The practice of dentistry marries form and function. It’s science – highly detailed and technical. But much of it is also about aesthetics – creating beautiful smiles for our patients. The best dentists have an appreciation for the balance between art and science. We’ve found that maintaining that balance is the key to creating the best dental websites.
A website that’s all science is boring, wordy, and doesn’t foster human connection. But a website that ignores science is pretty but ineffective – it’s a recipe for something confusing that nobody “gets.”
The importance of good design in a website is obvious, but can’t be understated. So here are some scientific facts to back it up (we know you’ll appreciate this).
- 75% of users make judgements about a company’s credibility based on visual design alone
Source: https://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html#chi00 - 94% of users’ first impressions of healthcare websites were design-related, meaning that users base their assumption about the quality of dentistry you offer by your website’s design.
Source: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/985692.985776 - And that first impression is formed in 50 milliseconds.
Source: https://research.google/pubs/pub38315/ - 38% of people will stop engaging with your website if your content and layout are unattractive.
Source: https://blog.adobe.com/en/uk.html
Okay, you have the scientific facts. You know that the visual design on your website is possibly the most important factor in whether or not it draws new patients to your practice. Now the question is, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how do you know if your website design is good? Luckily, science can help answer that, too, with a handful of proven best practices.
1. A Window to Your Practice
Start with the aesthetic of your practice. Is it homey and comfortable? Is it more bright and airy, like a relaxing spa? Maybe you’re in a very industrial, urban building. These are all things that can be incorporated into the design of your website. Your site should let patients know what to expect when they arrive.
2. Beautiful Professional Photography
Your site should feature high-quality photos of you, your team, and your practice so people can get to know you before they arrive. Stock photos are cheesy. On top of that, they’re impersonal and easy to recognize. Photos of real human beings, especially you, will make a real connection between you and a prospective patient.
3. A Compelling Story
What makes you different, unique, and good at your job? Is it your passion for people, your devotion to excellence, your plethora of CE experience? Whatever it is, let people get to know you by telling your story in a genuine, believable way through copy, videos, and visuals on your site.
These three things are proven to make your website more compelling and beautiful. Science and technology can also help prop up good design and take it to another level by:
- Making your site seamlessly adaptable to mobile devices. Another fact: more than half of your website’s visitors will first view your website on a mobile phone.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/ - Simplifying and streamlining your site so that the most sought-after information is also the easiest to find. Scientific thought behind design = good navigation and ease for the user.
- Coding your website for search engine optimization (SEO). Good web developers know how to properly organize and strategize to score well with Google.
It makes sense that form and function, art and science, aesthetics and technology would come together in dentistry. You’ve been making this connection your whole career, so carry it through to your marketing, go forth, and prosper! Need some help?
Guest article written by Studio8e8 and here's a message from them:
We’d love to build a custom dental website for your practice, so send us an email, DM, facebook message, or however you like to communicate, and we’d love to see how Studio EightyEight can help.
