What Should I Use to Build My Dental Website?

In my opinion, this popularity is due to the fact that WordPress has an incredible amount of flexibility & freedom when designing your dental practice website. It is incredibly powerful and there are unlimited resources out there to help you optimize the web page. 

STEP 1 - THINK ABOUT A DOMAIN NAME

You are going to need to list out a bunch of ideas for what will be your domain name (i.e. yourdomainname.com). This step is actually much harder then you may think. Some of the questions you may ask yourself are the following: 

• Do you want the domain name to be your name (www.drashley.com) or the name of the dental practice (www.ashleypractice.com) ? 
• Do you want the domain name to have the location in it for "SEO" purposes (www.norcaldentist.com)
• Should you buy multiple domain names that include the plural form (www.norcaldentist.com / www.norcaldentists.com)

If you do not own a dental practice, then I would recommend keeping it simple & put your name in the domain. Now, if you have a crazy name then maybe this won't be the best option for you. . . 

I have personally purchased 8 domain names. I only use two but I have decided to keep the rest in case I want to make a change in the future. 

2. Choose the Right Plan

There are a variety of hosting plans to choose & it honestly depends on what you want to do with your dental website(s).

Read all the options carefully to see what limitations are applied on each plan. I personally choose the recommended plan of "Choice Plus". This plan includes domain privacy which is definitely needed if you want to keep your information hidden from the public. 

The "Basic" plan limited your storage and doesn't allow you to host multiple websites so I would stray away from this particular hosting plan. 

3. Choose a Domain Name 

This is where you can test out whether your domain names are available. Type in the domain name on "Create a new domain" section and click next. If it's available, bluehost will direct you to the next step.

If its not available, bluest may give you alternative options like using a .net or .org. I would advise you to stick to a .com website as it is more recognizable to the general public.

If you purchased a domain name from another site, you can input that domain name in "Use a domain you own" and click next. 

4. Enter Account Details 

Enter all the information in the boxes allotted

5. Choose Payment Plan 

Now, you have to choose the length of time for your web hosting. The longer the payment plan, the cheaper the "per month" cost.

However, it can get really expensive if you choose the 60 month price. 

You can select the 12 month price and then register every year if you are unsure how long you plan on maintaining the website; however, the most cost effective option would be the 36 month price.  

6. Finish the Registration

Now, you just have to input your password & you have completed the website hosting/domain step. Congratulations!

ARE YOU LOST?

Creating a website for the first time can be incredibly stressful & it will take time for you to master website management. Be patient, it will get easier.

Here are some videos I wish I had when I first started:

This video will help if you haven't finished the bluehost registration. If you have any questions, leave a comment down below & I'll personally get back to you

This video will help to make your website look beautiful. Take your time & watch these videos in that order. 

HOW TO MAKE A GREAT DENTAL WEBSITE

 You have registered a domain name, purchased web hosting & picked a theme that matches your style. Now its time to fill the website with awesome content so that patients can get to know you. 

About the Doctor 

This is one of the most visited section on a dental website. Patients want to see pictures of you & know a little bit about what makes you different. Take time to fill out this section. Here are some things that you can talk about: 

1. Hobbies: Do you like to ski? Do you like long walks on the beach? Are you a gamer? Are you a secret violinist? 
2. Education: Where did you graduate? Have you taken any Continuing Education Courses? 
3. Family: Are you married? Do you have any kids? Do you have a nephew? 

The more personal you are in this section, the better. 

About the Staff

Take some time to recognize your staff & highlight their skills. Include their job descriptions but get creative with some of the descriptions. Let them know that "Sally is the incredible cook" or Jeff "plays the piano on the weekend". Going to the dentist is a scary experience and providing personal information of your team can be comforting. 

The Dental Services 

This section is reserved for describing what dental services you provide. Do you have a specialist that comes in to take care of the root canals or extractions? Do you place your own dental implants? Do you work with kids and provide pediatric dental services? Explain what you do clearly so that patients know what to expect.

More importantly, provide photos of what you do. Photos with your patients or amazing before/after photos can be huge practice builders. Don't be afraid to learn dental photography & take photos constantly. In fact, this should be its own section . . . 

Dental Photography  

It is critical that the millennial dentist learns how to take incredible photos or trains staff to take incredible photos. This typically comes with the need to purchase a DSLR camera and take a course on how to take better dental photos.

A photo of your work can really highlight your skill level in dentistry. Patients dictate their decisions off of dental photos so get good at it and post it on your website. 

Dental Blog 

Write posts about procedures at your office. This takes a lot of time but can help you rank your website with proper search engine optimization. I'm not sure whether the cost/benefit ratio is worth it but consider blogging to help get your website on the google search. 

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THREE DENTAL BUSINESS BOOKS I 100% RECOMMEND