Striking the right balance – tops tips for your website

websiteHeather Grimes offers her hottest tips on how to set your website ablaze – in all the right ways.

Most dental practice owners love the idea of having a great website that entices patients to the practice and also provides useful, easy-to-understand information from a trusted source.

However, often the problem lies in putting together the right content, using a tone that reflects who you are as a business, while also engaging people and showing some personality. It can be a tough balance to strike.

It’s hard to know where to start, and this is why many people don’t. Here are my top tips on how to create some great copy that will show your practice in its best light.

Maintain a voice

Before you start, you need to think about how your dental practice would speak if it could. I know this sounds crazy, but stick with me. Bear in mind whether you offer a fully private or mixed service, are you family friendly or high-end, what type of patients are you trying to attract?

These aspects (and more) will allow you to build up a picture to create the style and tone that your content should take – this will be your ‘voice’.

Once you have decided on this, refer back to it each time you start to write something new. This will ensure that voice is maintained at all times. This creates continuity and allows everything to flow seamlessly.

Ensure accuracy

Any content you publish needs to be accurate; your spelling and grammar need to be spot on and your advice must be factually correct.

While many people won’t spot errors, those who do will find it off-putting – it instantly undermines what you’re trying to do by making you appear to be an unreliable source.

Ask a trusted friend or colleague to proofread for you. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one! I always advise fact checking any copy that is written by someone else, whether that’s a member of your team or an outsourced company.

Keep it fresh

Have you ever visited a website that constantly repeats the same word over and over again? Annoying, isn’t it! The reason for this is probably a result of being told what ‘keywords’ to use in order to boost search engine optimisation (SEO).

While this might succeed in the mission to reach the top of a search list, it can swiftly turn off prospective new patients through copy that doesn’t read well, and, very often, doesn’t make much sense.

The best way to score higher search engine rankings is through new content. But without re-writing your website every month, how do you do this? With news and blogs!

A feed like this also gives you a channel through which you can tell people what’s going on at your practice. You can also provide them with advice, tips, special offers etc.

Essentially, it’s a great way for you to provide content that people will enjoy.

Manage your time

Creating content can be time-consuming, especially if writing is not something you feel passionate or confident about.

Added to that, you are probably busy with a myriad of other tasks within the dental practice. Finding the time to write a great blog in between seeing patients and managing staff can be virtually impossible.

Content creation can be an excellent responsibility to delegate to one or more of your team members. You to find that you have a budding writer in your midst.

There are plenty of great companies who can supply regular blogs or articles. This doesn’t have to cost a fortune either. Just check they have experience writing dental copy, as this will ensure the advice is factually correct. Otherwise you could be wasting your money.


This article first appeared in Aesthetic Dentistry Today magazine. You can read the latest issue here.

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