Websites are a critical part of your marketing strategy,
make no mistake that it will serve as your primary information source for the
majority of your patients. From contact info to appointment schedulers,
directions to dental terms; your website not only educates your future and
current patients, it should also serve as a sales tool attracting new patients
every day.
Most websites are nothing more than a brochure, a digital
foldout of info that your staff refers inbound callers to, but it must be more.
Your website is being listed every day in countless searches on the web by
everyone from a potential patient to vendors looking to contact you. It is
remarkable to think how many folks will have the opportunity to click on your
webpage. Will they? Have you optimized your site properly to attract those who
search for a dentist? Do you provide the easiest, most effective click-thru to
encourage an appointment? Are enough people able to find your site? These
questions must be addressed in order to see the results a website can produce
for your bottom line.
For those of us who do not know exactly how a website works
or even how to design them, most will choose to either spend a fortune with a
web designer to do it for us or we don’t put much if any resources towards
launching a site at all. Both of these choices are bad. Websites do not have to
cost a bundle, but they should be a focal point in your marketing plan. You
cannot “buy” your way to a profitable website, no matter what that web designer
tells you and even the most well-intentioned dentist who convinces himself that
he will get to the website later never does. A site should be live by grand
opening at the latest.
I have sold, designed and optimized websites for 8 years and
can tell you that the most effective sites became that way long after I was in
the picture. The dentist spent the time to promote the site, updated it
frequently and used it like his father did a business card. Everyone had the
address, it was always fresh with accurate content and reflected the brand of
his practice.
So before you throw good money after bad shifting website
responsibility to someone else, or you decide that hardwood floors are more
important than a well thought out site, find someone you trust to help you
implement a strategy for your site. Have a plan, work it and include it in all
your marketing efforts. Think of a website as one of those expenses that the
ROI can actually be tracked, which are few and far between; love it, never
leave it.
I know that many of you are sitting there thinking to
yourself, “Well tell us how much to spend!!!” I cannot, but will give you a
range. I cannot tell you exactly how much to spend for the simple fact that I
don’t know what your website needs, location and demographics will determine
that to name a few. So what is the range you ask, between $2000-$5000. For most
of you it should be on the lower end. The high end would be reserved for LVI
types, high-end cosmetic practices with lots of video production, interviews
and pictures. These types of sites can go as high as $15000. Any more than that
and you are most likely being taken advantage of. Sites less than $1500 should
also raise red flags. They are most likely generic templates with no real
customization or interactive plug-ins.
Remember, a site is a living thing, it grows and needs care.
It will give as much as it gets. Happy building!
Matthew Franek
Chief Marketing Officer
(512)619-5590
