Now It’s the Dentist’s Turn to Be Afraid

Date: August 20, 2018
Category:

• Website Design

Author: Sarah Skidd

Top 5 Fears Dentists Have of Website Companies

Dentists are smart people. Lots of school, lots of training, tons of practice dealing with fearful patients. So why is it that they can happily drill away in a bloody mess of a mouth but when it comes to dealing with web agencies, they find the nearest corner, curl up into a ball and start rocking?

To all the dentists frozen in fear, it’s okay. You’re not crazy – it’s them, not you. Your fears are real. There’s a lot of shady business in the internet marketing space. (See our earlier post – Sleazy SEO sales tactics.)

Do any of these fears about dental website companies sound familiar?

1. They’re Going to Gouge You. You’ve heard of that guy who paid 85k for a website but couldn’t even find it on Google? Okay, no – we haven’t either but that kind of stuff is out there and it’s giving legit website companies a bad rap. Save yourself the heartache and do what that 85k guy didn’t feel like doing – shut your door, switch off your phone and read through all those intoxicating website proposals. The numbers are in there. If they’re not, that’s one less company you have to consider. Know the numbers and what those numbers are getting you. If you don’t get it, ask.

2. You’re Going to Sound Stupid. Seriously, just ask. I had a dentist call me the other day and literally tell me to explain our process like he’s in kindergarten. That’s my kind of guy. He’s an expert in his field, and I’m an expert in mine. If he feels stupid for asking what SEO means, that’s my bad, not his.

3. You’ll Be Held Hostage if You Want to Cancel. You hear these kind of things out there. Just heard it on Totally Oral Podcast. Remember that proposal? Did you read that contract word-for-word? Make 100% dead-sure you will always own your domain name. When you own your own domain, if you break up with your dental website agency, it’s no biggie – if you’ve fulfilled your part of the deal and paid for the site, you’re free to find someone new.

 4. It’ll Look Just Like the Dentist’s Next Door. So there are 2 kinds of looking-like-the-other-guy. There is – wow, your site looks similar but mine is purple and yours is green and then there’s the – um, why is the text on my implants page the same as on 562 other dental websites? The purple/green issue is simply a template-based site issue. There is nothing wrong with these (they are usually cheaper) but yes, your site will look quite similar to another dentist’s site. If budget is a big consideration, this is a good starter option for you. If you want to be like no other, then you’ll be paying more for a custom site.

The second way your site can mimic another dental website is if you signed on for stock content. Stock content is very common and if you want Google to love you (and your dental practice) you want nothing to do with it. Google “duplicate content” and see for yourself why it’s a big no-no if you want to rank well.

At Infinity Dental Web, we always write custom content for our client’s websites – every. single. word. Just saying. Finding good writers who can write about prophylaxis and oral conscious sedation all the live-long day isn’t easy to come by and that’s why most dental internet marketing agencies just copy and paste the same text onto every dental website.

5. They’ll Steal Your Domain Name. It’s not like the kid on the bus in Rome who nips your wallet while you gaze out the window thinking of how amazing the Colosseum was. Website agencies can’t just take your domain – you have to either have allowed them to create the domain name for you (thus owning it themselves) or you let them take it over for you, thinking that’s just what you’re supposed to do. Ouch.

So just take one of those Fridays you have off and do a little research. And shoot us an email if you need SEO or Google Knowledge Panel explained to you like you were a 5-year-old. Then you can tell me what fully edentulous means or why my new filling still kills me.