The short answer
What a dental practice website costs depends on scope. Scope is the pages, custom design or a template, the writing, and redirects on a redesign. At ClinicBuilds, a new website starts from $2,499 one-time. A redesign starts from $1,999 one-time. If your site is leased monthly, also ask what leaving costs: who holds the domain, the content and the site.
Key takeaways
- Scope sets the price. That means pages, design, writing, patient actions such as click-to-call, and redirects on a redesign.
- Read any quote line by line. Then you know what the starting price buys and what would cost extra.
- Compare a one-time build and a monthly lease on two totals: the cost to own and the cost to leave.
- Before you sign with any vendor, find out whose name the domain is in. Also ask if you can take your content with you.
- Keep the registrar login (the account your domain is registered through), renewal dates and Google Search Console access on file at the practice.
What sets the price of a practice website?
Scope sets the price. A site that needs more pages, custom design, new writing or connections takes more work. The American Academy of Pediatrics has practice-management guidance for pediatric practices. In it, the Academy notes that creating a website does not have to be an expensive venture. It adds that this is true even if an agency or vendor is hired to build one.
These are the parts of a quote that move the price up or down:
- Pages. Each page needs a layout, writing and a check on a phone. A site with a page for each service takes more work than a single page.
- Custom design or a template. A template is faster to fill. A custom design is made for the practice, its specialty and its patients.
- Content (the writing). Someone has to write new pages or update old ones. The clinician should check anything clinical before it goes live.
- Patient actions. Click-to-call buttons, a link to the practice’s existing online scheduling, and a link-up with its Google Business Profile.
- Redirects on a redesign. A redesign can change page addresses. Then each old address should point to its new one. That is a redirect. It keeps old links and bookmarks working.
- Fixes after launch. Does the quote cover small fixes once the site is live? For how long?
What do ClinicBuilds’s starting prices include?
A new ClinicBuilds website starts from $2,499 one-time. A website redesign starts from $1,999 one-time. The table shows what each starting price includes, line by line. You can read any vendor’s quote the same way.
| What you get | New website, from $2,499 one-time | Website redesign, from $1,999 one-time |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Custom design for the practice, not a template | Modern redesign of the existing site |
| Pages | Up to 8 pages | Up to 8 pages, existing content refreshed |
| Build | Mobile-first, fast-loading | Mobile-first, fast-loading |
| Search basics | Titles, descriptions, structured data, sitemap | Not listed in the starting package |
| Patient actions | Click-to-call and a link to existing online scheduling (if any) | Not listed in the starting package |
| Google Business Profile | Link-up included | Not listed in the starting package |
| Old page addresses | Not listed in the starting package | Redirected so current links keep working |
| After launch | 30 days of post-launch fixes | 30 days of post-launch fixes |
Final price depends on scope. You get a fixed quote before any work starts. Services can be combined. The pricing page lists the starting price for every service. The new website and website redesign pages explain each package.
The requests that take a quote beyond the starting package are dynamic features. Here are the kinds I mean:
- connecting the site to the practice’s appointment system (more than a link to its existing online scheduling)
- a dashboard where staff can customize parts of the site
- an announcements section the office manager can keep up to date
Each of those is a different kind of build from a static site. So I ask about them before I write a fixed quote.
One-time build or monthly lease: how do you compare the real cost?
Compare two totals, not two prices. The first total is what the site costs to own for as long as you plan to keep it. The second is what it would cost to leave. A monthly fee and a one-time price only make sense side by side once both totals are written down.
| What to compare | One-time build: what to check | Monthly lease: what to check |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | The fixed quote and what it includes | Any setup fee |
| Ongoing cost | Are domain renewal, hosting and support included, or charged separately? | The monthly fee, what it covers, and how often it can change |
| Changes and updates | Who makes them and how they are charged | Which changes the fee covers and which cost extra |
| Contract length | Any term or notice period in the agreement | The minimum term and the notice needed to cancel |
| What you keep if you stop paying | The domain, the content and the site files, if the agreement says so | Whether the domain, content and images stay with you |
| Cost to leave | What moving the site and its hosting would involve | Whether leaving means a new build, a domain transfer and redirects from old addresses |
If your site is leased, check the agreement for three things. Look for the minimum term and the cancellation notice. Also look for what happens to the domain and content when the lease ends. Then add up the monthly fee over the years you expect to keep the site. Last, add the cost to leave.
