Here is a checklist of what to look for when you are comparing an existing website to a DDS.com website, as well as links to other important pages.  Please also reference the comparison links below if they have a site with Officite, ProSites, or Televox:

                

DDS.com Comparsion Links	Other Key Links	Cases
Officite Comparison   ProSites Comparison   Televox Comparison   TheOnlinePractice Comparison	Place an order    Learn   Sales   Sales FAQ   Meta Tags   Competitor Matrix PDF   Competitor Matrix Excel	Case 1    Case 2   Case 3   Case 4   Case 5   Case 6   Case 7	Case 8   Case 9 Case 10 Case 11 Case 12  Case 13 Case 14

             

Checklist Questions - Remember to look at the site using the eyes of a patient.  What you see, and what do you see that is missing?!

   

1. What type of website is currently online?  It is a brouchure site, or an educational/interactive website?  Ask yourself if you are a patient of that practice, is there any reason for you to visit the site more than once?
2. How much content does the current website provider provide? 
3. If the site does have a lot of content, are the pages all text or do they contain relevant graphics and text?
4. Is there a Before and After section of the website? 
5. Is the site visible to search engines? 
6. How does the client make changes to the site? 
7. Does the site have a map to the office?  If so, how does someone view the map? 
8. Are the patient registration forms online?  Are the forms fillable?  How large is the file to download?  Is there one form or multiple forms? 
9. Does the current website provider provide hosted email?  In other words does the email address match the domain name address?  If so, it is secured?  Does the office have administration rights to edit email accounts, add/delete users, and assign storage space for each user?  Can the email be synced with an iPhone, a BlackBerry, with Outlook?  Can the client use Mail for Mac, Entourage, and/or Thunderbird?  Is the email also accessible on the Internet? 
10. Does the current website provider provide website statistics? 
11. Is there footer text?  If so, are their text links to the main navigation pages?  Are there some keywords in the footer such as the doctor's name, the services the practice provides, and some surrounding towns listed? 
12. Does the website design reflect the personality of the practice or is it a template website that is generic? 
13. Does the current website provider provide a hidden pages feature? 
14. Does the current website provider provide a password protected page feature? 
15. Does the current website provider provide a secured page feature? 
16. Is the site 100% Flash? 
17. Is there Technology content such as VELscope, DIAGNOdent, CEREC, etc? 
18. Are the page names in English, which helps with search engine optimization (SEO)? 
19. If a competing service offers an online editor, is that company's website created with the same service they sell to the clients?!   
20. If a competing service offers an online editor, do they have a web-based User Guide that is as detailed as help.DDS.com?

          

1. What type of website is currently online?  It is a brouchure site, or an educational/interactive website?  Ask yourself if you are a patient of that practice, is there any reason for you to visit the site more than once? 

   

If the site has only a few pages, then it is a brochure site.  If the answer is no, then it is a site for first time visitors only.  A website should be a resource for the patients.  I always remind clients that the website is not for the practice, it is for the patients but an effective website can help the practice leverage their time. If the website can serve the patients when the office is closed, then the website is service the practice.

4.  Is there a Before and After section of the website? 

   

My research shows that patients like to see before and afters so that they can "see" what their teeth might look like after they decide to undergo a procedure.  If they do have a before and after section, how does the client add a new case?  It takes about 5 minutes for a client to get a "web-ready" case on the Internet using the Web Wizard.  Compare these pages and decide for yourself which of the services offers a nicer Smile Gallery for its clients (yes, these are live client sites):

• TheOnlinePractice.com Smile Gallery
• Prosites Smile Gallery
• Officite Smile Gallery
• DDS.com Smile Gallery

5. Is the site visible to search engines? 

   

Site visibility is based on several factors, which include the META tags.  The page title is part of the META tags.  Look at the blue title bar. The image labeled #1 is from www.RichmondSmileDesign.com.  The image labeled #2 is from www.dds.com/richmond_kentucky_dentist.  Richmond Smile Design is not very beneficial to a search engine but Cosmetic Dentist Richmond is because it contains the city and the term dentist.  People are not likely to search for Richmond smile design but they are likely to search for Richmond dentist. The pages titles are editable by the clients using the Web Wizard.

