Improving Your Endodontic Practice Website With Google Analytics

Posted in Practice Management | August 1, 2023

By Ray van Hilst

Gone are the days when patients relied on phone directories to find dental or endodontic providers. (Have you ever wondered why so many businesses start with the letter “A”? That’s an old phone book trick.) In today’s digital era, online searches have become the first step in seeking care (yes, even after a potential patient has looked in their insurance directory to find an in-network provider).

This means that your website serves as the virtual storefront for your endodontic practice – and that first impression of your practice’s website will help them decide to call your number or move on to the next listing in the search results.

Just as a welcoming waiting room instills confidence in your patients, a professional and user-friendly website establishes trust, showcases your expertise, and facilitates seamless patient experiences.

But how do you know if your website is working for you?

The answer is by leveraging the power of web analytics to gain insight into how visitors interact with your website. All so you can make data-driven decisions and drive your digital strategy.

So let’s explore how your practice’s website, combined with the use of web analytics, can shape the perception of your endodontic services and create meaningful patient connections.

Measure Web Performance with Google Analytics

The first thing to do is to test the effectiveness of your site by evaluating the analytics data you have at your disposal.

Google Analytics is a free and helpful tool that we install on all of our clients’ websites and tracks information such as:

How many users are coming to your site?
What pages are users visiting the most?
How are they engaging with your site?
Are they on a phone or a computer?

In fact, chances are good your web developer already installed Google Analytics on your website (a spot check of websites listed on provider’s profiles in the AAE Find My Endodontist Directory found that most sites have Google analytics installed).

So check in with your developer and make sure you have access to look at your data and web analytics.

Google recently upgraded the Google Analytics platform to a totally new version of Google Analytics called “GA4” (short for “Google Analytics 4”). If you’ve looked at your analytics in the past, you will notice this is a completely new experience and set of metrics. (For more on the differences, here is a good overview of GA4 and what it means for your website.)

Data Doesn’t Analyze Itself

The key to Google Analytics is not simply installing the software – you need to actually look at the data, analyze the trends, and use what you’ve found to your advantage. But unless you are a digital strategist, you might not know what to look at.

Google Analytics provides a wide range of data from your site, so it’s important to focus on the data that is most important to your business, and make decisions from there. For example:

What is the most viewed content on your site?
What pages are people engaging with the most?
Where are your highest points of conversion?

For an endodontic practice we find it should be bios of your providers, information about insurance and services, and then the contact page. Your highest points of conversion should be your contact page or maybe your homepage if your phone number is listed there.

One other key metric to look at is what sites are driving traffic to your site or what is known as “referral traffic” (here is a great article with in depth information on how to find referral traffic). This may help you know where you need to improve your presence in other places. For example, is your Find My Endo profile up to date with a link to your website? Have you claimed your Google My Business profile? Are you listed on referring dental practice’s websites?

Make Data Analysis A Routine

But just like good dental care, web analytics analysis isn’t a one-time thing. It takes consistency and a commitment to looking at the data and improving your digital marketing efforts. Make a plan to look at your data on a monthly basis or at least quarterly to see how you are doing and where you can make improvements.

The key here is to track data over time so you can see the trends and figure out places to make improvements.

You Have Data. Now What?

So you’ve looked at your data and are trying to figure out what to do next. Well the key is to use the data from your web analytics to make improvements. For example:

In the Pages and Screens Report, do you have pages that are really short and only have a few page views? Then consolidate them and create one really good informative page.
Do your top viewed pages have direct links to a contact us form or phone number to call?
In the Landing Page Report, is your homepage the highest ranking page? If so, make it easy for someone to book from there. If not, do your top landing pages make it easy to find out how to contact you?
Is there an important page such as your services or payment page that has low engagement? Maybe it doesn’t have the right information (or enough information) for people to actually spend time reading it.

Plan on making regular improvements in your site based on how people are actually using site so you can be continuously improving the experience for your current and new patients,.

(If you’re looking for some general starter tips, here is an article that we wrote about best practices for a pediatrician website with advice that also applies to Endodontic practice websites.)

A Holistic Approach to Analytics and Improvements

Following your new routines and using the tools means the next time you are wondering, “Is our website working?” you’ll be able to know the impact your website is making on your business.

And then by making regular enhancements to your website based on the data at hand, you can market your practice better and also improve your patients’ experience as they engage with your practice.

Ray van Hilst is director of client results at Yoko Co, a web design and marketing agency with a mission to help organizations “Do good. Better.”