Hi everyone,
I recently moved into dental website development, and during my research I noticed a pattern that kept repeating.
A lot of dentists have websites simply to have a website, not for it to actually generate patients or revenue. Even practices that want their website to bring in patients often fall into what I call the SEO disease, an obsession with traffic that blinds them to real conversion opportunities and structural issues.
I ended up grouping most dental websites into two categories:
1. Vanity websites
2. Traffic websites
In most cases, the original goal was simple: bring in more patients. But after engaging with the website and SEO community, that goal quietly shifted into “get more traffic.”
The problem is simple: traffic does not equal conversion.
In the pursuit of rankings and traffic, many practices overlook critical elements like structure, lead quality, clarity, and alternative traffic channels.
What I mean by structure
Imagine a patient searches “dentist near me” and clicks the top result. The homepage usually starts like this:
“Welcome to [Practice Name]. For over 20 years, Dr. [Name] has been committed to providing exceptional care in a warm, family-friendly environment…”
Now imagine the actual patient situation:
They have MetLife insurance, dental anxiety, need a crown, and want emergency care.
That introduction does nothing for them.
You are forcing them to work. They now have to dig through the site to find out:
• Do you accept MetLife?
• Do you handle dental anxiety?
• Do you offer crowns?
• Do you have availability?
• Are your reviews good?
Most of this information, if it exists at all, is buried in paragraphs.
There is a very high chance they leave. Why? Because on Google they have hundreds of options and will not spend more than 10 seconds trying to figure things out.
Now compare that to this structure:
[Practice Name]
Your Trusted Dentist in Rancho Bernardo, CA
????? Dr. [Name], DMD | 10+ years experience
?? (858) 247-3020 | Call Now | ? Accepting New Patients
Same-week appointments available
Emergency care within 24 hours
Insurance we accept:
Delta Dental • Cigna • Aetna • MetLife • Guardian • Most PPO plans
[Book Appointment Online]
[Check Your Insurance]
????? 4.9/5 stars (100+ Google reviews)
The moment the patient lands on this site, more than 80 percent of their concerns are already handled.
Most dental websites are built to talk about the dentist and the practice, not the patient and their concerns. If your website is not structured to convert, ranking first on Google means nothing if 85 percent of visitors bounce.
Run this quick test
Can you find these in under 5 seconds on your homepage?
• Your phone number
• Insurance you accept
• Whether you have appointments available soon
If not, you are likely losing the majority of your traffic.
Another overlooked traffic source: social profiles
During my research, I found that about 68 percent of dental practices do not link their website on social media. Around 93 percent of staff and owners also do not link the practice website on their personal profiles.
Why does this matter?
Imagine a patient, friend, or family member wants to recommend your practice. The person they are referring has MetLife and just wants to quickly check if you accept it or have availability. They do not want to call. Maybe it is after hours.
They try to find your website through social media and cannot. So they move on.
Now imagine if your website link was easy to find everywhere, and even optionally listed on staff profiles. Sharing becomes effortless. If this information is missing, you are creating unnecessary friction.
Even two extra patients from this costs you nothing and is a win.
The future of search: LLMs
Humans hate cognitive effort. Google requires browsing, comparing, and researching.
With LLMs like ChatGPT, people simply describe their situation and get a match.
Example prompt:
“I have a toothache, I’m anxious about going to the dentist, I don’t want to be judged, and I need someone in the Bay Area with good reviews who handles dental anxiety.”
ChatGPT does the research and returns a shortlist.
This is nearly impossible with Google.
Google is research mode.
ChatGPT is decision mode.
Here is the issue: even if you meet all those criteria, if your website is not structured for how LLMs read and extract information, you are invisible.
ChatGPT alone has around 800 million users. Even if only 100 people use it to search for a dentist in your area, those are 100 high-intent patients. If you rank well and only 25 percent convert, that is 25 new patients without competing on Google.
Most people are still focused only on Google, which makes this an early and underutilized opportunity.
If you think LLM search is noise, you are likely missing one of the biggest shifts in how people will find services.
There are other underrated channels too, like social content, local Facebook groups, Reddit, and Quora, but I will stop here for now.
If you are interested in optimizing your website for LLM search and conversion, I wrote 20 Foundational Rules for LLM-Optimized Dental Websites, covering page structure, machine readability, the 10-second mobile test, keyword specificity, and more.
A quick reality check
If your website costs $150 per year and generates $0, it is not neutral. It is a $150 yearly loss. Even if you are not relying on it for patients, it increases the workload on your front desk by failing to answer basic objections.
Lastly, my situation
I am currently in a chicken-and-egg problem. I need dental case studies to earn trust, but I need trust to get dental case studies.
I have run a marketing agency since 2023 and worked with movers, wine companies, chiropractors, and other local services, but not dentistry. I am now fully pivoting into dental.
Why?
Because I built an application that automatically handles late cancellations and no-shows. It detects cancellations, fills the slot instantly, and writes it back into your patient management system without human involvement.
To make sure this works perfectly for dental practices, I need real-world insight and collaboration with dentists.
If you are open to giving me a shot with your website or want to explore this further, you can reach me at divine@heavyclick.site
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope at least one part of it was useful.