How often do you check your dentist’s website?

Right.

Now how often would you check it if she provided weekly tips on home-whitening products, ways to know if tooth pain is serious — or even advice on how much sugar is okay?

What if you saw a story in the news about the dangers of some plaque removal systems and knew for sure she’d have a post out on it by the end of the day?

If a local dentist had a website like that, if she dedicated twenty minutes per week to it, what do you think the returns would be on her business?

That dentist wouldn’t be a blogger, exactly — she wouldn’t be writing daily to build a large audience and generate advertising dollars.  She’d be a dentist with a thriving online presence that would help to build her business and increase her community visibility.

In the late 1990s, companies started realizing that they needed an online presence in order to compete.  But newspapers and radio were still viable then, and businesses sank money into websites as a sort of social-corporate obligation.  No one expected those websites to attract much business.

And in fact, those websites don’t.  The static, stoic, unchanging home page is boring and the only reason anyone will check it is to get your phone number or address to plug into the GPS.

Today’s thriving businesses — big and small — need an online presence.

If you knew a local dentist who was funny and approachable, if you had read her passionate treatise on calming patients and reducing pain — would she be the dentist for you?