Why a dental website should start with new patients
A new patient checks your website before they call. They look for the services you offer, whether you take their insurance, what a first visit involves, and how to book. If those answers are hard to find on a phone, many will call the next office on the list.
The same applies to Google and AI assistants. If your insurance list is a scanned PDF or your services sit inside a slideshow, neither can read them. We put those facts in plain page text.
The pages a dental practice website needs
Start with one page for each main service, written for the patient. Each page explains what the service is, who it is for, what a visit involves and how to book:
- Cleanings and checkups. What a visit includes, what to bring and whether you see new patients.
- Dental implants. What the treatment involves, how a consultation works and the steps from first visit to final restoration.
- Clear aligners. How the first consultation works and what your team needs to know before it. Name the brand you offer only if you are a provider for it.
Then add the pages every practice needs:
- Services overview. Every service in one list, with a link to each page.
- New patients. The steps: call or book, fill in the forms, what to bring and what the first visit covers.
- Insurance and payment. The plans you accept, or a clear statement of how patients can check their coverage with you. Add the payment methods you take and any financing you offer. Only publish what your practice confirms.
- Team and office. Names, roles, a photo of the team and the office, hours and parking.
- Contact and emergencies. Phone number, hours and what to do after hours.
A patient reading the implant page has different questions from one reading the cleaning page, so each page is written for its own treatment.
Dentist website ideas that help new patients book
The ideas that help most are simple. Put the booking link or new-patient form in the header and at the end of every service page. Make your phone number a tap-to-call link on every page. Keep any form short, and run it through your practice software or a tool covered by a business associate agreement, as explained below.
When you compare web designers for a practice, ask four things: who writes the copy, what is in the written scope, what the price covers, and what happens in the first 30 days after launch. Ask for the answers in writing.
Online booking and new-patient forms
A booking request is patient information, so the booking button should lead to your practice’s own scheduling system or patient portal, or to a booking tool whose vendor signs a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) with your practice. If you do not have one yet, we help you compare options and check which vendors offer a BAA.
The same applies to new-patient forms. Put them in a tool covered by a BAA, or link to the forms in your practice software. A plain website contact form without a BAA should not collect patient details at all. It can point visitors to the phone number and the booking system instead.
Emergency calls and after-hours instructions
Put the emergency number above the fold on phones, with a short note on what to do when the office is closed. The website, chat and texting tools are not a way to report an emergency. Your team writes the emergency wording, and we place it where a patient sees it first.
Your Google profile, reviews and accessibility
Many patients see your Google Business Profile before your website, then open the site to check insurance and book. Both should show the same practice name, address, phone number and hours. We check the profile during the build and link to it from the site. If you show reviews on the site, use real ones that you have permission to use. We do not write or buy reviews.
We build to WCAG 2.1 AA. For a practice, that means insurance lists in real text rather than images, a booking form a patient can complete with a keyboard or a screen reader, and contrast that older patients can read on a phone.
HIPAA: which tools may handle patient information
Under HIPAA, even a patient’s name tied to an appointment request at your practice is protected health information (45 CFR 160.103). So patient information, including booking requests and new-patient forms, should only pass through tools whose vendor signs a business associate agreement with your practice. Your practice signs those agreements with each vendor, and we list every vendor that will touch patient information in the written scope.
Without a BAA, a channel such as website chat, a text line or a simple contact form gives general answers only: hours, services, insurance accepted, parking. It then points the patient to your own booking system or your front desk. If you add an AI assistant later, it follows the same rule.
This is not legal advice. Ask your own counsel how HIPAA applies to your practice.
What we do, step by step
- We read your current site, your Google profile and the practices nearby that patients compare you with.
- Scope, price, timeline and approval stages are agreed in writing before any work starts.
- We map the service, new-patient and insurance pages, write the copy and collect your materials. Your team checks the clinical and insurance facts.
- We design for phones first, with accessibility checks on the booking path.
- We add structured data, connect the booking link or form, check your listings and launch. The first 30 days include help and fixes within the agreed scope.
What it costs and what is not included
Most practices need the 5-8 page site: from $3,500, in 4-6 weeks. A practice that wants one page for a single service, such as implants, can start with a landing page (from $1,200). A full redesign of an existing practice site is from $4,500 and takes 5-8 weeks.
Not included in any price: domain and hosting, new photography, third-party software subscriptions (billed at cost, including any HIPAA-ready form or chat tool you choose), SMS carrier registration (A2P 10DLC) and message fees, and AI usage above the plan allowance.
Who this is for, and when a cheaper option is enough
This is for practices whose site is out of date, hard to use on a phone or vague about insurance and new patients. If your site is sound and only needs new service pages or updated insurance details, a refresh (from $2,500) or a single extra page ($250-$450 per page) may be all you need.
A brand-new solo practice that only needs hours, a phone number and a short service list can start on a website builder. We are the better fit when you want the copy, the insurance and new-patient pages and the listings done for you, with the scope in writing.
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