an appointment online or send a chat message to ask about a particular service offering.

Hone Your Optometry Practice Website with the Help of Professionals

Your website is usually the first impression prospects get of your practice, so making sure it delivers what is expected is ever-important. Reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals for professional help to get your website up to par with your competitors.

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The Three Most Important Facets of an Optometry Office Marketing Strategy

You pour a lot of time and effort into making sure your optometry patients have everything they need from you as a service provider. However, keeping a consistent stream of new patients coming to your office for treatment is important for your revenue as a professional. Many optometrists disregard the effectiveness of a good marketing strategy because their services are such a necessary thing within a geographic area. A good marketing strategy can take your business operation from just necessary to all-out popular. Here are three facets of the best optometry office marketing strategy.

A Well-Curated Brand

Brand image is extremely important in the medical industry. As a healthcare service provider, even you have a brand image, but it must be properly honed to do its job. A well-curated brand image is beneficial for a marketing strategy because:

  • It helps keep you recognizable in a saturated industry
  • It helps convey the message that your service knows what it’s doing
  • It helps build credibility

Your brand image is more than just a nice logo or slogan; it is all about how you appear in the eyes of both prospects and current patients. Logos, slogans, service imagery, and even things like employee uniforms can build a brand image.

An Optimized Website

The majority of people who need help from an eye doctor these days are goings to get online and look up your optometry office before they ever make a call. These people will be looking for things like:

  • What kinds of services you have available
  • What types of payments your office accepts
  • What kind of office you run

If you do not have a nice, optimized website, you will have a lot of issues with your office website never being found. Or, when it is found, those visitors may not be impressed with what they see. Both issues can hurt your ability to gain new patients.

A Digital Marketing Plan

Marketing should be a two-pronged thing; you must have a good real-world marketing plan and a digital marketing plan. Lacking in either or can affect the effectiveness of the other. For example, if you have a commercial produced to be played on local radio stations, those who hear that ad will likely go online and check you out. Therefore, your digital marketing plan can be just as important as the rest of your strategy.

Overall, marketing your optometry office effectively can give you a better opportunity to serve new patients, grow your business, and build new revenue. Reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals for a consultation.

3 Ways a Blog Can Be Your Smartest Marketing Strategy as a Modern-Day Dentist

  About 80 percent of dental school student graduates will be well on their way to having their own practice within five years of graduating. In modern-day dentistry, one of the very first things any practice owner should do is to create a well-optimized dentistry website to represent their office and services provides. Of course, this website should provide all the necessities, such as services offered, location information, and more, but the blog is just as important. Here is a look at why integrating a blog on your dentist’s website could be one of the best decisions ever.

Pose Yourself as a Trustworthy Professional in the Industry

The failure rate of dental practices is not that high; just over 2 percent according to some statistics. Just the same, however, you have a LOT of competition. In order to succeed as a dentist, you must pose yourself as a professional with a lot of insight into oral health care, and a blog can help you do just that. By filling your blog with reliable, factual information clients could be looking for, you automatically paint yourself as someone who knows what they are doing.

Ensure Your Website Gets Noticed in Search Results

A hidden function of the blog on a dental website is to help boost the site on search engine results. A regularly updated blog with excellent content and specific industry-related keywords can really get the site boosted on results pages.

Connect with Your Patients and Build Your Client Base

Patients often look for information about oral health concerns online before they ever call the dentist. Your blog can grow to be the go-to place for patients to get the latest information. You can use your blog to discuss the latest news in dental health, changes to expect within your practice, and concerns patients generally have. All this can bridge a strong connection to your patients that they will appreciate.

Work with a Digital Marketing Company for Help for Your Dentist Office

The blog may not seem worthy of your time and attention, but this one little website implement can totally evolve the traction of the site and your services. Reach out to us at Digital Healthcare Professionals to get a custom quote for your dentist office website optimization today.

 

https://henryscheinequipmentcatalog.com/content-library/starting-practice-ownership/

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4 Reasons Your Optometry Practice Website May Not Be the Getting Web Traffic You Need

The website you have published for your optometry website should be the ideal lead-in for prospects. However, if traffic numbers are not where they should be, there are some likely reasons behind the problem.

1. Your website is not as functional as it should be.

If there is one thing that can send a visitor to your optometry website off in another direction, it is a dysfunctional website. Every detail should be ironed out, including the functions of links and buttons, videos and slideshows that should be working, and any graphics you use.

2. Your website is not properly optimized using SEO best-practices.

SEO best practices involve incorporating the right keywords and phrases, optimizing visual content, and more. Bad traffic numbers are most often a sign that something with your SEO strategy is not up to par with everyone else.

3. Your blog is not extensive enough to draw organic traffic.

About 80 percent of people online interact with two things: social media and blogs. This speaks volumes about why your optometry blog should be carefully curated, valuable to visitors, and extensive. Blogs have the ability to fetch a 434% increase in indexed pages on search engines. Plus, the general statistic is that companies that have a nice blog can see an astounding 67% more leads in a single month than companies that neglect their blog. Your blog is vital, and in many respects, it can be your secret weapon as an optometrist looking for more traffic.

4. Your website is not optimized for local web traffic.

Yes, you want your website to be globally recognized on the world wide web, but your local traffic is just as important. In fact, your local traffic numbers should be outweighing global numbers unless you hit luck and gain a massive following for your practice from a wider base of consumers. If your site is not optimized to attract local visitors, your traffic numbers can be dreary.

The traffic you get to your optometry website can make all the difference in how well your practice grows and flourishes and stays relevant for the years to come. Reach out to us at Digital Health Professionals to learn how we can help.