For a dental website, the homepage is the gateway to all online and many offline patient bookings. The first online impression that the visitor has about your business, is through your homepage. And the saying ‘first impression is the last impression’, holds true in case of all online business relations. An analysis of available data suggest that the average bounce rate for a business or service website is 40-50%. Anything above 60% becomes a matter of concern. It is found that for dental websites, the bounce rates can reach up to 60-70% at times with the homepage being mostly the landing page. This means that a high percentage of online visitors leave the site at a single glance on the homepage who may not even scroll down!

Thus, a perfect dental website homepage is your turning point towards a successful online marketing to attract a higher number of patients and increase profits, with particular emphasis put on the top fold i.e. the top part of the page that is viewable without scrolling.

I have come across many websites and believe me; very few have integrated all the right elements to get patients to book. To create the ‘perfect homepage’, it is important to understand the patient’s requirements and their thought-flow. Online visitors to your website can be separated into two types. The ‘Booker’ is the patient who wants to do a booking and the ‘Researcher’, who wants to research and gather information from your site.

It is the ‘Booker’ that we need to focus on more as they visit a site with a sole intention of making an appointment. They will request an appointment the moment they get the right information, else leave in case their queries remain unanswered. On the other hand, ‘Researchers’ are more forgiving. Their objective is to gather information for various purposes and hence, can spend more time searching for the right information, unlike the ‘Booker’.

The ultimate aim is to make the homepage appealing to both the ‘Booker’ as well as the ‘Researcher’. However, more emphasis should be given to the Bookers’ requirements as you are targeting higher online bookings. Hence, initial focus should be on creating a complete homepage, in particular the top fold that most of the visitors look at first. Below are the basics to be considered while creating an impressive top fold that answers all the ‘Bookers’ queries, expecting a quick and comprehensive service from you.

Information they search for-

1. Your service location details as they search for nearby accessible clinics.
2. The Dentists’ details, specifically their qualifications and experience.
3. The feel and personality of the dental staff.
4. Facilities offered by your clinic.
5. Clinic timings and availability during weekends and other such related information.

Your top fold should contain the following information:

Why you should be chosen

1. A reason to call you in a big heading.
2. Your USP in a capturing line.

Facilities

1. Pictures and/or videos presenting the staff, facilities and ambience of the clinic.
2. About your Dentist.
3. Services offered can be listed below the top fold, in case you are not able to accommodate all therein.

Contact Information

1. Your contact number written clearly and boldly.
2. How appointment can be taken at your clinic, i.e. appointment process.
3. Your address depicted in a map with location details and landmarks.
4. Pictures of the view outside the clinic.

Source: WorldDental.ca

The above are some basics that will definitely reduce your bounce rates by the ‘Bookers’. The presentation should be simple and easy for them to follow and make an appointment. Here the ‘Principle of Visual Hierarchy’ holds well that advocates significance of important elements drawing viewer’s attention first, which is then led by a path that guides their eyes. You can test it by looking at your own homepage yourself and if you do not find any clear path, that means you have competing elements that breaks the Visual Hierarchy rule.

Later, to make the homepage helpful to the Researchers as well by adding on even more details below the top fold as we have done for the World Dental Website.