Jeff Gladnick, Founder and CEO of Great Dental Websites
There are seven dentists in Jeff’s family, but he never received “The Calling” – so he did computer engineering instead. He enjoys soccer, golf, skiing, water sports, and spending time with his wife and children.
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Mastering the Modern Dental Website: From Brochure to Patient Conversion Hub
Welcome to another episode of The High-Performing Dental Team podcast! Today, we dive into an intriguing discussion with a very special guest, Jeff Gladnick from Great Dental Websites. Jeff is here to talk about how dental websites have evolved and the key strategies for converting online visitors into actual patients.
The Shift: From Brochure to Hub
In the old days, a dental website was just a digital brochure. It provided basic information, maybe some pictures of smiling patients, and that was it. However, in recent years, the role of dental websites has shifted significantly. Jeff points out that a website today is much more than a passive brochure. It’s now a critical “hub” for patient interaction. And for good reasons, patients expect to be able to book appointments, fill out forms, and message the practice directly from the site.
This shift has forced a major re-imagining of the website architecture. It’s no longer enough to slap a widget on a website and hope for the best. Jeff emphasizes that many practices fall into the trap of adding floating widgets – whether for chat, payment, or online booking – in a disorganized way. This results in a cluttered mess, especially on mobile devices, where all these elements can crowd the screen and frustrate users.
Streamlining the Patient Experience
One of Jeff’s top recommendations is designing your website with the patient journey in mind. That means integrating important features like online scheduling and forms into the natural flow of the site. Instead of a hodgepodge of widgets cluttering the bottom right of the screen, you want these functionalities built right into your calls to action. This makes the process smoother and less frustrating for the patient.
Dayna agrees wholeheartedly, mentioning that she often advises her clients to navigate their own websites on their phones as if they were patients. And surprise, surprise, most dental teams realize that their sites are far from user-friendly!
Data-Driven Optimization: The Power of A/B Testing
Jeff’s approach to improving dental websites is rooted in data. His company constantly runs A/B tests across over 900 practices to optimize conversion rates. They’ll tweak something small like changing the direction of an arrow on a call-to-action button and see if it leads to a higher conversion rate. What works gets applied across all their clients’ websites. What doesn’t work gets scrapped.
This testing isn’t just about throwing things at the wall to see what sticks it’s a calculated, ongoing process that focuses on improving each dental practice’s ability to turn website visitors into actual patients.
Avoid the Scavenger Hunt Trap
Another common mistake Jeff highlights is making patients go on a “scavenger hunt” through the website to find the information they need. Imagine a potential patient interested in Invisalign. They know what Invisalign is but want to see before-and-after pictures, read FAQs, or watch a testimonial video. Instead, they land on a page with just a basic paragraph explaining Invisalign something they already know.
Jeff advises dental practices to ensure that all related content is easy to find and accessible in one place. If you force a patient to click through multiple pages just to answer their questions, they’re likely to give up and go to a competitor. Make it easy for them, and they’re far more likely to stick around.
Putting Yourself in the Patient’s Shoes
A great test, according to Dayna, is to pretend you’re a new patient visiting your website for the first time. Get out your phone and see how easy (or difficult) it is to find information, book an appointment, or message the practice. If you’re fumbling through your own site, chances are your patients are too.
And if patients can’t easily access what they need? They’ll simply hit the back button and head over to a competitor’s website.
Consistent Branding and Copywriting
Beyond functionality, the content on your website needs to reflect your practice’s unique voice and philosophy. Jeff shares an example where he encountered a practice that offered biological and holistic dentistry but had the same generic copy as dozens of other websites. In contrast, practices with well-crafted, unique copy that speaks directly to their audience have a better chance of connecting emotionally with potential patients.
Jeff emphasizes that Google pays attention to this too. If your site has generic, cookie-cutter content, Google won’t rank it highly because it’s not offering anything unique to searchers. This is why copywriting is crucial—not just for the patients, but also for SEO.
The Final Word
Your dental website is much more than a digital brochure. It’s a dynamic tool that should be constantly optimized to improve patient experience and conversion rates. As Jeff and Dayna both agree, it’s vital to keep testing, improving, and thinking about the patient journey from the moment they land on your website to when they walk through your door.
So, grab your phone, visit your website, and put yourself in your patient’s shoes. Are you ready to run the race, or are you still letting your website be a scavenger hunt?