Who owns the domain, the content and the site?
Check it in writing before you sign with any vendor. Your domain name is the familiar name people use to find your website. First, ask whose name the domain is registered in. Next, ask who holds the login at the registrar. A registrar is the company the domain is registered through. Last, ask whether you can export (take a copy of) the content and images if you leave.
ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It coordinates the internet’s domain names. ICANN states that it is your right to transfer your domain name between registrars. So make sure the domain is registered in the practice’s name. Also make sure someone at the practice can log in to the registrar account.
Google has advice on hiring an SEO (search engine optimization) provider. That is a company or person you hire to do SEO for your website in Google Search. The advice is a useful test for any website vendor. Google says you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire. Google also suggests asking whether the provider will share all the changes they make to your site.
If I were signing with any website vendor, these are the questions I’d ask first. Who owns the domain? How does the site get updated, and who does it? How long before the domain and the plan renew?
This is general information, not legal advice.
What does it take to leave a website vendor?
Leaving takes four things. You need control of the domain and a copy of your content. You need redirects for any page addresses that change. You also need access to Google Search Console. It is Google’s free service for keeping track of how a site appears in Google Search.
- Move the domain, if it needs to move. ICANN explains that you need an Auth-Code, also called a transfer code, to move the domain to another registrar. You get it from your current registrar. Your registrar may let you create the code yourself in your account. If not, you contact the registrar to get it. Then you start the transfer with the registrar you are moving to.
- Export the content and images. Ask for the page text, images and any forms in a format you can reuse. Do this before the old site is switched off.
- Redirect the old addresses. A redirect sends people from an old page address to its new one. When a site moves, Google recommends permanent redirects set up on the web server, such as 301 redirects. They go from each old page address (URL) to its new one. Google advises keeping those redirects for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year.
- Keep Search Console in the practice’s hands. If the domain changes, Google has a Change of Address tool. To use it, you must be an owner of both the old and new properties in Search Console. In Search Console, a website you check or manage there is called a property. On the Change of Address help page, Google also recommends that you keep paying for the old domain for at least a year. That way, others cannot buy it and misuse it.
If a redesign keeps the same domain but changes page addresses, it still needs step 3. The website redesign package includes redirecting existing page addresses so current links keep working.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask any website vendor these questions in writing. Keep the answers with the agreement.
Ask the vendor:
- Whose name will the domain be registered in? Who will hold the registrar login?
- How is the site updated? Who does it, and how are changes charged?
- When do the domain and the plan renew? How much notice do I get?
- Can I export the page text and images if I leave? In what format?
- Will you share all the changes you make to my site?
- Who will be an owner of the site in Google Search Console?
- If I leave, will you set up redirects from the old page addresses? Or will you hand over what I need to do it?
- What is the minimum term? How much notice does cancelling need?
Checklist for the office manager to keep on file:
- The registrar’s name and the account login. Who in the practice can reach it.
- Domain renewal dates and the payment method on file.
- DNS (Domain Name System) access: who can change where the domain points.
- Owners of the Google Search Console property and the Google Business Profile.
- Where the site’s content and images are stored, and a recent copy.
- The agreement, with the renewal date and the cancellation terms marked.
Next step
Ask for a free presence review of your current website. Then get a fixed quote before any work starts. The process has four steps. First, a free presence review. Second, a plan and fixed quote. Third, design and build, with your review and approval. Fourth, launch and 30 days of fixes.