What a new dental website costs, and the number of new patients that pays it back
A plain cost breakdown of a dental practice website, from template builds to custom sites, the monthly cost, and how many new patients it takes to break even.
A new patient finds your practice on Google, taps your website to check if you take their insurance, and lands on a slow page that looks like it was built in 2014. They hit back and book with the practice next door. You never see that visit on any report.
Most practice owners know the site needs work. The hard part is knowing what a fair price is and whether it will pay back. Here is the breakdown.
Where most practices stand
Across the 86,875 dental listings we track, 78.5% link to a website and 21.5% do not. The gap in reviews between the two groups is wide: the median listing with a website has 103 Google reviews, against 1 for listings without one.
A website does not create reviews by itself. But practices that invest in a real site tend to invest in the rest of their marketing too, and patients comparing practices see the difference. The benchmark report has the full numbers by state.
What a dental website costs
Three common tiers. Prices are typical ranges in the US market, not quotes.
A template site from a dental website company. Roughly $0 to $2,000 up front and $150 to $400 a month. You pick a design, they load your photos, services and team. Fast to launch. The trade-off is that dozens of other practices may have nearly the same site, and many of these contracts own the site, so you lose it if you leave.
A custom build from a freelancer or small studio. Roughly $4,000 to $12,000 up front, plus $50 to $200 a month for hosting and updates. You own it. It can be built around your actual services, like implants, clear aligners or sedation, with a page for each.
A larger custom build with ongoing content. Roughly $10,000 to $25,000 up front and $500 to $2,000 a month for content and search work. This makes sense for multi-location groups or practices competing hard for implant and cosmetic cases in a big metro.
Before you sign anything, ask two questions. Who owns the domain and the site if we part ways? What exactly does the monthly fee cover?
The payback math
Dental math is friendlier than most trades because a patient is worth more than one visit.
Here is a hypothetical. Say a new patient is worth $1,000 in the first year between exams, cleanings, X-rays and some restorative work. Many practices put lifetime value much higher, but use a conservative first-year figure.
Template site at $300 a month. That is $3,600 a year. You need about four extra new patients a year to break even, or one every three months.
Custom build at $8,000 plus $100 a month. That is $9,200 in year one. You need about nine or ten extra new patients in the first year, and around one a year after that to cover hosting.
Larger build at $15,000 plus $1,000 a month. That is $27,000 in year one. You need about 27 extra new patients, or a few high-value implant or aligner cases. This tier only makes sense if you are actively running ads and selling large cases.
A single implant case can cover most of a year of a mid-range site on its own. The pricing and case presentation guide covers how to present those cases once the patient is in the chair.
What the site has to do to pay back
Price does not decide whether a site pays back. These do:
- Insurance accepted, on the first screen. It is the first thing many new patients check.
- Tap-to-call and online booking on every page. Make it two taps from any page to a booked visit.
- A page for each major service. Implants, aligners, emergency visits, sedation, pediatric. One page each, with who it is for and what it costs or how pricing works.
- Fast on a phone. Most new patients are on a phone. Test it on cellular data.
- Real photos. Your team, your rooms, your front desk. Not stock smiles.
- Hours that match Google. If the site says open Saturday and Google does not, patients will call to ask or go elsewhere.
The dental website essentials guide goes through each one with examples.
When a new site will not help
If your front desk misses a large share of calls, a better website just sends more calls to voicemail. Fix the phones first. The front desk and missed calls guide covers that, and the missed call calculator shows what those calls cost.
If your Google profile has few reviews, a nice site will not close the gap on its own. The site and the reviews work together.
The short version
A template site is the cheapest way to get something decent live, but read the ownership terms. A custom build in the $4,000 to $12,000 range is what most single-location practices need, and it pays back with roughly ten new patients in the first year. Fix your phones and your reviews alongside it, or the site will not get the chance to work.
If you want someone to build or rework your site, or run any one service for you, the free 14-day trial needs no card. See the free trial page or text or call (385) 217-4728.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, dental practices among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor