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Why Dentists Need to Be Mobile-Ready by Dan Lindquist

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In today's digital age, the way people recommend medical professionals to each other has changed drastically. Word-of-mouth still carries weight, but the way those words travel has evolved. Businesses need to be mobile-ready.

According to Search Engine Watch, the landscape in which businesses operate changed forever in early 2014, when app usage on mobile devices exceeded Internet use on PCs for the first time.

Tablets and mobile devices are taking over the market, changing the course of Internet history in a way many recognize but few are really cashing in on. Recent stats from Mobify help illustrate this shift:
  • More than 1.2 billion people worldwide use their mobile devices to access the Web—that's 15 percent of all Internet traffic.
  • As of 2012, 116 million Americans owned smartphones, a figure that accounts for 58 percent of all U.S. consumers.
  • Mobile-based searches make up one quarter of all Internet searches.
  • 25.85 percent of all emails are opened on mobile phones, and 10.16 percent are opened on tablets.
  • 59 percent of all clicks on the "confirm" button in Demandforce confirmation emails come from mobile devices.1
Why dentists should "go mobile"
Pew Research Center conducted a study on how the Internet is changing patients' approach to health care. In March 2011, their Internet and American Life Project and the California Healthcare Foundation found that more than 80 percent of U.S. Internet users search online for health-related information. One of the study's most interesting findings was that 44 percent of Internet users are actually looking for doctors and other health-care providers when they search for health information online.

More specifically, mobile platforms can be used in multiple facets of a dental practice. Communication methods include sharing promotions, industry news and updates; networking; sharing knowledge through a blog; or monitoring reviews and feedback. And as we all know, social media is also an affordable way to advertise your practice, as it's often a free marketing medium with reach that far exceeds your standard bus bench or local magazine.

What kinds of mobile platforms should dentists use?
When it comes to searching for businesses and services, apps such as Yelp and Foursquare are hugely popular for driving awareness of your practice and attracting potential patients.

According to Digital Marketing Ramblings, Yelp has 139 million unique visitors per month, and 59 percent of all Yelp searches come from mobile devices. There are currently more than 67 million reviews on Yelp, and 35 percent of those were made from mobile devices alone.

According to Foursquare, more than 50 million people use its app when they're figuring out their plans for the day. The mobile app offers users a personalized, local-search experience. Essentially, it "learns" what users like and makes recommendations based on their tastes and preferences, ratings they've applied to similar businesses, and other users' feedback. While Foursquare is particularly popular for restaurants and similar venues, many medical professionals have had success on the platform.

Additionally, some services can provide your practice with affordable and easy access to tools that will ensure your current and prospective patients have a positive interaction with your practice on their mobile device.

Demandforce, for instance, sends mobile-ready emails that fit to the device on which they're being viewed, as well as enabling patients to easily book future appointments and provide feedback. Such solutions also automate review collection. These reviews are then syndicated across the Web to build your practice a strong online reputation and leverage network marketing. Having real reviews and the ability to book an online appointment right from their mobile device will help turn visitors to your page—whether on Yelp, Citysearch or Facebook—into new patients.

If your practice already has a website, does it really need a mobile presence?
It's important to note that mobile websites are different from regular websites, which are usually designed for large desktop and laptop screens. Viewing sites on a mobile screen is a much different experience than viewing on a computer screen.

Without a mobile-friendly site, patients visiting your page may experience too much unnecessary scrolling, buttons that are too small, text that is too tiny, drop-down menus that don't work, etc. These issues are likely to drive visitors away from your page.

A great way to start is to understand what your current website looks like on popular smartphone screens. Sites such as DeviceAnywhere and Perfecto Mobile let you test and preview your website on different screens, for free. These previews can help you visualize your mobile issues on different devices and guide your decisions for making changes.

If you discover that you need to convert your existing site to be more mobile-friendly, check out solutions like bMobilized, Duda, and ProSites.

Make your practice easy to find
Having an attractive and easy-to-use mobile site won't be of much use if people can't find you online in the first place. For this reason, consider creating a Google+ page for your practice. Why? Because it's essential for boosting your ranking on Google's search engine. By strategically optimizing a complete Google+ profile, you will ensure that Google's billions of users will have an easier time finding your business.
    Here's how to do it:
  • Make sure to include all relevant business information, especially your location and URL, in your profile.
  • Remember to include your hours, directions and the best places to park.
  • Post updates and news, and respond to comments or questions.
  • Upload photos and videos.
  • Ask patients to write organic Google reviews on your page. Services like Demandforce can make this even simpler, with premade email templates sent to patients, directing them to your Google+ page to post a review.
Connect with your patients in more ways than one
A mobile presence not only makes your practice easier to find, but also allows you to better cultivate a community of patients and supporters.

No amount of advertising and marketing can match the impact that positive testimonials have on new patients. Positive testimonials help build trust, loyalty and respect for your practice. The goal in creating a mobile presence for your practice remains the same: to create an easy-to-reach community built on these values.

Mobile marketing is not just an extension of that community; it's also an expansion of that community. For example, after every visit Demandforce sends "Thank You" emails, requesting feedback. And without requiring the patients to log in, they can leave a review that is automatically syndicated to sites such as Bing, Citysearch and Facebook.

Ultimately, making your practice mobile-ready will allow you to always put your best foot forward, which enables you to improve your patients' overall experience every time they walk through your door. After all, you've dedicated your life to improving your patients' smiles, so give them something to smile about by placing your practice in the palm of their hands.

References
  1. http://www.mobify.com/blog/13-stats-to-convince-your-boss-to-invest-in-mobile-in-2013/


Dan Lindquist has a decade of tech-industry experience between Yahoo! and Demandforce, where he currently manages the digital communications platform. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and has also worked as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting, where he advised companies on their product-development and technology strategies.


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September 2025
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