4 Dental Web Design Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2019

Your website is often the first impression a potential patient has of your dental practice. An outdated website can lead them to think your dentist office doesn’t offer modern services or use the latest technology. That’s why it’s important to continuously maintain your website and update it with the latest dental web design trends. By update, we don’t mean a complete overhaul. We’re talking about updates that make your current site easier to use (for both you and patients), more informative for patients, and more integrated with your already existing dental processes. Below we rounded up the top dental web design trends you can easily add to your existing website if you want to grow your practice and patient base.

Top Dental Web Design Trends in 2019

1. [Video] Content is King

Video has the power to increase engagement and conversions on your dental website. Why is it so powerful? Because it’s captivating. The right video content aimed at patients can swiftly move them from ‘I’m kinda-interested in being a patient’ to ‘I’m calling you now to schedule an appointment’. Video can also improve your rankings in the search engines. With YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world, right behind Google, you have more opportunity to show up in the search results. Here are just a few more reasons to consider adding video to your website, including your homepage:

• Builds Trust: Many people have anxiety when it comes to visiting the dentist. You can easily build trust using video, giving new visitors and prospective patients a warm feeling when visiting your website, and later, your office. Visitors are much more likely to make an appointment if they feel good about your practice right away.
• Increases Traffic & Conversions: Videos are the driving factor behind 85% of traffic and when incorporated into a homepage, can increase conversions by at least 80%. If you could increase your conversions by a whopping 80% just by adding quality video content, why wouldn’t you? In addition, your website is 50 times more likely to get on page 1 of Google if there’s a video incorporated into the design, or hero area of the homepage. That’s a huge advantage!

Types of video content to feature on your dental website:

• Educational videos about your dental treatments and procedures;
• Introductions to your dentists, dental hygienists, and front office staff;
• Tutorials on different dental hygiene techniques (like teeth brushing or flossing);
• Pediatric and teeth cleaning dental videos;
• New dental patient exam video.

Also, educational and tutorial videos don’t have to be boring – get creative and have some fun:

2. Mobile First Approach to Your Dentist Website

How does your website look on your smartphone? What about your iPad or Surface Pro? If your website isn’t easy to use or navigate on your phone or tablet, then it’s also difficult for visitors to use as well. About 70% of searches are performed on a mobile device, making mobile web design a necessity. Due to the large amounts of mobile search traffic, Google also favors mobile-friendly websites over non-mobile websites. In 2018, Google introduced their Mobile-First Index, where the mobile version of a website is the first thing Google looks at when indexing websites. Bottom line, if your site isn’t mobile friendly yet, it’s time to make the upgrade. Not sure if your site is responsive? You can test it here.

3. A Secure Website is a Happy Website

Website security is important for protecting sensitive data on your website. And while you might not think your dental website needs protection, your website visitors and patients do … especially if you want them to fill out patient forms on your website. Sensitive data includes PII, personally identifiable information. According to STIP, PII is information about someone that can be used to personally identify or trace their identity. This is crucial to understand because protecting your patient’s identity and medical history falls under HIPAA regulations. (PII is similar to PHI, protected health information.) So how do you protect your patient’s data and your website? By adding an SSL certificate. What is an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)? An SSL Certificate allows you to create a secure layer between your website and the users browser, ensuring that the information passed is safe from hackers. If you have an SSL on your website, you’ll see the secure padlock below: If you don’t have an SSL on your website, you’ll see the warning symbol below: Another way to tell if you have an SSL certificate on your website, it will display as HTTPS (secure, yay!) and if you do not have an SSL certificate installed your website, it will display as HTTP (not secure). To get an SSL certificate, you’ll need to contact your hosting provider. If you host your website with TheeDigital, contact us here to learn more about making your website secure and HIPAA compliant.

4. Hey Google, What Dentists Are Near Me?

About half of all users will search using their voice by 2020. That’s only a year away! According to a 2018 BrightLocal study, they found that:

• 58% of voice assistant owners have used voice search to find local business information during the last year;
• 48% of voice search users look for local businesses daily, that means you, local dentist!
• 27% of visitors check out the website of a local business after conducting a voice search;
• 51% of adults conduct a minimum of one voice search a day.

Optimizing your website and preparing it for voice search now will keep you in front of this fast moving trend. Plus, as the Google Home Hub commercials get more creative, more people are going to be searching and looking for things near them – quite possibly like this: It’s up to you (and your dental SEO), to determine how Google, Alexa or Siri respond so it’s time to better optimize your dental website. See: website trends 2023

Boost Your Rankings with These Dental Web Design Trends

Patients won’t be able to find you if you don’t rank well in the search results. Boost your SEO and rankings by implementing a few of these trends to get new patients and grow your practice.

Tags: Dental Marketing