What Dentists Really Need from a Website, an interview with clickguru’s CEO, Howard Brass
When Dr. Sanj Mohanta launched the Dentist Study Club podcast, she set out to help colleagues master three intertwined skills: clinical dentistry, practice management, and the mindset required to stay happy in an increasingly demanding profession. Marketing might seem a world apart from crown preps and perio charts, yet it often determines whether a practice thrives or coasts.
To untangle that subject Dr. Mohanta invited our very own Howard Brass, CEO of clickguru, for what turned into a far-reaching conversation about websites, search engines, social media, and artificial-intelligence tools. He spent the first stretch of his career on Bay Street with investment banks, but a painful experience paying “an obscene amount” for a dysfunctional website led him to launch clickguru. Over the past decade he and his Toronto-based team have helped hundreds of independent dentists dominate local search without draining their marketing budgets.
Below is a detailed summary of the interview, expanded to include context, practical examples, and quotable moments that showcase clickguru’s philosophy.
A Website Is Still Your Front Door
Dr. Mohanta began by asking the question many dentists silently ponder: “Do patients really care about our website? Most of my business comes from word-of-mouth referrals, why bother?”
The answer was a great analogy that set the tone for the rest of the discussion.
“At the end of the day… it’s akin to going to a wedding in ripped jeans and a wrinkled shirt, right? Everyone’s going to be talking about you. They may not say to, to your face, but you look unprofessional.”
He explained that nearly every referral now includes a digital pit stop. Prospective patients search the dentist’s name, skim a few reviews, and crucially, click on the practice website. That visit lasts seconds, but in those seconds trust is either cemented or shattered. A crisp design communicates modern equipment and clinical competence; a cluttered page suggests the opposite.
Howard is quick to clarify that building such a site need not drain savings.
“…if you do it once and you do it properly, you will never have to build another website again and it stays with you for the life of your practice.” he said.
clickguru uses clean code, original photos, service-specific URLs, and an expandable blog architecture so the site grows along with the practice.
Escaping the “Shiny-Object” Trap
After testing multiple agencies on Bay Street, he learned a hard lesson: most small businesses overspend on things that dazzle but rarely convert. That mindset drives clickguru’s obsession with return on investment.
Howard said “We ask dentists all the time, what are you doing? What’s your strategy? Oh, we’re running social ads or we’re running Google Ads. Okay, what’s your return on investment? And they give you this blank stare… I don’t know.”
He recounted practices paying thousands for social-media reels that earn nine likes, or funneling a fortune into pay-per-click ads with no idea how many new-patient visits result.
“…if you don’t know what your return is, why are you making that investment?” he said flatly.
That stance does not make Howard anti-advertising; rather, clickguru treats ad campaigns as a bridge. Young practices may need paid search for the first three to six months while organic rankings mature. Once a site earns a top-three position for high-value procedures: Implants Toronto, Invisalign Markham, Emergency Dentist Oakville, hose positions generate patients at a fraction of paid-ad cost.
Authenticity Wins, Ditch the Stock Photos
Both host and guest admitted they cringe when they see identical stock images across competing dental sites.
Howard said. “But a picture of a family smiling or an elderly couple smiling… people can sense that …it doesn’t feel real.”
clickguru therefore schedules an on-site photo shoot for each new client, capturing the real team, the treatment rooms, even the wall art. The agency also coaches dentists to record short chair-side videos, nothing slick, just a phone on a tripod, answering common questions: Does Invisalign hurt? How long does a crown take? Those clips foster trust and generate dwell time, a metric Google increasingly uses to gauge content quality.
Why ChatGPT Alone Won’t Rank Your Blog
Dr. Mohanta confessed she had seen colleagues posting AI-generated articles and wondered if Google penalizes that. Howard offered a nuanced answer. Pure copy-and-paste from ChatGPT often backfires because the language is generic and the same paragraphs appear across dozens of sites. Google’s “Helpful Content” update demotes pages that read like they were written for algorithms rather than humans.
clickguru uses AI differently. The team feeds keyword research into large-language models to draft an outline, then human writers add clinical nuance, internal links, and optimized images. Each post also links back to its related service page, creating a topical cluster that signals expertise.
