How to Handle Multiple Location Websites for Dentists & Doctors
Many dentists and physicians are fortunate enough to own-and-operate multi-location practices. Thus it’s common for doctors to ask themselves – “Is it best to have a separate website & social media presence for each of my practice locations?”
As business owners, we strive to get the most out of our company resources; this is what allows us to provide our clients with the best service, pay our employees the best compensation, and of course allows us to generate the most profit we can to take home for ourselves and our families.
For 10+ years, we’ve been helping Dentists & Physicians get the most out of their online marketing, and these are few of the most common questions we hear:
“Should I keep the same branded office name for every location or pick a new one?”
“Should I have one website for all of my locations, or should each of them have their own website?”
“What’s the benefit to me if each of my locations has a different website? Won’t it get confusing to patients?”
Although there is not one right approach for every doctor, we hope these answers below help shed some light on which decision is best for you and your practice.
“Should I keep the same branded office name for every location or pick a new one?”
There is value in having a consistent name.
In many ways branding is about creating a consistent experience in the eyes of your patients. Consistency (in terms of name & visuals) helps them distinguish what they can expect from your practice even before walking into your doors.
So if possible, YES keep a consistency in your brand name and choose to change the associated city.
ie.
Happy Tooth Dental – Tarzana
Happy Tooth Dental – Brentwood
Happy Tooth Dental – Simi Valley
Benefits of Keeping A Consistent Brand Name
• People easily associate your brand with a given logo / visual identity
• Adding a “city” in addition to your Brand Name will improve SEO & local search result
• Value in building multi-location practices under one “umbrella”
“I just bought into a new practice and they have a different name than my other practice – should I change the name of the practice I just bought or keep the same name patients know it by?”
In this case, we’ve found it’s best to keep the name of the practice as is – primarily for the benefit of the existing patient base.
Imagine your family physician or dentist told you “I’m selling my practice” – you might be a bit concerned (and rightfully so) with this new, un-familiar doctor taking over the practice.
That’s why any type of consistency or familiarity will go a long way.
One way to create brand consistency amongst all of your practice locations with different names is to create a consistent logo.
This allows patients to make a visual connection at first glance with the new logo, yet gives familiarity as the name is the same.
“Should I have one website for all of my locations, or should each of them have their own website?”
To know this – you must first ask yourself “Is the main goal of my website to generate new patients?”
If your answer is something along the lines of this….
“I don’t really need the website for new patients. All of them are referrals, which is how I like it. I just want a website to be online so patients can see us when they go online or on social media.”
….we’d recommend having 1 Website for All Locations
Benefits of Having 1 Website for All Locations
• Easier to maintain
• Less money to build and maintain
• Less chance of duplicate content
“What’s the benefit to me if each of my locations has a different website? Won’t it get confusing to patients?”
Again, ask yourself “Is the main goal of my website to generate new patients?”
If your answer is something along the lines of this….
“Yes! I need my website and social media to help generate new patients consistently. Actually my new location I just bought needs much more help because the old doctor never did any kind of online marketing.”
….we’d recommend having Multiple Websites.
Benefits of Having Multiple Websites – 1 Website for EACH Location
Think about it, every time you search for a service online nowadays you put the words “near me” afterwards right? Or you Google what you’re looking for followed by your city name.
Google knows we want our search results to be local to us, and so it favors websites and social media profiles that are focused around one LOCATION / CITY.
• More web traffic & new patient appointments for each website because of the reason mentioned above
• Showcase the local team (doctor & staff) – important to patients!
• Improved SEO for all your websites
• Gives you more flexibility with services you offer
• Highlight Reviews per each location (Yelp, Google, Facebook)
• Focus your budget & marketing to the location(s) that need “more help”
DocSites has 10+ year marketing multi-location practices, ensuring your branding is consistent amongst all websites while creating unique content for Social Media & SEO results.
How can we help you and your practice?
Call us directly at 888-980-4949 to speak with a dental or medical website expert today.
