5 Reasons Dentists Should Use A Professional Web Developer

Dentistry is a business that’s been impacted heavily by the Internet. If you’re a dentist with your own practice or even one employed by a larger practice, you can benefit from having a website. But it’s not enough to hastily throw together a web page, especially if you’re an inexperienced web designer.

Here are five reasons you should use a professional developer to create your dentistry website.

1. People Use Your Website to Measure Your Credibility

48% of people said that a website’s design was the number one factor they used in assessing the credibility of a business.

That means they’re placing the design of the website above the business’ reputation, its storefront, its location, and more. If your site is poorly designed, nearly half of your potential patients won’t believe you’re credible or trustworthy. If your site doesn’t exist at all, your chances of attracting their business drop to near-zero.

Dentistry is a field where credibility is extremely important—people don’t want you operating on their teeth unless they trust you. So it’s in your best interests to think of your site as a digital representation of your business and to invest in making it represent your best qualities.

2. Web Developers Can Solve Problems Quickly

If your website is down or has some kind of crucial error preventing users from accessing some or all of the content, you need support.

Troubleshooting a major usability issue on your own is borderline impossible, and even if you can figure it out, chances are you won’t be able to fix the underlying problem. Most web developers let you sign up for support services, meaning they’ll be available to fix issues with your site whenever they spring up. Good developers are also experienced with building and repairing multiple types of websites, so they can anticipate these issues before they ever appear.

3. Patients Love Scheduling Appointments Online—And It Saves You Time

Dentists and other medical practices that allow patients to enter their information online see a major boost in business. People would much rather type their insurance info and personal details into a form on their computer or phone than repeat it over the phone to a receptionist and allowing them to see all of your available dates eliminates the frustrating process of finding an appointment time that works for you both.

This will also save your staff a ton of time, as they won’t spend as long on the phone, repeating information back to customers or adding appointments to your calendar. But designing a functioning calendar system on your own isn’t going to be easy. A developer can help.

4. Web Developers Understand Search Engine Optimization

The majority of patients will conduct a Google search for dentists before they ask friends, check the Yellow pages, or go out driving around looking for billboards. The search engine results page they arrive at will determine what dentist they choose, in almost every case.

People’s buying decisions today are informed much more by the order of results on Google than any other factor, and that’s just as true for dentists as other businesses. A good web developer will understand search engine optimization, the practice of maximizing your rank on search results pages. This way, when people in your area enter keywords related to dentistry, your site will be among the first to pop up.

5. A Professional Developer Can Help Your Branding

A big part of selling your business to people is branding, and it’s more complicated than it may seem. Experienced web developers know how to create a website that delivers branding messages to customers in a subtle, seamless way, so they leave your website with a strong, positive association with your business.

A good developer will also learn about your industry so that they can maximize elements of your brand that have a proven record of attracting patients. Communicating with your web developer about what you want your brand to convey will help you come together to make something that people remember.

If you spent the time and money to become a dentist, you’re invested in treating patients. But a poorly designed or nonexistent website will turn people away, and one with poor SEO will be buried by competitors.

Get a professional web developer to build your dentistry website, and you’ll be seeing a lot more smiling faces!