Do you still purchase Yellow Page advertising? How’s that working for you? According to technological guru and long-time dentist Dr. Paul Feuerstein, "People who seek dentists (or just about anyone or anything) today use the Internet." (Dental Economics, September 2007) Dr. Feuerstein’s small, basic Yellow Page ad costs nearly two-thousand dollars per year. Compare this to the cost and value of having a website created and maintained, and you’ll see the error of your old-fashioned marketing ways.
An optimized dental website, created by experts, can bring you as many or more clients than a Yellow Page ad because, as Dr. Feuerstein said, people are digital these days. If your target market is the 25 to 65 age group – those that have money to spend on restorative and cosmetic dentistry – you need to understand that they are computer savvy.
Besides drawing in new clients, a website has invaluable benefits over Yellow Page advertising. For instance…
1) Full-color, moving images, including your logo and photos of your patients
2) Multiple pages with as much info as you want to share
3) Interactive forms to put visitors in contact with you immediately
4) Downloadable or interactive forms for easy, secure patient registration
5) Updatable format, so if you move or add technology, simply update the site
6) A face and voice for your practice, presented in the comfort of a potential patient’s home
7) Convenience for your potential patents – access your site anywhere, anytime, from any computer
8) Trackable traffic with reporting features (ask your web developer about this)
9) Search engine optimization to give you a leg up on the competition
10) Room for testimonials, before and after photos, and marketing that yields results
So how much does Internet advertising cost? Well, at TNT Dental, a leading web development company for the dental industry, multiple platforms and support options allow you to customize your site to suit your needs and marketing budget. Don’t worry if you’re not in the know about the Internet. The experts at TNT will take care of the text, art, forms, maintenance, hosting, and support for your site. Expect to spend a few thousand dollars to set up a basic site – and expect the site to pay for itself over time.
Remember, once your website is live, you don’t have to pay an annual fee for advertising as you do for a Yellow Pages ad; you’ll just pay a monthly hosting and support fee. The other thing is, no one said you can’t have both! If your Yellow Page ad draws new patients, but you could use a few more, add a website to your marketing campaign to cover all your bases.