“Google can understand and can see what’s AI generated and what’s not. … if you’re going to copy and paste a blog from ChatGPT, it’s probably doing more harm than good.” Howard quipped.
Climbing to Page One, Reviews and Persistence
When Dr. Mohanta asked for a step-by-step formula to reach page one, Howard boiled it down to two disciplines: consistent reviews and consistent content.
He said, ’’…the number one thing is just persistence… over time, if you, if you have persistence and you get more reviews… that will go a long way’’
Many offices struggle to gather reviews because front-desk teams are busy. clickguru installs an automated SMS system that texts patients within an hour of checkout. A single tap opens the Google review window; if the patient does not respond after forty-eight hours, a gentle reminder fires. Practices using the system often double review volume within six weeks.
Meanwhile the blog rolls on. Each month the agency publishes procedure-specific articles aimed at the practice’s “avatar patients.” A clinic seeking more implant cases receives surgical-site-care articles, bone-graft explainers, and cost calculators, written in plain language, optimized with FAQ schema.
“Google doesn’t want to see you just build a website and forget about it for the next 10 years. What they want to see is they want to see continued content on a monthly basis that you’re adding and they’re going to index each and every one of those pages.” Howard said.
Underdogs vs. Corporate Giants
Many independent dentists fear corporate DSOs, whose deep pockets buy top ad slots and nationwide backlinks. Howard argued that independents actually own a secret weapon: authenticity. In his words, “Big chains produce factory content, surface-level and generic. Google now rewards firsthand expertise, which solo docs have in spades.”
clickguru leverages that advantage by filming real surgeries, capturing surgeon commentary, and translating X-ray cases into layman’s slideshows. Those pages outrank mass-produced copy because they answer niche questions thoroughly, exactly what the algorithm seeks.
Will AI Search Replace Google? Probably Not Soon
Some headlines predict ChatGPT and Perplexity will steal market share from Google. Howard remains pragmatic. “AI is becoming more prevalent. But Google’s not going away” he said. Structuring pages with descriptive headings, alt-tagged images, and FAQ markup helps both search engines and AI models find clear answers. clickguru clients already appear in AI summaries precisely because their structured data is solid.
He also designs interactive assets, cost estimators, veneer-shade simulators, that no AI summary can replicate, compelling users to click through.
Associates, Grow Your Online Persona
Later in the conversation Dr. Mohanta pivoted to associates eager to fill schedules. Howard’s advice was simple: contribute unique content. Upload before-and-after galleries, write short case blurbs, and share them on both the practice blog and personal social channels. Over time that builds credibility and patient requests for the associate by name.
A Free Audit and a Promise of Clarity
Howard closed with an invitation: dentists can run a no-charge website audit at clickguru.com. Enter a URL and email; the system delivers a PDF grading speed, broken links, mobile performance, and keyword gaps.
“A dentist shouldn’t have to worry about doing any of these things… Make people smile, make them feel good… Don’t think about your digital marketing because that’s not what your superpower is.” he joked. “Our audit shows exactly where a site leaks patients and how to patch it.”
For those who want a deeper partnership, clickguru maps every keyword to chair-time revenue, producing what Howard calls a “money map.” It traces a search term through to booked production, demystifying ROI.
In an era of AI hype and pay-per-click noise, Howard’s message is refreshingly grounded: create an authentic, technically sound website; publish useful content; ask every happy patient for a review; measure what matters. Do that consistently and the phone keeps ringing.
Ready to see where your site stands? Click here to run the free audit or schedule a consultation with Howard. Your next wave of patients may be just one optimized page away.
Watch the full interview below.
