These 5 Trends Will Make or Break Your Website (VIDEO)

Your ideal patients are online. No ifs, ands, or buts. You must have a website that stands the test of time and reflects your practice philosophy. So… what do you need to have a website that grabs your ideal patients’ attention? That’s what Arron will talk about with AADOM.

Arron is Roadside Dental Marketing’s COO and Website Development Director. He’s spent 12+ years creating beautiful dental websites that help practices succeed online.

He’s seen firsthand what website trends are exploding and which fall flat. Learn the 5 leading trends you must have for your site in 2023.

In a quick 30 minutes, you’ll learn:

• Why “less is more” has an astronomical impact on your website
• Insights into what videos and photos will get people to stop scrolling and notice you
• Simple solutions to make your website a Convenience Hub for patients
• The not-so-sexy trend that can’t be ignored

John: Happy Tuesday, AADOM Nation. Thanks for tuning in to another QuickCast…Click view QuickCasts in a new tab….

Very excited to have Roadside Dental Marketing back with us. I’ve got Arron George with us today, who is the website development director.

I say this every time: For those of you that go to the AADOM website, if you ever wanted to get an idea of the type of high-quality work that Roadside Dental Marketing does, take a look at the AADOM website, which I’m sure you’re on all the time anyways. It’s dentalmanagers.com…Open a new tab to AADOM’s website….

Anyway, Arron, it is great to have you. Today you’re going to talk about not two, not three, but five things, right? Things that will make or break your website for your dental practice in 2023.

How are you doing, Arron?

Arron: I’m doing very, very well. Really happy to be back. Happy to be joining the AADOM family today.

John: All right. Well, when I think about the dental website, wow! I mean, a lot of evolutions that it has taken over the years, uh, for so long, Erin, as you know, it was talking to dental practices.

It didn’t seem like too long ago when the big push was, “You need to have a website. Your patients need to be able to find you.”

Now we’re living in this world where, hopefully, every dental practice has a website, but there are different things you can do (as you’re going to share today) to really maximize that. Things to make an effort to educate your patients and make sure people know where to find you.

So viewers, if you would, let Arron know where you are watching from around the country. Show him some love.

He’s got a great presentation to go over, and then when he’s done, I’ll go ahead and come back on, and we’ll go over some questions.

So thanks, Arron. The floor’s yours.

Arron: Perfect. Thanks so much. Really happy to be here, everyone. I’m really looking forward to working closely with AADOM again in 2023 as well.

It’s interesting because a lot of questions we get do tend to still revolve around “whether we need a website or not.”

And when we are thinking about whether websites are still relevant, whether they’re still important, we can always just look to the facts.

The American Dental Association did some research: They put a survey out to patients, and they found that 80% of patients use the internet to find a new dentist, and then 70% of them choose based upon the website. We can see websites are still super, super important.

So today, we’re going to be looking at five trends for 2023 that will make or break your website.

You’ve hopefully got your website up and running. Now we wanna make it look perfect to attract your ideal patients and increase your revenue.

So, what are we going to cover today? What are the outcomes that you are hopefully going to get from this presentation?

Well, the first one we’re going to look at is the idea of less is more.
This is about going a bit more minimal so that you can have a bigger impact with your website.

Also, we’re going to look at how videos and photos play an important role, and we’re going to see how you can make your website a convenience hub for patients.

And then, we call it the not-so-sexy trend, but it’s super important as you guys probably already know: the idea of accessibility and compliance.

But before we jump in, I actually wanna tell you a quick story. So, obviously, when I found out I was going to be on AADOM, I had to make sure that I looked my best. So I went down to the mall to do some shopping.

As I was walking along, I was looking at different storefronts and deciding where I want to go in. Obviously, things stand out to you, don’t they?

