Are you missing opportunities online? Take the online Practice Marketing Assessment to find out.
Updated 6/30/20
Google is constantly making changes to improve its search engine and the web user experience. Recent changes to improve responsiveness and accessibility may also affect your dental practice’s website and how you rank in search results.
- Responsive website design can make it easier for patients to find your practice and make an appointment.
- Making your website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act–while not yet a requirement–is better for everyone.
To help potential patients find and interact with your practice online, be mobile-responsive and be accessible.
Be Mobile-Responsive
In 2019, more than half of all Internet traffic will go through a mobile device. A mobile-responsive website allows your practice to present itself in the best format, whether readers are using smartphones, tablets or desktop devices.
A mobile-responsive web design ensures that your website will load on a variety of devices, window sizes and screen sizes. Unlike a desktop version of your website, which often takes longer to load, mobile responsive design does not require you to maintain separate versions of your website.
Advantages of mobile-responsive website design include:
- Google gives mobile-responsive sites priority in search results, helping potential patients find you.
- Content and images display correctly on any device or screen size.
- Only one version of your website is needed, saving you time and money, and making it more likely that you’ll maintain your website.
Be Accessible
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures people are not discriminated against due to their disabilities. While this law doesn’t require your website to accommodate visitors with disabilities, as it does with public locations, it’s a good idea to be as ADA-compliant as possible in 2019. Plus, it demonstrates your commitment to serving every patient, regardless of their abilities.
Talk to your website hosting company about meeting the suggested ADA accessibility guidelines for websites. Meanwhile, you can use a website evaluation tool such as WAVE to reveal potential accessibility problems.
In today’s crowded dental marketplace, it’s critical to keep the patients you already have, attract new patients, and differentiate your practice from the competition. Take the Practice Marketing Assessment to see what other opportunities you might be missing online and if your marketing dollars are being spent wisely.
Learn More
Visit www.dentrix.com/solutions/practice-marketing to find out more about practice marketing with Dentrix.
Get advice about other aspects of practice marketing by reading the Dentrix Magazine practice marketing articles at https://magazine.dentrix.com/category/practice-marketing/.
Originally published in the Dentrix eNewsletter, May 2019