6. How does the client make changes to the site? 

      

This is a hidden cost since some services charge by the hour to edit the site.  We do charge to edit their site if they want us to create the pages.  If the clients provide "web-ready" content, meaning the content can be added to their site without having to use an image editor, or retype the text, then we currently do not charge for the change.  This is stated on www.DDS.com/FAQ, which would also be a good page for y'all to learn.  DDS.com clients have complete control over the content on their site at all times.  Anyone who can type and click can edit a DDS.com website.  There is no charge for extra pages, or for extra data space.

7. Does the site have a map to the office?  If so, how does someone view the map? 

  

DDS.com provides an interactive map that keeps the patient on the site.  Most other services provide either a static map or they link to an outside mapping service like Google, Mapquest, or Yahoo! (Should a period follow the exclamation point after Yahoo! since the exclamation point is part of Yahoo!s branding?).  If a patient is on your site, keep them there! 

Note: The maps on DDS.com's sites require javascipt to be enabled to view them. If you do not see a map, please view this page on the User Guide to learn how to enable javascript.

8. Are the patient registration forms online?  Are the forms fillable?  How large is the file to download?  Is there one form or multiple forms? 

     

Forms that are completed with a keyboard are always easy to read.  Forms that are completed with a pen are almost always hard to read, which is critical when social security numbers, insurance information, date of birth, etc. are required by the practice.  If possible, we combine forms to make it easy for patients. This Officite website not only has multiple forms that a patient has to download, the Medical History form is over 24 megabytes as shown in the image below left.  This is a huge file and it is not even fillable.  The patient registration page for Smileworks as shown in the image below right has mouseover text, the logo for the practice is part of the clipboard, which has easy to read instructions to use your keyboard and mouse to complete the form (Yes, we add the logo for each office), their form is fillable, the yes/and no parts of the form toggle so patients cannot answer both "Yes" and "No" and the file size is more than 1/100th smaller than the Medical History form of the other website service.

9. Does the current website provider provide hosted email?  In other words does the email address match the domain name address?  If so, it is secured?  Does the office have administration rights to edit email accounts, add/delete users, and assign storage space for each user?  Can the email be synced with an iPhone, a BlackBerry, with Outlook?  Can the client use Mail for Mac, Entourage, and/or Thunderbird?  Is the email also accessible on the Internet? 

      

The answer to these questions for DDS.com clients is "yes."

    

13. Does the current website provider provide a hidden pages feature? 

     

This is a feature of the DDS.com service.

14. Does the current website provider provide a password protected page feature? 

   

This is a feature of the DDS.com service.

15. Does the current website provider provide a secured page feature? 

      

This is a feature of the DDS.com service.

        

16. Is the site 100% Flash? 

     

If you right click on the page and if you see "About Adobe Flash Player..." everywhere you right click, then the site is 100% Flash.  If it is, it is likely 100% invisible to search engines since Flash is like an image.  It does not hurt search engine visibility to have a single Flash file on a web page but it is not good to have the entire page in Flash.  DDS.com does not offer a 100% Flash site.

17. Is there Technology content such as VELscope, DIAGNOdent, CEREC, etc? 

        

DDS.com provides content from many major dental companies and the content appears on the dentist website.

    

18. Are the page names in English such as www.gattidds.com/CEREC_One_Appointment_Crowns, which helps with search engine optimization (SEO)? 

       

Pages such as http://www.1stadvantagedental.com/servlet/ModuleDisplayServlet?mode=indexPage&section-id=174 are not useful to search engines since there is no information in the page name about what is contained on the page.

19. If a competing service offers an online editor, is that company's website created with the same service they sell to the clients?! 

       

The answer is, "No."  DDS.com's website is created with the same service that we sell to the clients.  Why don't other company's use their own editor to create their company website?  Is it not "good enough" for their own company?!  FYI, any company can use the Web Wizard for their website.  We provide our service to a few companies that are not in the dental field so they can edit their own website.

20.  If a competing service offers an online editor, do they have a web-based User Guide that is as detailed as help.DDS.com ?

        

The answer is, "No, that that I have even seen."