Design and Content

Your practice website doesn’t need all the latest bells and whistles to be effective. Dentists who decide to work with an outside consultant to manage the design of the practice’s website should discuss how the site should look and what features and information should be included.

Always keep in mind that your website should appeal to prospective and current patients, not you, not other dentists and not other website developers. It should be visually appealing, communicate your mission and your brand, and appeal to the demographics of the types of patients you want to treat.

The American Dental Association (ADA) offers members several resources for online, patient-directed information and resources, including:

• A toolkit with information on MouthHealthy.org, the ADA’s award-winning website.
  • Content on the site has been developed to help patients take better care of their oral health and much of it is available in Spanish.
  • Please note that articles should not be reprinted in their entirety without written permission from the ADA.
  • Additional resources, including tip sheets and activity sheets, on the MouthHealthy site
  • ADA YouTube videos that can be embedded into the practice website.
    • Members who subscribe to the channel receive a notification each time new content is published.
    • Playlists of the most interest to consumers include:
    • MouthHealthy
    • Ask an ADA Dentist
    • Spanish language videos

See the Checklist for Creating Effective Website Content for tips to ensure that your practice website is effective and conveys the information prospective and current patients want and need to know.

Don’t Forget! Some dental practice websites provide lists or other information regarding which dental benefit plans are accepted: be aware that this can be one of those situations where less is more. Dental benefit plans can vary significantly in terms of limitations on what is and isn’t covered as well as on other restrictions. These differences can make it challenging to fully explain the specifics of every plan online. Another thing to keep in mind is that content on dental benefit plans may be off-putting to patients who don’t have access to them.

Also remember: Be careful about hyperlinks that take visitors from your website to other websites. It’s possible that the visitor will become distracted by that website and forget yours. Keep in mind that the purpose of your website is to let prospective and current patients know that your website has the information and answers they want.

Resources:

Checklist for Creating Effective Website Content  [PDF]

Sample Photography/Image Release [PDF]

Sample Authorization Form For Use or Disclosure of Patient Information [PDF]

MouthHealthy

ADA YouTube videos, including these playlists:

• MouthHealthy

• Ask an ADA Dentist

• Spanish language videos