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4 Ways to Increase Appointment Bookings on Your Dental Practice Website

4 Ways to Increase Appointment Bookings on Your Dental Practice Website

When I first started my business, I knew the first steps on the roadmap I’d eventually take. I had the vision, I had the concept, but I couldn’t imagine how truly unique and fulfilling the end product would become.

I knew I was diving headfirst into web design and development, but I had no idea the growth and direction that the company would take in such a short amount of time. My partnership with the Job Portraits team is a huge representation of that process.

We connected initially with their need for a web developer, which led to business strategy creation, and then turnkey project and account management. The result? Consistent business for both of us.

Let me explain.

Where the project started

First, a little about Job Portraits.

Essentially, Job Portraits helps tech companies find and attract the right talent. They help candidates understand what it’s truly like to work at a company and verbalize that culture through well-crafted copy and content.

They’ve been effectively creating Employer Branding content since 2014, but it was time to level up.

Early in 2020, Job Portraits successfully sold four career micro-sites, all to tech companies. The concept was to integrate their proven written content with a reliable, user-friendly career site that attracted qualified applicants, simplified the application process, and created an ease of use for HR Managers on the back end.

Simple, right?

The kicker was, Job Portraits had sold a product but needed a partner to bring it to life. They knew their vision. They knew their concept. What they needed was execution.

That’s where I stepped in.

If you run a dental practice, you already know there are a lot of factors that go into making it successful. The staff. The location. The environment. But most important of all? Getting patients on the books. After all, without filled appointments, you don’t have much of a practice to run.

So how do you keep bringing in new patients, and consistently booking the ones you’ve already got? It’s not as hard or time consuming as it sounds. Just adopt the following simple digital strategies, and you’ll be on your way to being booked out well in advance.

Make It Easy for Patients to Book Online

The first step towards maximizing bookings is ensuring that for patients, making an appointment at your office is as easy as brushing their teeth. If they can’t find a booking link on your website or the booking process is too complicated, they’re likely to give up and go elsewhere. 

So look at your website from a newcomer’s point of view. Is there a link to book an appointment? Is it easy to find? When you click on it, is the scheduling process quick and easy? These are the important user experience questions that can make or break a new patient joining your practice. If you can’t answer them with a solid “yes,” make these website adjustments your first priority.

Help Patients Determine if You're In Network 

We all know insurance is a hurdle most patients have to clear before they can confirm an appointment with you. The easier you can make it for them to clear that hurdle, the more bookings you’ll see. So how do you do that, without bogging down your front desk staff?

The good news is you can run insurance verifications on autopilot, entirely on your website. Adding a simple verification tool to your site can let patients run their own check on whether they’ll be covered at your practice or not. And the best part? The tool also collects lead information and allows you to direct patients into specific marketing flows. These days, it’s a no-brainer for every dental practice to have.

Offer a Referral Incentive for Existing Patients

You know the power of word-of-mouth advertising—the most trusted (and free!) form of advertising there is. How can you encourage your existing happy patients to talk you up to their friends and family? Establish a refer-a-friend program with an incentive they can’t resist.

Here’s how it works: You offer patients a discount on their next service or a special perk, in exchange for a referral. You can run this program automatically, entirely online—so there’s no manual lifting for you. Each participating patient will get their own sharing link, and the technology in your website will handle the rewards. You just sit back and watch the new patients roll in.  

Stay in Touch With Patients (Without Annoying Them)

Your fourth strategy: Stay top of mind with existing patients by keeping in touch. You don’t have to text them daily or call during dinner. Simply send them an email and/or text message when it’s time for a check-up and when you have a special offer going on. These little notes serve as great little nudges to keep patients coming back.

To Recap Your Next Steps…

A successful dental practice needs more than just good service—it needs an effective digital presence, too. By taking steps such as optimizing your website for user experience, helping patients determine if you’re in network with their insurer, offering a referral program, and staying connected with existing patients via email or text, you can help ensure your patient pipeline stays packed. 

Need help with implementing these strategies into your dental practice website and keeping those appointments filled? We’re here for you. The team at hmpsn studio has helped dental clients quickly increase patient bookings by up to 86% and generate thousands of new patient leads, with technology that’s easy to manage. Interested in hearing more? Book a call with our team and we’ll go from there.

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