Is it Custom or Is it Cake?
Is it Custom or Is it Cake?
What it means to have a fully custom dental website
Okay, I know you’re thinking, What on earth are they talking about this time. Cake??
As always, you’re going to have to trust me for a sec. I’ve been thinking about what makes a dental website fully custom, not just customized from a template. And my thoughts led me here, to cake.
First let’s grab our forks and dig into the minutiae of what these words actually mean.
Custom vs Customized
Have you ever added chocolate chips, walnuts, or coconut (or all three 😋) to a Betty Crocker cake mix? That’s the idea behind customizing. You took something pre-packaged and put your own spin on it. There is nothing wrong with that! In fact, it saves time and does a good job satisfying that sweet tooth.
On the other hand, have you ever bought a cake from a bakery that’s been practicing and perfecting its recipes over the years? It’s a whole different experience. Decadent, rich, not just satisfying but 100% worth the added sugar.
What we at Studio 8E8, aka the bakery in this metaphor, try to do is carefully create a recipe around the flavors and textures that you like best. We can’t completely throw out the recipe (we’re still making a cake here, not a sailboat) but we can make something that is you in a cake.
And we do that by starting from scratch every time.
If you’ve ever baked a cake from scratch, you know that it’s an exact science. And if you’ve ever watched professionals do it on a baking show, you know it’s even more complicated and technical to make a really really good cake. They’re weighing grams of flour and hand-pitting cherries and “folding it in.” Websites – dare I say – are even more technical. If you want a website that looks professional and of the 21st century, it’s not usually a DIY job.
So what makes a custom website custom? What makes a cake a cake?
The sponge
The sponge is our base layer. We’re making a website, and it needs to have the things a website needs, like navigation and contact information. It needs to look good on a (rectangular) computer screen and phone screen. And it needs to work! I’d say web developers are the ones most responsible for mixing up the sponge with the right amount of sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder.
But a cake sponge also has flavor, and I think that comes in with website copy. What a website says is a necessary base layer – your services, your bio – but how it says it is custom, because it should sound like your voice. We get to know each client before writing their website so we hit the perfect flavor.
The icing
Sponge is a necessity but the icing is fun. I think custom photography and videography are the icing on the cake. We create these custom to you by visiting you at your practice! Showing you at work with patient models and collaborating with staff gives viewers another opportunity to get to know you. We also show what makes your practice great – the technology, headphones, weighted blankets, coffee bar, and cozy waiting area you put so much effort into to make patients comfortable.
Some people like a lot of icing, some people don’t like much at all. Video is an added filling, another vehicle to communicate what you’re all about. And the best thing about custom photography and videos? No one else could ever have the same images or tell the same story as you.
The cherry on top
Sprinkles, cherries, cream, chocolate shavings, even bacon (brb gonna go find a snack) – keep in mind, it still has to fit on a cake, but the topping options are almost limitless. For every client, we custom-design our websites. We design around the sponge, or the building blocks that make a website a website, in tandem with custom photography, based on each client’s preference. For some examples and inspiration, check out our 20 best dental websites of 2023
One thing to remember when building your custom dental website: If it’s important to you, it’s important to us. We really want to know if you prefer chocolate or vanilla or persimmon or licorice. You can tell us if you want your videos to be more about dental services or silly songs, and if you want your website to scroll side to side instead of up and down. There are upside down cakes and illusion cakes, and topsy turvy cakes, and we love a challenge.
