5 reasons your practice needs a responsive website now

GPS //
Guide to Practice Success
A Sesame Guide to Practice Success
REASONS YOUR PRACTICE
NEEDS A RESPONSIVE
WEBSITE NOW

Copyright 2013 Sesame Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. The Sesame logo is a trademark of Sesame Communications.
Sesame Guides to Practice Success
As a leader in education and research in the
dental industry, Sesame Communications has
created the Guides to Practice Success (GPS),
a series of educational resources with bite-
sized, actionable tips you can start using to
grow your practice today!
What is Responsive Design?
“Responsive web design is the approach that suggests that design and
development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment
based on screen size, platform and orientation.”1
Patients today no longer search for your practice using just their
computers. More than ever, they are using their smartphones, laptops, and
tablets to search for businesses like yours.
Responsive design allows you to deploy one website to connect with
patients on multiple devices. This means that a prospective patient could
be using an iPad, smartphone, or Kindle and your website will look great
and function beautifully.
GPS //

• By 2014 more searches will be done via mobile devices than
computers3
• A 2013 study found U.S. businesses received almost six
times as many calls from mobile searches than for desktop
searches.4
• Almost three-quarters of mobile users will abandon a web page
that does not load within five seconds or less on their phone.5
“Day by day the number of devices, platforms and
browsers that need to work with your site grows. Responsive
web design represents a fundamental shift in how we build
websites for the decade to come.”2
Patient use patterns with the Internet are rapidly changing. For
practices to remain relevant and accessible to prospective new
patients, they need to ensure their website is optimized for
these new patterns of use.
GPS //

1 Mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our
culture. A study conducted by Morgan Stanley found that “91%
of all smartphone users have their phones within an arm’s
reach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”6
Meanwhile, according to
Google research, “9 out of 10 searchers have taken action as a
result of a smartphone search.”7
Responsive designed websites optimize the layout and content
presentation depending on the screen size and type of device.
A practice that wants to ensure prospective patients can see
valued content and take action quickly and easily should
consider upgrading their site using responsive design.
Mobile comes in all shapes and sizes
GPS //

Differentiate Your Practice
2 Most practices today reside in a highly competitive environment.
Prospective patients rely on referrals, searches and initial
impressions to choose a practice. As a result, practices have just
a few seconds to impress prospective patients and entice them
to initiate contact.
A responsive designed website allows a practice to put its
best foot forward for the online visitor, on multiple devices and
screen sizes, every time. By implementing a responsive website
now, practices can give themselves a distinct competitive
advantage and ensure their unique characteristics and value are
properly presented.
GPS //

Search Engine Optimization
3 Responsive design and search optimization go hand in hand.
By providing one website with the same content for multiple
devices, responsive design makes it is easier for search engines
to index a website and improve its ability to be found in native
search results. Little surprise, then, that Google recommends
responsive design!
A responsive website may reduce bounce rates (the visitors that
leave a site quickly due to a bad impression from presentation)
by giving the user an optimal experience regardless of the
device they’re using.
61%
of smartphone users called
a business after performing
a local search.8
GPS //

Social Media Interchange
4 A practice with a responsive designed site has a distinct upper
hand in the social media arena.
Let’s say a current patient has a great experience at their dental
practice. As she walks out, she pulls out her smartphone and
posts a quick note to her Facebook page, along with a link to
the practice website.
Several of her friends see her post within minutes and click the
link. Some are on their phones; some are on tablets; others are
on their laptops. All of them see a great-looking site optimized
for their device.
GPS //

Future Friendly Design
5 Patients looking for a practice online expect the website to work
no matter what type of device they happen to use. In fact, 61%
of patients will leave your site if it’s not mobile friendly11
.
Most websites today are designed for desktops and laptops.
A mobile-specific website, with a different web address (URL)
than the “main” site, is often deployed to accommodate mobile
visitors. These secondary mobile sites are often designed
with a single mobile device or form factor in mind. As a result,
“mobile-friendly” websites must constantly be changed to keep
pace with advances in mobile technology.
Of course, the future promises that new devices, screen
resolutions and browsing methods will constantly enter the
marketplace. You can bet that your patients will immediately
take advantage of them. With responsive design, your practice
will be ready with a single, future-friendly website.
GPS //

Final Thoughts
The Internet access patterns of prospective dental patients are
rapidly evolving. Mobile devices will soon surpass traditional
computers as the dominant platform for web searches. As
a result, new devices, many with different screen sizes and
resolutions, are being introduced and adopted all the time.
Practices that hope to engage and capture the attention of
prospective patients must adapt to these changes.
Responsive design represents a fundamental shift in website
design by placing a premium on an outstanding user
experience. This approach provides an optimal viewing
experience for prospective and existing patients, regardless of
which devices they use to find and engage with your practice’s
website. By deploying one responsive designed website
for multiple devices and screen sizes, your practice has an
opportunity to differentiate your value, help drive a better
search and social experience and ultimately ensure that your
website – and your practice – are positioned for sustained
growth and profitability.
References
1. http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/01/12/
guidelines-for-responsive-web-design/
2. http://johnpolacek.github.io/scrolldeck.js/decks/
responsive/
3. http://tag.microsoft.com/community/blog/t/the_
growth_of_mobile_marketing_and_tagging.aspx
4. http://www.rachelpasqua.com/the-state-of-mobile-
search-2013-a-new-report-from-emarketer/
5. http://www.gomez.com/wp-content/down-
loads/19986_WhatMobileUsersWant_Wp.pdf
6. http://www.intelligentpositioning.com/
blog/2011/11/mobile-phones-are-more-popular-
than-toothbrushes/
7. http://www.gstatic.com/ads/research/en/2011_The-
MobileMovement.pdf
8. http://socialstatcenter.com/2011/06/61-of-smart-
phone-users-called-a-business-after-performing-a-
local-search/
9. http://es.nielsen.com/site/documents/NielsenGlo-
balDigitalShoppingReportAugust2012.pdf
10. http://heidicohen.com/2013-social-media-trends-
and-your-business/
11. International Advertising Bureau
GPS //

5 reasons your practice needs a responsive website now

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5 reasons your practice needs a responsive website now