But there was this one particular store that really drew my attention. And the reason for that is that its logo was really nice, clean, and very easy to see. But as I got closer, the storefront—the actual window—had all the information that I needed to be able to make a decision. It had the business hours, it had what they were offering, any special offer. And it was just so well organized and clear.

So obviously made a beeline for it. I went into the store, and they had a greeter there who was able to answer all my questions and direct me to where I needed to go to find the item of clothing I was looking at.

And as you can hopefully see, It worked! I got myself, uh… a jumper or a sweater? Sorry, going into my British-isms to be able to present with you guys today.

But the reason why I was so attracted to that store is that I felt like I was in the right place to get what I wanted, and the people there actually cared about that.

What’s interesting is your website can do all of that for your dental practice too. It can really highlight what you offer and what makes you unique, but it’s super important to understand that it represents you to your patients online.

So let’s have a look at how you can optimize your website or change your website using five trends for 2023 so you can attract the right patients, grow your practice revenue, and, most importantly, direct people in the right way so they can purchase your services.

Let’s have a look at trend number one. Now, if you’ve worked with Roadside at all over the years, you know how much we love photos and how much we love videos as well.

You’ve definitely heard the expression, ‘A picture paints a thousand words.’ And the reason why it really is important to be using photos and videos is that people like to buy from businesses that they like and trust. And one way that you can really build that trust is through different media, like photos and videos, that allows you to really connect, show who works in your practice, and really showcase what you do.

This is especially true with candid imagery, which shows you smiling with patients, working with patients, and showing off some of the services that you have as well.

And you know that people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, but an image stops the scroll. As people are pushing up on their mobile devices, if you have nice, big images, it will help them to stop and be like, “Oh, I wanna learn more about whatever this image is representing.” That content can really do that as well.

We like to say big images make big profits because it’s what people really want to digest on websites.

So that’s the image side, the photography side. And with technology nowadays, you can use your phone to grab images that are good enough to use on websites because the quality’s really there. It’s amazing.

But what about video?

Now you’ve probably heard us speak for the last two or three years about the importance of video. But during 2023, it’s pretty much essential. Now, more and more websites are starting to use video to showcase what they offer and make that initial connection with the user.

Because what it allows people to do, is it allows them to hear the type of language you use, the voice that you have, the way you interact with patients, and it really builds that trust.

Plus, it also allows you to use that medium to explain big chunks of information in short video snippets. That could be introducing the dentist, talking about what makes you different, maybe explaining how dental implants work, etc. You can cover a lot in 30 seconds.

And what’s awesome about videos is that they’re proven to help with SEO; people tend to stay on websites up to two minutes longer when there’s video present. So Google starts to clock that and the algorithm is thinking, “Oh, that’s interesting. People are finding value on this website,” so they push you up the rankings.

I want to show you a real quick website example of how you can use video and imagery, so hopefully, everyone can see this website.

So, immediately at the top, you can see there’s this B-roll video, and it really captures your attention, shows a lot of branding, and just does a quick tour of the practice.

But as we scroll down, you’ll start to see the big imagery that really captures your attention. And you can see here that the images are a part of the design. But they also pop up so you can see different candid imagery and some of the decor of the practice, and it really gives people an idea of what to expect when they come into the practice.

It really captures the imagination and lends to what the actual content is saying too. So that’s just one great way that you can use imagery and videos in your website.

So what about the next trend? Well, this is looking at something called the immersive experience.

I’m not sure if many of you are familiar with this kind of concept, but you can see the two websites we have up here as examples. One is Tesla, and the other is Apple.

What they do is make sure that each band that they create provides value, and they use imagery and media to provide that simple value so you know what they want you to do next. They guide you through what’s called ‘the buyer’s journey.’

So you’re going down the website, and you’ve got value, value, value. And that’s building trust with the user. That will allow people to get to know you quicker, but also it provides that experience that they’ll get when they come into the practice.

You may have heard this if you’ve ever been on a kickoff call with me, or done a website with me. I always say that the website is like a window into the practice. It’s like that storefront from my earlier story.

You’re wanting to grab people’s attention, but you’re also wanting to showcase what actually happens in the practice. And through images and video, you can really do that.

If you couple that with large fonts and you make clear points, it really, again, caters to the scanners and scroller that we talked about earlier. It helps you to capture them because they’ll read a bit of information and then take the right action.

So it really is an immersive experience in the fact that they follow everything down the website, and they feel like they get to know your dental practice straight away.

Let’s have a look at an example of a more immersive website.

So we’ll head over to this one here, and you’ll see straight away that they’ve got a nice big tagline at the top of the website. And as you scroll down, those big fonts, those big bold fonts, stay there, and you can see how the imagery supports the font, and then the content is divided up into short paragraphs, so it becomes very digestible.

Then we focus on what you want them to do next, with what we call a ‘call to action.’ That’s right there so they know, “Okay, when I read this, they want me to request an appointment.”

So as we continue to scroll down, we still have great use of imagery. Then a nice big font as well as nice, simple navigation. You’re almost going through the practice itself because you’ve got real authentic photos of what happens. And then there’s a little bit more information that really goes into what each of those different images means. And again, here’s another a call to action.

So you can see that really simple, clean, and modern design that grabs people’s attention and keeps them moving through the website. Perfect.

Hopefully, you can see that this immersive experience makes the whole navigation easier and really guides people in the direction that you want them to go.

And that lends itself nicely to trend number three, which is clean, simple designs.

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but online, you have 2.3 seconds to grab people’s attention. That means clutter is a big no-no, and minimalism is back. People do not want to be reading big chunks of content.

Think about it: When you navigate to a website or if you’re looking at advertisement or anything like that, would you rather spend five minutes reading a dense, wordy article, or would you rather watch a 32-second video that’s concise, clear, and explains the same thing?

I think it’s pretty obvious that you’d want to go with the video, wouldn’t you?

So when it comes to simple design, going back to trend number one, it’s really about using more imagery and more video, not only to catch people’s attention, but also to compliment your brand and keep it really clean and modern, much like you see with Apple and Tesla.

However, when we are thinking of design, we also need to think more practically in regard to navigation.

So we’re thinking of simple scrolling navigation. When people are scrolling through, each band here has a specific purpose, a specific value, and big, bright buttons that tell people what to do next.

With design, what you’re always looking to have on your website is a clear message and a clear journey that guides people to where they want to go.

The experience is like shopping at the mall like I did this past week. You’re getting there at a busy time, and you’re bombarded with advertisements everywhere. There are lots of people. It’s very crowded.

Could be quite a stressful experience, right?

Now, how would you feel if, instead of doing that, you could go to a nice boutique department store where they have nice, big, wide aisles and lots of helpful signage, so you know where you need to go?

Well, you’d obviously want to go with the department store, right? That applies to your website as well, especially if there are lots of popups bombarding you or lots of text everywhere.

It’s that clean, simplistic, concise design that really grabs people’s attention and directs them where to go so that they can convert and they can contact your practice.

Again, we’ll have a look at a particular website that does that really, really well.

On this website, you’ll see it’s very clean at the top with very clean navigation and no overbearing colors. It’s simple to navigate and has clear call-to-actions as well.

And as we scroll down, you’ll see we’re getting back into the imagery. It’s so nice. Big images and nice short pieces of content as well, so nothing is overwhelming, it’s all just very clean, nice, truly authentic images so people can get to know about the practice.

They can learn about what the practice offers and they can see the benefits for themselves, which is really what we want to articulate and get across on our website.

Nice patient reviews here too. All the way through, it’s just really clean with lots of white space. All of it is very, very simple and well-organized.

So that is a huge trend for 2023. That idea of minimalism and clean, simple designs.

Okay, so we’ve talked a lot about designs today, so why don’t we talk a little bit more about the functionality of websites moving into this coming year.

So, did you know that your website can become a hub for convenience?

What do I mean by that? Well, as office managers and dentists, you know better than most that helping people to overcome barriers is huge. That’s trend number four.

You might have nervous patients who obviously have a fear of the dentist or a fear of pain. So what do you introduce? Well, you introduce things like sedation dentistry or modern techniques to help them overcome their discomfort.

You also might have patients that want to get braces or Invisalign, but a big barrier is not really knowing what their smile might look like at the end of the treatment course. Well, you can use modern technology to showcase what that smile will look like and overcome that barrier as well.

What your website really needs to become, especially with so much competition out there, is the path of least resistance.

And what I mean by that is, if you are targeting mothers (like a lot of dental practices are) that are busy with children, then you wanna make it as simple as possible for them to book an appointment and come and see you.

So you could set up online booking so they can book whenever they’re available on their phone. They might be up in the middle of the night with their children, and just have some time to book that way.

Then, you can also start using automated text reminders. That way, you can decrease no-shows and remind patients to come to their appointment.

Now, going back to those nervous patients: Many millennials, and honestly many people in general, do not enjoy speaking on the phone as much as they used to.

People are more attuned to shopping digitally. So you could have an online scheduling system or an online portal that allows people to book directly.

Similarly, perhaps there are nervous patients that have that fear of the unknown, not knowing what to expect from their treatment.

Could you record a video to include on your website that explains what happens when they come to see you, or perhaps explains a service like dental implants? Overcoming that barrier with simple, short videos that people can watch works well.

You might have some patients who are embarrassed to come to the dentist because they haven’t seen you for a while.

Well, virtual consultations could be a nice way to ease them into the dental experience, and these can all be placed on your website as well.

More and more people are used to shopping online and are looking for these online conveniences because the world’s getting busier and busier, and at the same time, people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.

There was a study that showed that dental offices that used digital forms increase patient satisfaction by 63%. So we can see that this is something that patients are looking for.

Okay, so let’s have another look at a website that does this pretty well. On this particular website, they do offer a full suite of conveniences online.

So we have the online scheduling here, where they have their online forms that people can fill out before they come to the practice. And then they also have an online payment system as well.

There are many third-party features that can be plugged into your website to help with all this, especially if you have a WordPress website. It’s very simple to set up.

But they also use this opportunity to answer frequently asked questions. So things like financing options, what insurance is accepted, things like that. It’s a great way to nail down those common questions you get asked over the phone and use your website to help with that instead.

One of my favorite parts of this website is that they have a video that explains what their dental savings program does. People may have a lot of questions, and this video really answers all of those. It’s a really clever way to do that.

They also have a section that outlines what to expect, so for those nervous patients, they can see what happens in a typical visit.

This really is a great way to make your website a convenience hub. Plus, you can save your team some time by answering a lot of questions online. More and more practices are going towards video to answer those questions.

So keep an eye up for that in 2023.

All right, we’re almost there. Now we’ve got website trend number five, and this is the least sexy of them all, to be honest. But it is one of the most important.

Accessibility and compliance is becoming more and more important for dental websites, and it’s slowly starting to be enforced in the medical field. There’ve definitely been some fines handed out. Those fines aren’t too common, so you don’t need to go to your panic stations just yet, but you do need to be prepared.

As a society, inclusivity is becoming more and more important, and that means that by becoming accessible to people with disabilities and different languages in the area, you are attracting good attention and expanding to different audiences as well, which users will love because it shows how much you care.

And Google will love it as well because it shows that you are trying to cater to all different backgrounds.

So there really is no negative here, this is such a useful tool to have.

There are tools out there that can help you become ADA compliant, but the main things you’re looking for are color contrast, voice recognition, and screen readers, just making sure that you are adapting to them.

So I’m just going to show you an example of what I mean, because these are a little bit more technical, these terms.

You may have seen this on some websites; they have a color contrast tool or an accessibility tool. What this allows the user to do (and this obviously doesn’t change the whole website, it just changes the user’s view) is it allows them to set different contrasts, and that’s great for people with colorblindness or any kind of issues with their sight.

But also they can make your text bigger. As you can see, it’s getting bigger and bigger here. It can affect the text spacing as well, and it just allows people to become more accustomed to the website to fit their personal needs.

One of my favorite tools here is the translation tool. Using it, you can attract patients from different languages and the tool changes it all automatically.

So again, it is not something you have to do on your own. There are plugins that can help with it, but it makes you ADA compliant if you follow these simple rules.

Becoming HIPAA compliant is very important as well. I know AADOM has a lot of educational material around that. This compliance, this accessibility will really escalate your website, especially this year.

So that was a whirlwind tour through five website trends for 2023.

We looked at:

• The importance of photos, videos, and large fonts,
• That immersive experience where we’re guiding people through the page,
• That clean, simple design to make it easy for people to navigate the site,
• Becoming a convenience hub for your patients,
• And that website accessibility standard.

So is your website bang-on? Are you using images and videos to connect with patients and grow your revenue? Is your website super easy to navigate? Are there lots of conveniences? Is it clear what you want your users to do when they land on the website?

If you say yes to all of those, you’re doing an awesome job. That’s just great.

If you’ve said no to any of them, now’s the time to improve.

If you’re just kind of unsure, then we can help. We offer a dental website audit checklist, which will help you to figure out if people like your website and if Google likes it as well. So we know it is a popularity contest with both.

We have a little link here that you can access, but I believe we’re also going to be putting it into the chat as well.

So let’s move into 2023 with these beautifully optimized websites, with lots of photos, lots of videos, to capture the attention of our audience.

So I think we will open up to any questions.

Download the Website Audit below:

John: Awesome. Great job, Arron, as always. Very to-the-point, great insight for everybody to take back to their current website, which I’m sure everybody does when they get off this, right? They’re like, “Okay, what’s my website look like?”

So, two quick things before we wrap.

We did have one question that was asking about videos and your thoughts on this:

Should you have a professional put those videos up on your site, or is it something that you could use your smartphone for now that so many phones take good-quality videos? What are your thoughts on that?

Arron: That’s a great question.

So I think we can always err on the side of having a professional to help, just because it adds to the quality and production value.

However, if you don’t have the budget to do that or you don’t have the time to do that, snapping it on your phone is absolutely fine. The way that, especially with more modern smartphones, the quality comes out is perfect for patient testimonials, doctor interviews, and showcasing the office with a tour. That’s absolutely fine.

Professional video is always going to be a bit better just because you have that production value. But using your smartphone is definitely good enough.

John: Awesome. And then my last question is:

Of those five, if there was one that you had to pick, or one that practices could start working on next week after they do a discovery call with you guys to see where they are with their website audit, what would be one of those five trends that you would love to see them put some energy towards?

Arron: It’s a great question. It’s probably not going to come as a surprise to anyone listening in, but I’d pick the photos and videos.

If you can get your face out there onto your website, it is a real game changer. At Roadside, we pretty much design websites based upon media (the photography, the videography, etc.) because it’s so impactful.

You can have a beautifully designed website, but if it doesn’t showcase who you are, it’s not going to build that trust.

So I would say, get snapping with those smartphones and let’s see what videos and photos we can capture.

John: I love it. Well, Arron, thank you so much. As always, Roadside is such a valued partner to AADOM, and the insight and education is always super valuable, so we really appreciate it.

And for everybody that was watching, all of the links that Arron referenced are going to be in the comments whether you’re watching on Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. So be sure to go check those out.

Be sure to connect with Roadside Dental Marketing for that website audit in an effort to take your website to the next level.

Thanks again, Arron. We’ll talk to you soon.

Arron: Thanks everyone.

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