If you’re new to the process of making and maintaining a site, you’re probably looking to make the process as easy as possible for yourself. A common trap that many dental practices fall into is using a dental website template.

While a dental website template may make things easier for you initially, you will likely encounter many issues and difficulties in the long run. As a result, a custom website is a far superior choice for the needs of most dental practices. If you’re still not convinced of the advantages of a custom design for your website, here are six reasons a dental website template will ruin your chances of creating a solid online presence for your dental practice.

1. Lack of Unique Identity

One reason you shouldn’t opt to use a dental website template is that it won’t allow you to enjoy a unique identity. Most website templates are very generic because they are intended for use by more than one user. Sometimes, the color scheme is the only change you can make to a dental website template. A few other templates allow you to switch up the arrangement of a few template features.

However, don’t expect to be able to make enough changes to alter the entire look of the website template. In many cases, you won’t be able to make any changes at all.

“What you have, what you are – your looks, your personality, your way of thinking – is unique. No one in the world is like you. So capitalize on it.”

Jack Lord

Hundreds, if not thousands, of users use the most popular dental website templates. That means it is incredibly likely that visitors to your website will come across other dental practices with the same exact template as yours. Not only will this confuse the visitor, but it will also make your dental practice appear phony and less authentic.

2. Custom Dental Websites Enjoy a Better Ranking

When you search a keyword in a search engine like Google, most of the sites in the top results will likely feature custom website designs rather than templates. Believe it or not, this is not a coincidence.

Many search engines, especially Google, prefer websites with custom designs for several reasons.

Custom websites are more likely to be mobile responsive than websites with template designs. Search engines reward websites that cater to the needs of the user by ranking these websites higher in search engine results. As a result, custom dental websites tend to rank higher. You want the website for your dental practice to rank on the first or second page for long-tail keywords as soon as possible. Not only will achieving this help you attract more patients, but it will also keep your competitors from gaining ground.

Google favors custom websites. Why? Because Google puts users’ experience above all else.

3. Limited Control and Features

As the owner of a dental practice, you probably value having complete control over your brand’s presence on various platforms. Unfortunately, a dental website template will limit your control over your website. If there’s something that you don’t like about your site, you will have absolutely no power to change it. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you’re starting out.

Want to tweak some advanced functions here and there in a template system? It’s not technologically possible.

4. Outdated and Average at Best

Unfortunately, many templates for dental websites are out-of-date and old-fashioned. This is because these templates were created years ago and are still being offered for use. If the website design for your dental practice is dated, you can expect this to cause potential patients to have a bad impression of your brand from the get-go. People make decisions based on their first impressions, whether they like it or not.

Your template website could be as moldy as this loaf of bread.

5. Not Scalable or Easy to Expand

Obviously, your dental practice will not remain stagnant over a long period of time. Rather, you likely expect your dental practice to flourish and prosper. This means that your dental practice may have to accommodate more patients, additional doctors, new locations, and different needs in the future.

As your dental practice changes over time, you must change your website to reflect these changes. For this to be an easy task, you need to have a scalable website that is easy to expand. Unfortunately, most template websites are not scalable in the least.

Therefore, you can expect to start your website from scratch in the near future if you decide to start with a template rather than a website with a custom design.

The only way to scale your template website is to tear it down and build anew.

6. You won’t have the help of a professional

If you decide to have a custom design created for your website, you will be working with a professional web designer. However, your relationship with said professional won’t end once your website’s design is complete. Rather, you can contact the professional who helped you with your website if you have any questions or concerns later on.

Also, if you decide you need changes made to your website, you can count on the web designer you worked with to help you. On the other hand, if you use a dental website template, you are essentially on your own regarding support.

You can try to solve website problems on your own, but soon, your patients will run out and the problems remain unsolved.

As you can see, there are many reasons why a dental website template is probably not the right choice for your needs. A custom website is the way to go for most dental practices. If you still want to get a template, here are the top 5 dental template companies you can try. But if you want to explore a custom site, check the country’s #1 dental website design company.