Dentists have a lot going on. There are patients to see, conditions to evaluate, treatments to coordinate and several other day-to-day tasks associated with running a practice. Dentists usually don’t have time for any marketing efforts, let alone building and updating a website.
Even if you hired someone to build your website (or an in-house staff member), it’s easy for it to become outdated, broken or just sitting there without traffic. To make your website work for you, it needs to be following the latest best practices and should be fully optimized with your target audience in mind.
If you’re unsure whether your dental practice website is in need of a redesign or not, here are five warning signs to review:
1. You’re getting no traffic.
It’s not uncommon for newer and smaller dental practices to struggle with getting visitors to their websites. But if your practice is established, you should be seeing year-over-year traffic growth. Don’t compare your numbers to bigger companies, however, as there are factors like demographics, location and paid advertising that can swing things in their favor. Instead, start tracking your own traffic numbers. If you’re seeing a downward traffic trend (or you’ve plateaued), it might be time to refresh your website.
2. Your search rankings are low.
Can’t find yourself on Page 1 of Google? What about your competitors? If you’re not ranking for your ideal keywords and your fellow dental practices in your area, it could be a sign that your website isn’t optimized for SEO. Local SEO optimizations are important, as is focusing on the right keywords. Even if your website looks perfect, it could need some redesign work on the back end when it comes to SEO.
3. Viewing your website on a mobile device is difficult.
Is your website responsive on mobile? In case you don’t know what this means, a website should look good and be easy to read on both a desktop computer and mobile device. Try visiting your website on your phone and seeing how it looks. Mobile responsiveness should be built into the interface—if it’s not, it’s a sign that it’s time for a change.
4. Visitors are staying on the home page.
Do you have a high bounce rate? That means visitors are only visiting the first page of your website they land on… and nothing else. Bounce rates also vary by industry and practice, so start measuring this metric and comparing it to what you’ve done in the past. Then you can identify whether it’s a problem with your home page, another page or your entire website.
5. Everything looks dated.
Finally, you can just tell when a website needs to be redesigned. If you have a gut feeling that yours is out of date, or friends and family are telling you it looks out of date, or you’re not getting the results you want from your website, it could be time for a redesign. Avoid photos from the 2000s, 1990s and 1980s and make sure you’re using modern colors and transitions. Other elements that make a website appear dated include having too much copy, having no CTAs, having text that is too small and tiny images.
If your practice is in need of a website redesign, contact us today so we can review it and go over your best options.