3 online tips to increase new appointments

Here are three ways to ensure your practice rises above the persistent noise to connect with prospective patients and convert them into new patient appointments.

1. Tailor your website for an amazing patient experience

In the connected world, prospective patients will form an immediate opinion of you and your services based on what they see and experience online. To ensure your website will drive new patients to choose your practice, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have a functional website? If not, your practice is invisible to the connected world.
• Does my website appeal to patients? Make sure your website reflects the vision of a developer who has taken a research-based approach to designing sites with prospective dental patients in mind.
• Is my website optimized for mobile devices? As of January 2014, 87 percent of smartphone users accessed the Internet using their phones.[2] If your website does not automatically optimize, your prospective patients will likely head to a competitor.

One last piece of advice — dental practices are unique businesses. If you decide it’s time to work on your website, use a reputable vendor with deep roots in designing sites specifically for the dental industry.

2. Make SEO a priority

Once you have your website in order, you need to make sure prospective patients can find it. Eighty percent of traffic to a website begins with a search query, and 61 percent of searchers consider local results to be more relevant than standard search results.[3] This makes search engine optimization (SEO) efforts a must. A key here is to use a firm well versed in local SEO strategies within the dental industry to achieve lasting results.

3. Energize your social media efforts

According to a recent study, Internet users spend more time on social media than any other Internet activity.[4] Embracing a social media presence enables you to spend time effectively forging genuine relationships with prospective patients. In terms of where to invest in social media: Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn are three places where you should focus your efforts. If your practice wants to attract more new patients, it is important that you be active and engaged on these three social media channels.

Final thoughts

The Internet is your best source for reaching prospective patients — and focusing on these three strategies will help your practice create connections that convert into new patient appointments.

Note: This article was published in Ortho Tribune U.S. Edition, Vol. 9, No. 3, PCSO Edition. A complete list of references is available from the publisher.