4 traffic types. Does your site cater to them?

F ollowing July 3rd’s blog post on the importance of a dynamic home page, today I thought we could elaborate a little more on the types of visitors that tend to visit dental websites, in an attempt to understand what motivates people’s interests.

Below is a list of the 4 general types of people dental websites must cater to:

Those who know exactly what they came for.

These people have come to your website for a specific reason – to find an address, read about a specific procedure, or determine your hours of operation. Your website navigation must get these people quickly to where they want to go without making them jump through any unneccessary hoops. This is why a clear main navigation menu is so important. These buttons allow your visitor to quickly access the specific information he/she needs – all at one click of a mouse.

Those who are browsing with a general interest.

These people know what they want, but they’re still in the process of narrowing down the search criteria. They are looking for a practice, and probably comparing based on image, services, etc. You must help them get to the relevant information they need to complete the decision-making process.
Why on earth would they want to click those top navigation buttons? – there is risk involved because they have to click, wait for a page to load, and figure out if that’s the information they’re looking for. They don’t know what to expect. When it comes to the internet, people are lazy and loose interest fast, so you’d better make sure your homepage is telling them everything they need to know!
Often these visitors don’t even know what they’re looking for. You must take them by the hand and guide them (funnel them) into the appropriate place on your website. This is accomplished by showing them a ’snippet’ or summarized preview of what information lies deeper in the site. Make it as easy as possible for them to flow through your sales process.

Those who are looking for something, but not sure what they want.

You must provide a comprehensive, benefit-oriented overview of what you offer. Again, the snippets of information on the home page can help to accomplish this. Window shoppers don’t care enough to click buttons and enter deep into your site, so you must present an overview of relevant information like a window display to draw visitors into your site.
Accidental visitors.
They stumbled upon your website by accident and aren’t really prospects. You should tell them quickly that they are in the wrong place and be happy when they go away.

Does your website cater to these 4 types of visitors?

I urge you to go through your website, especially your homepage, and check to see that your website caters to all 4 potential visitors.