By: Will Koziey-Kronas
According to our internal statistics on organic website traffic and newsletter clickthrough rates, staff pages are often the second most visited or clicked for practices websites after the homepage. Prospective patients aren't just looking for a run down of your services, or your location - they want to know why they should trust you, both as a person and a professional.
To build a staff page that effectively forges trust between your practice and prospective patients, read on as we address the best practices for staff pages on healthcare sites.
- Photos Count The first consideration is often the headshot or portrait photo. This photo is the element readers will notice first, and first impressions are crucial. Treat this photo with care: set it against an attractive and/or neutral background, dress well, smile (promoting your services in the process), and use the highest quality camera you have access to - or better yet, get professional photography taken at your office. Dr. Carly Gordon from Maple Dental Health exemplifies all these criteria well with her portrait below:
- Professional Content First With the photo addressed, we move onto content. Visitors want to know why they should entrust their oral health to you - so establish your professional credibility first. The professional section of a biography should cover four bases:
- Experience: Your dental education and years of experience come first, like Dr. Branco's opening line from his Clinton Dental staff page:
- Philosophies and Specialties: Professional philosophies and specialties should follow. If you can summarize your dental philosophy with a quote, do so, and make it stand out (by using italics, for instance), like Dr. Kay from Kay Dental did below:
Further, services and areas you specialize in should be highlighted. Take a look at the last line of this paragraph from Dr. Rosenblat's biography from his Oakdale Dental staff page, and note how the phrasing attracts prospective patients interested in a specific area of dentistry, but doesn't alienate patients who aren't interested:
- Continuing Education: Since continuing education is mandatory, you might think not to mention it, but that's a missed opportunity - it's a reminder to patients that you're involved and interested at present, and going forward.
- Associations: Lastly, it's often beneficial to list the dental associations you're a part of, ideally in a format that stands out from the rest of the text.
Lists with title headers, like this one, work well for displaying associations.
Most patients won't be familiar with all (or any) of the associations you list, but their presence establishes credibility. Please note that regulations from professional governing bodies may restrict what associations, credentials, and other information you can post in your service area. - Personal Information Next The goal of a staff page is to establish trust. Professional credentials are only part of that process. Personal information is the next part, the chance for prospective patients to connect with you as a person after connecting with you as a dentist.
- Include The Whole Team So far, we've focussed on the dentist, but the dentist is not the only person patients come in contact with at your practice. Hygienists, office managers, and assistants are all important parts of the patient experience, and are often just as deserving of biographies as well. In fact, a prospective patient who is solely interested in cleaning may have more interest in learning about their potential hygienist than the dentist.
- Keep it Updated Should you follow these tips, you'll be equipped with a staff page that builds both professional and personal trust. But a successful staff page needs maintenance: if you have turnover, replace the staff accordingly - you don't want to mislead anyone. If there are new associations you have joined or milestones you've reached, don't forget to update.
If you don't have the resources needed to take a quality portrait, read our article on custom photos for a rundown on hiring photographers for staff portraits. Regardless of whether you take the pictures yourself or hire someone, take the photos in front of a background you can consistently replicate to ensure new photos down the road are consistent with old ones.
If you're not sure where to begin, mention your family and hobbies to start. Don't be afraid to include specific details about your family and after hours activities, like Dr. Babatsikos from Lawrence West Dental did below in the final paragraph of his biography:
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| If prospective patients notice specific mutual interests, like hockey,or biking, or cooking, you have a better chance at connecting with them. |
Beyond family and hobbies, talk about where you have lived, and, if applicable, what languages you offer services in. For prospective patients who speak English as a second language, service in a language they are more familiar with could be a deciding factor in choosing a practice.
Biographies for other staff should cover the same bases as the dentist's (professional experience, personal interests, and a high quality photo), albeit in a condensed format, like Port Hope Dental's biography for their hygienist Kendra below:
