It goes without saying that good quality content is crucial for a website to perform well and convert website visitors into new patients. It should be carefully considered, well written and have a clear objective in mind.
Your website content should clearly and accurately address the information potential patients need to know (i.e. treatments you provide, why you provide the best care, who is on your team etc), but it should also make sure that you’re driving visitors towards your website goals, like booking in for a consultation or calling you to find out more.
Ultimately, you want your website to be a pleasure to visit, and reflect who you are, whilst still being high performing.
However, when it comes to actually creating content, even the most experienced professionals can get writer’s block. Well thought out, clear and concise web copy can really make a difference to the overall performance of your website, and it often can feel like an almighty task to create.
With our top 5 easy to follow copywriting tips you should be able to beat that writer’s block, and also ensure your website copy is working for you!
The difference between good copy and great copy really is the tone of voice that is used throughout your website. Creating a unique tone of voice is a brilliant way to not only make you stand out from the crowd, but also to build up a relationship with your web visitors right from the very start.
The best way to find your own tone of voice is to establish who your target patient is and how they speak or like to be spoken to. It’s them who you’re speaking to after all!
Why not start by building your very own Patient Profile?
A consumer profile is a one page document that helps you to outline your target patients’ credentials. It can list their pain points, interests, buying patterns, and key characteristics.
Whilst it may seem that your current patients have different pain points and different things that are important to them, if you take an hour to sit and think through your top fifty or so patients, you will probably find that they have lots more in common than you think. There could be similarities in age, who they are, what they like and what’s important to them. Work out why your patients come to your practice and not the practice of your competitors down the road.
All of these unique factors will start to build up a fantastic insight into who your target audience is. You can then use this to start reflecting on the type of language that they’re more likely to resonate with to start building your tone of voice.
Although this may seem obvious, a well thought out and clear treatment page can often be overlooked when creating a high performing website.
Whilst it may be easy to just simply “list” the treatments you have available at your practice, you could be losing lots of potential patients by simply assuming they already have the knowledge they need when looking at the treatment options available.
Never assume knowledge and use language as your best friend to help your potential patients really understand your treatment page and what it is that you offer. You may know what peridontistry is but your potential new patient may not, so use more simple and descriptive language to communicate what you offer.
Start by categorising your services into a logical and simple structure and put them in context using your patients’ language. Don’t use overly complicated jargon, which has the potential to increase your bounce rate (visitors bouncing off your page or whole website as they cannot find or understand what they are looking for!) and confuse your reader.
Don’t forget to make sure that all of your language is appropriate and follows the rules of the CQC. For example, we see many people using the word specialist on their dental practice website. However you can only use the word ‘specialist’ in dentistry if you are genuinely a qualified specialist! This is definitely worth noting and making sure you do your due diligence when creating your copy. Head to the CQC website for more information: https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/transparency/transparency
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating the copy for your website is forgetting your FAQ’s!
Don’t fall for this age-old error and neglect your frequently asked questions. Spend some time really considering your language here and making sure that you cover everything a potential patient might want to know.
Not only does it make life easier for your website visitors, it can save your company time and resources because you don’t have as many patients contacting you for answers.
Plus it helps to build trustworthy relationships right from the very start!
Really consider the questions that your existing patients ask when they’re in your practice, or are having certain treatments. Speak to the team and ask them what questions they are asked too!
You might find that each team member interacts with a patient at different stages of their journey, from enquiry, to TCO appointments, and questions may vary at each stage of the process. Use these to help to build a more thorough FAQ’s section on your website.
Whilst it is important to know how to speak to your patients – it’s just as important to know how to speak to Google!
There is no point in having a fantastic looking, and sounding website, if Google can’t find it. SEO is the practice of Search Engine Optimisation, and it’s a method of sowing carefully selected keywords into your copy, to make your website visible to search engines.
Enquiries that come from search engines are the best type of leads, afer word-of-mouth of course. They are searching for a solution and are ready to take action. You didn’t interrupt their day and find them – they found you!
Most searches begin with typing keywords like “dentists near me” into a search engine. There are only 13 spots on page one of Google, including the three map results, and the best way to ensure your practice is appearing in one of these sought after positions is by helping Google to understand that your website belongs there.
It is important to meet all of the technical “on page” requirements that go into ensuring that the search engine understands the value you are delivering and puts your website in front of your target patient when they make a search. This plays a large part in how you structure your website’s pages and should be considered when creating all pieces of written copy on your website.
Read our post ‘The Ultimate Guide to Dental SEO’ to get a greater understanding of how to start using SEO content on your website.
Your practice is as unique as you! So make sure your potential patients know this by showcasing your own case work to support your copy. Your competitors may have roughly the same treatment information as you, but your work will always be uniquely yours, so make sure to include this on your website.
Have you had a particularly transformative case, overhauling a patient’s smile using different treatments to achieve the results?
Or perhaps you have a specific technology that you offer that has delivered some great results to very happy patients? Feature them on your website!
With the permission of the patient, write about the problem, the solution and the results, with as much detail as possible. Use emotive language to really help your website visitor understand your work and begin to build a relationship with them. The more your website visitor feels that your work can target their pain point the more likely they are going to want to find out more.
Don’t forget to include rich media here, too. Rich media is simply a digital marketing term that adds value to your digital content. It can be photographs, videos, audio or any other element that encourages viewers to interact and engage with your content. Take as many photographs and videos of your work as you can, and use these to support your case studies. Plus, rich media can help to support your SEO too.
Why not check out our guide to taking photographs for your online Smile Gallery?
We hope these top 5 tips have kick started some great conversations and ideas for you to create or refresh your dental practices website copy.
We get it, the thought of producing high-quality content for your website is a daunting one, but that’s why copywriters exist! If you are serious about creating a website that you are proud of, consider working with a professional to achieve all of the above. The cost will pay for itself ten times over!
If you would like some help in getting started, send us an email to set up an appointment with one of our experts and we will ensure that your copywriting, and the rest of your website is performing to its full potential.