Crafting Your Dental Website – Part 5: Photos and Images

We’ve spent the bulk of this website series focusing on the right content to add to your dental website to make it engaging, interesting, and attention-grabbing for potential new patients. Now it’s time for the icing on the cake, so to speak, which are your photos and images.

Here are some helpful tips to think about when considering the right images for your dental clinic’s website.

Consider Your Options

You have a few options to consider when it’s time to add photos to your website. Remember, there are pros and cons to every choice, so be sure to think about your budget and your goals for the outcome of your dental website as you decide how to choose the photos and images.

Hire a Professional Photographer

If you’re looking to create a website with a more personalised feel, you may want to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your clinic and your team. Patients love the opportunity to see who they’ll be working with before they arrive at your dental clinic, and it can help them feel more comfortable seeing you and your team in action.

If you have the budget for a professional photographer, you might also want to consider making some videos to add to your website. You can use videos to personalise bios or answer FAQ questions. Videos are a great way to connect with your patients while sharing the information they need.

Use Stock Photos

If hiring a photographer is out of your budget or not what you had in mind for your website, stock photos are a great option to add interest to your website.

Websites like Foleon or Unsplash provide plenty of eye-catching images you can use on your website for free. In addition, stock photos can help you add variety to your website.  

Consider Adding Graphics

Graphics can be another great way to provide information for your patients on your dental website. Don’t completely trade them for photos, but instead, use a combination of pictures and graphics where it’s relevant.

Properly Size and Crop Your Images

Images come in all sizes, so properly size and crop your photos to your website’s specifications. Pictures that are too large can be difficult for your visitors to load. Slow loading of your website may cause them to leave, which means a missed opportunity for your dental practice. Images that aren’t appropriately sized may also appear blurry.

Another way to ensure quick loading speeds for your website is to optimise your website for both desktop and mobile users.

Select Your Dental Images Carefully

Be sure to choose images that are relevant to the topic you’re discussing. For example, if your service page is about cosmetic dentistry, this is not the page to show imagery depicting dental implants.

Choosing photos that reflect your patient demographic will help everyone feel welcome at your dental clinic. For example, if you serve many senior patients, be sure to choose photos with seniors in them. Or, if you’re looking to reach families, include pictures of families of all ages on your website.  

Be wary when choosing photos that graphically depict procedures since they could be overwhelming or off-putting for some patients. It’s much better to stick with pictures that feel friendly and welcoming to both your current and potential new patients.

Final Thoughts

Images, graphics, and videos can really help to personalise your website, especially when you’re thoughtful about how to use the photos.

Pictures also help break up your content and make your website pages more visually appealing. Typically using one image or graphic per every 200 words or so will keep your page interesting and informative.

If you need help with images, videos, or other content strategies for your dental website, GDW is here to help!