Before spending more on marketing, check what happens when someone tries to contact your practice. This checklist helps a dental team review the path from the website to reception, and find gaps that campaign reports alone will miss.
Confirm what the website tells new patients
Review opening hours, contact details, location information and the services you actually offer. Confirm any statements about appointment availability, fees or payment options before they go live. Remove outdated information rather than filling gaps with guesses.
Have the practice’s designated clinical reviewer approve treatment descriptions. Keep this website review separate from advice about whether a treatment suits an individual patient.
Follow each contact route
- Tap the phone link on a mobile phone and confirm the number shown.
- Send a clearly labelled test enquiry and confirm it reaches the right team.
- Check that required fields and error messages are easy to understand.
- Review the message shown after the form is sent.
- If you use an online booking tool, check where the link goes and what the visitor is asked to do.
Always use made up test details. Review what information the first form asks for and how submissions are handled before changing forms or tracking.
Separate a request from a confirmed appointment
Check whether the website offers a request form or live booking slots, and make sure the wording matches. If reception must reply before an appointment is set, the confirmation screen should not suggest the appointment is already booked.
Write down who handles enquiries during opening hours, what happens after hours and how unanswered requests are followed up. Set reply times the team can actually meet. An AI receptionist for dental practices can answer and book after hours if calls are being missed.
Review the handoff to reception
Ask reception which questions come up again and again, and which requests arrive through the wrong channel. Use those answers to make the website clearer, for example which location is being contacted or what the next step is.
Keep these conversations about patterns. Patient histories, treatment details and identifiable messages never belong in a marketing brief when totals will answer the question.
Keep report measures separate
Record website visits, phone link clicks, submitted requests and confirmed appointments as different measures. A click does not prove a call connected, and a request does not prove a patient attended.
Agree which results the practice can report reliably, and note gaps, duplicate enquiries and tracking changes. Compare the same date ranges and allow for changes in available appointment times before reading too much into a rise or fall in enquiries.
We plan and run dental marketing across SEO, Google Ads and websites for Canadian practices.
Make an action list before adding campaigns
For each issue, record the page or contact route, what went wrong, who will fix it and how it will be retested. Fix wrong information and failed delivery first, then unclear wording and reporting. Test the journey again after any change to booking software, contact details or forms.
See our dental marketing services for the full picture, or contact Canada Create™ with your website address and contact routes. Please do not include patient information.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dental website enquiry journey?
The path a new patient follows from your website to a confirmed appointment, including calls, forms, booking tools and reception follow up.
Why check the enquiry journey before spending more on marketing?
If calls or forms fail, extra marketing only sends more people into a broken process.
How do I test my dental website contact form?
Send a clearly labelled test enquiry with made up details, confirm the right team receives it and check the message the visitor sees.
What is the difference between a booking request and a confirmed appointment?
A request still needs a reply from reception. A confirmed appointment is a time slot the patient has secured. The website wording should match which one you offer.
Who should approve treatment descriptions on a dental website?
The practice's designated clinical reviewer.
What happens to enquiries after hours?
That depends on the practice. Write down how they are handled and when they are answered, or consider an AI receptionist to answer and book after hours.
Should patient details be shared with a marketing agency?
No. Share patterns and totals, never patient histories or identifiable messages.
Which numbers should a dental practice track?
Website visits, phone link clicks, submitted requests and confirmed appointments, each kept as a separate measure.
How often should the enquiry journey be tested?
After any change to booking software, contact details or forms, and on a regular schedule.
Can Canada Create review our practice's enquiry journey?
Yes. Send your website address and contact routes and we will propose a review, without needing any patient information.
