5 Ways To Increase New Patient Conversions On Your Website

Your prospective patients’ digital experience with your practice is made up of a series of interactions that form the beginning of your relationship with them. It’s absolutely crucial that each of these interactions is handled with care, because any interruptions during the process can cause them to quickly navigate away from your site in search of other options.

It’s all too easy for website visitors to move on to the next opportunity when their engagement level drops. It’s up to you to ensure that the various components of your online presence are strategically designed to guide your prospects through a journey that results in them confidently making the decision to visit your office as a new patient. Your website is an incredibly valuable tool for boosting conversions, as long as you follow these guidelines.

Tell users directly that you are accepting new patients

One of the most common mistakes that many practices make is that they don’t tell their prospects upfront that they are accepting new patients. Often, they think it doesn’t really matter; they assume that the patient will go ahead and call or email to ask whether or not they are accepting new patients no matter what it says on the website. This, however, is a false assumption, and it’s one that stops the practice/patient relationship dead in its tracks before it can even begin to blossom.

It may not seem like a big deal to explicitly state to those browsing your site that you are currently accepting new patients, but this is actually a crucial first step in leading them through the funnel. Marketing any product or service is all about effective communication, and you need to get the ball rolling by sharing what they need to know in the beginning of the interaction.

Prominently and clearly display your value proposition early in the journey

Your practice has a unique value proposition, and it forms the basis of your prospective patient’s journey through your funnel towards eventual conversion. This is an important point that many service businesses fail to understand: just because you’re not a company like Apple, creating one-of-a-kind tech products, and even though there are likely other dental practices in your area offering similar services, your practice still offers something to your patients that no one else does.

You need to tap into this and use it as the basis of this relationship for its duration. Think deeply about what specific value you offer your patients. Do you have an innovative and convenient booking system that removes the hassle from appointment management? Do you specialize in specific techniques that are not widely available in your area? Do you accept some insurance plans that others don’t? Add a section on your homepage that addresses these value points, and reference them over and over again throughout your prospect’s digital experience.

Cultivate effective website infrastructure with clear calls-to-action

Ask any company that excels at website conversions, and their marketing and sales leaders will tell you that proper website infrastructure is one of the most important concerns for them. You are curating a digital journey for the prospect, and every component of it has to be well-placed and functioning properly in order for your prospective patients to book a service.

Links need to be coded properly, images must be monitored to ensure they load correctly and are high-quality, and calls-to-action must be present and direct the user to the appropriate page where they can follow through with their action. Even a minor technical glitch can cause a user to lose their trust in your ability to deliver on your value proposition, even after they’ve already decided that they are willing to book with your practice.

Use patient reviews to build trust

Speaking of trust, it’s worth noting just how monumentally important it is in guiding prospective new patients through the funnel. Anytime that anyone buys anything through a digital interface for the first time they are essentially taking a leap of faith: they most likely haven’t held the product before, or they haven’t met the people that will be fulfilling the service.

In order to build and maintain trust, you need to be upfront and honest with your users, and show that you have nothing to hide. One strategy for accomplishing this is to display patient reviews on popular pages throughout your site. Studies show that approximately 84% of consumers trust online reviews equally as much as personal referrals. Reviews work, and prospects become suspicious of their absence these days. If you have Connect the Doc and we are not managing your website, make sure your web team has placed your CTD review widget on all the important pages of your website. If you do not use our service (and don’t want to), see if you can find another service that allows you to display your reviews from popular sites like Google, Facebook, RateMDs, and Healthgrades. Just make sure they are not “testimonials” as many colleges and associations are starting to ban testimonials from websites.

Make it as easy for prospective patients to book or request an appointment

Once the prospect understands your value proposition, has completed a journey through your content, trusts that you can deliver what they need, and has made the decision to book, then you’re finished, right?If only!

Even after all of that effort you still have some work to do. There’s still the actual appointment booking process to consider, and it’s your job to facilitate it so that everything goes off without a hitch. With Connect the Doc, you can easily include foolproof appointment booking widgets on relevant pages for users to quickly find, such as your “contact us” page, your homepage, and other popular landing pages coordinated via your email marketing or SEO.

With these five strategies you’re ready to transform your digital experience for prospective patients and stimulate your new patient conversions. Guiding users through the funnel towards eventual conversion is a matter of employing simple techniques, but it requires attention to detail and careful planning to ensure that they experience your website as you intended.