private-practice-social-mediaPicture this: two mothers are at a park shooting the breeze while their kids play nearby. One mother talks about her recent dental experience, while the other is suddenly intrigued – she, too, has been looking for a good dentist for her family.

The mother who is satisfied with her recent dental experience shares her dentists’ name, and the other mother immediately pulls out her cell phone to “Google” the doctor.

This example is easy to imagine happening in everyday life when you consider that 81 percent of a dentist’s customers come to he or she from word of mouth referrals, according to Fred Joyal, author of Everything is Marketing: The Ultimate Strategy for Dental Practice Growth.

Back to the park example, the woman who has been referred to the dentist is going to weigh her friend’s referral along with a couple of other factors: does the website look professional? Is information easily accessible? Can I make an appointment from the palm of my hand?

These are questions dental professionals need to ask themselves as they look to build their patient base in today’s tech savvy world. Dental websites need to be up-to-date and problem free. Websites that have a long loading time, flash animation, or browser compatibility issues can make your site invisible, or drive prospective patients away. On the other hand, websites that look appealing and are easy to use on smartphones will continues to drive traffic.

Furthermore, dental practices must be active on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp. A Pew Center research study conducted in 2013 found that 73 percent of adults who use the Internet for any reason are active on some form of social media. These people are looking for a variety of things, from interactions with friends to recommendations on where to eat and yes, even where to get their teeth cleaned.

Once your practice has an active social media presence, you must also have easy-to-find links to those social media sites on your website homepage. Those homepages are usually the first sites people see when they search your practice on a search engine, such as Google or Bing. Having a quality digital information technology company as your partner can help you build a stronger digital marketing presence/SEO.

SurfCT.com offers a wide variety of information technology resources that can help you build the practice you’ve always dreamed of. We can help with website design, smartphone compatibility, SEO enhancement and social media best practices. Connect with us to find out more about how we can help your business.