Most orthodontic sites lose consult requests at the same few points: a buried button, a long form, missing answers on insurance and payment, and unclear office details. This guide walks through each check; if you want help, see orthodontic website design and how our pricing works.
The short answer
People rarely leave because of the design alone. They leave when they cannot find how to ask, when the form feels like a chore, or when the page does not answer what they came to learn. Fix the path to the consult first, then the content around it.
- Make the consult button easy to see and tap on a phone
- Keep the free consult form short
- Answer insurance and financing questions on the page
- Give each office its own clear details
Check the path on a phone
Open your site on your own phone, the way a parent would in a school pickup line. Can you see how to request a consult without scrolling far? Is the phone number a tap-to-call link, or just text you have to copy?
Then try it on a slow connection. Heavy images, chat boxes and pop-ups can push the button down or cover it. Our mobile booking study of 20 dental homepages looks at the same kind of problem on dental sites.
- A consult button near the top of the screen on a phone
- A phone number set up as tap-to-call
- A request button that stays easy to reach as you scroll
- Nothing covering the button, such as a banner or chat box
Trim the free consult form
A consult form is not an intake packet. Ask only what your front desk needs to call back: name, phone or email, the patient's age group, the preferred office and a good time to reach them. Everything else can wait for the visit.
Say what happens after someone sends it, such as who will reach out and how. Then test it yourself: send a request and check that it lands in a real inbox or your scheduling system, not a folder nobody reads. Ask your web team how form data is sent and stored, and check your own privacy duties.
If you offer a free consult, say plainly what it includes. State board and FTC advertising rules apply to how offers are worded, so check them before you publish.
Answer what parents and adults came to learn
Many visitors are comparing braces and clear aligners. Give each its own page that explains what it is, what the first visit involves and what happens next. Do not promise results or treatment times; keep every claim to what your practice can stand behind.
Insurance and financing come up on almost every call. Say whether you work with insurance, who to call with plan questions, and whether payment plans are offered. You do not need to post prices to be clear about how payment works.
Doctor pages matter too. A short bio, training and a real photo help a parent decide who to trust with their child.
Make offices and referrals easy
If you have more than one office, each needs its own page with address, hours, phone, map and the doctors who work there. Requests should reach the front desk for the office the person picked. Our local SEO checklist helps keep those details the same across your site and listings.
Referring dentists are a second audience. Give them a simple way to send a patient, such as a short referral form or a direct line, and link it from the menu or footer so they do not have to hunt.
If you get visits but few requests
Traffic without requests often points to the path, not the audience. Read website traffic but no leads for a wider list of checks.
If the fixes keep stacking up, a rebuild may be less work than patching. On our orthodontic website design page you can ask for a free homepage concept first, before any quote.
Questions about this topic
What is the most common reason orthodontic sites lose consult requests?
Often it is the path on a phone: the button is hard to find, the form is long, or the number cannot be tapped. Check that first.
How short should a free consult form be?
Ask only what your front desk needs to call back, such as name, contact details, age group, preferred office and a good time to call. Leave history and insurance details for later.
Should we list prices for braces and aligners?
You do not have to. Many practices instead explain how insurance, payment plans and the consult work, so people know what to expect. Check state board and FTC advertising rules before you publish any offer.
Do referring dentists need their own page?
A clear path helps, such as a short referral form or a direct line linked from the menu or footer. It keeps referrals out of the general inbox.
Can WTM fix this for our practice?
We build custom websites with booking connected to the system your front desk already uses, and you see a free homepage concept first. We build for healthcare practices. Our proof so far is from dental and one medical aesthetics group, not from orthodontic practices. See orthodontic website design.