Is the content for your dental website getting lost in translation?
The medical industry has plenty of jargon and advanced terms that the average person probably doesn’t understand. If the writing on your website is filled with technical talk that only dentists can understand, there’s a good chance you’re missing out on potential patients.
How do you avoid talking over your patients’ heads while keeping your content professional? This is something a lot of dentists struggle with, but overcoming it and writing content that is easily readable, while still conveying your message, can really enhance yourmarketing efforts.
When possible, KISS You’ve probably heard of the acronym KISS for “Keep It Simple Stupid.” The point of KISS is to remind you that you should not complicate things, and that’s especially true when it comes to writing content for your practice’s website. Since you’re an expert in dentistry, you probably have a lot of information you want to list about the different services you offer. Instead of writing everything you know, limit yourself to only the key information your patients will need. As a content creator, I know how difficult it can be not to overwrite. But clear, concise content is much easier for people to digest.
ALSO BY DOMINIQUE JACKSON:5 dental marketing pitfalls you should avoid
What’s in it for me?
The reality of today’s consumer is that people have a “what’s in it for me” attitude. This extends to medical care too, unfortunately. Instead of spending a lot of time writing about the steps in a procedure, explain why a patient needs the procedure and how it helps.
For instance, explaining that dental X-rays help find issues such as cavities, problems with the jawbone, and other issues will encourage more patients who visit your website to schedule an appointment to get a procedure done. With dentistry, it helps to give examples of what can happen if certain procedures aren’t performed. Explaining that regular visits to the dentist are necessary to prevent tooth decay is more effective than talking strictly about fluoride. Appeal to the needs of patients and you’ll be able to increase your conversions.
Write for the web
You may have learned how to write throughout your years of schooling, but writing for the web is different than the case studies or papers you wrote in class or for medical journals.
Here are some basic rules for writing web content:
● Use short paragraphs
● Use headings for different sections
● Break up text with lists
● Make use of bold and italics when appropriate
The goal of writing for the web is to make content easy to skim. Depending on the length of your pages, there’s a good chance that a lot of people won’t read everything. They want to find the information they need, and then move on. You have to take that into account with your content.
Tell them what to do next
This is similar to a call to action. Service pages, landing pages, and other pages where your intent is to convert a visitor should lead readers to the “next step.” What do you want them to do after they’re finished reading? As a dentist, you probably want them to make an appointment.
Try adding a couple lines at the end with the phone number so patients can call to schedule an appointment with your office. Or ask them to fill out a contact form on your site. Try to avoid ending pages with non-actionable sentences.
The exceptions are pages that are purely informational. Blog posts for example, can be completely informational with no intent to “sell.” But for static pages that don’t change, you want to have a call to action to urge people to make an appointment.
If this all sounds like too much, you can always consider hiring a professional writer to help you create content for your website. Just make sure the writer understands the services you provide and the message you want to convey. You might even consider writing the content and having a professional edit it for you to make it more “web friendly.”
Copywriting is an extremely important part of your online marketing. Bad content can turn people away from your site, so you have to get it right. Integrate these tips into your website, and you will take your content to the next level.
Dominique Jackson is a SEO Manager at NOVA MedMarket, a company that specializes in providing online marketing solutions for dentists and medical professionals. For more tips on how to market your dental office, download their Modern Dental Marketing Guide for free.
