Specialising in teeth reconstruction and gum problems, Sammut Specialists tackle a lot of dental issues which do not only affect one’s health, but their confidence and self-perception.
But what’s that one universal truth about dentists? Most people are petrified of them.
We knew going into this web design project that the subject matter was a sore point for most people.
To our delight, Edward and Elizabeth are true scientists who are not only professional in their approach, but embrace innovation in such a way that it’s impossible for patients to leave their clinic feeling scared.
They harness technology to bring back their patients’ smiles in a safe, long lasting and authentic way, and they’re subtle. They wanted their website design and language to be understated without making any bold claims or being anything that would not be accepted by the UK Medical Council which is where Sammut Specialists cut their teeth (pun definitely intended).
So, nothing flashy, no bells and whistles and dramatic intro videos and animations. Good, we’ll pare it down to the essentials and the robust. So this project was irresistible from the start. A challenging premise and lovely, professional clients. What more could you want?
Website Design
The first step to creating an accessible and non-scary website on a topic most people find horrifying was setting up the sub menu on the hero – we gave people a number of objectives for them to easily navigate around the site.
In establishing a relationship with the client, we were also able to deliver the project faster and exactly how they wanted it, and how their clients, the patient sitting in the dentist’s chair, wanted it. For example, we can’t expect a dental patient to know the name of the procedure they need if they haven’t even been diagnosed yet; so with the understanding that patients approach their dentist with a complaint, for example, “I want to improve my smile”, or “I have gum problems”, we used these FAQs, if you will, as a homepage navigation tool to quickly direct the user to the page they needed to see and onward to make an appointment.
Photos taken at the clinic also help bring an authenticity and transparency which humanises the people behind the clinic. You’re already familiar with the team before you’ve even walked through the door.
Content
Edward and Elizabeth painstakingly explained every facet of their work to us to give us the best understanding possible of what clients may look for in their research.
Every treatment is supplemented with a series of FAQs which help to put the patient’s mind at rest, both before a procedure, and afterwards.
Obviously we were very keen to keep Edward and Elizabeth happy with our progress, but really when you’re dealing with as divisive a profession as dentistry, we really wanted to keep the end-user top of mind to help put them at ease. After all, can a dentist be scary if they can save your smile?
This won’t hurt at all
So we’ve got a client that does not want to go heavy on their self-promotion, but we’ve got an understanding of the technology they use, the design they want and what they don’t want.
The fact that we knew all this information before sinking our teeth into this project saved us a lot of time, because the usual route that digital marketing agencies take for website design is to look at competitors’ websites, see what’s trending at the moment and apply it to their client.
In this case, that process was entirely client-informed, so our prototypes hit the mark precisely as the client wanted.
In the end, this website project was an entirely painless process due to the shared understanding both we and the clients of what the website was to achieve. This led to correct expectations from both sides, resulting in a successful website project that for once was not like pulling teeth. Ok, we’re done with the puns now.
