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8 Ways Local SEO Services Will Improve Your Dental Practice

by | Sep 2, 2022

Online optimization gives every business a better chance to succeed.

If you own a dental practice, you might not have considered how your online presence affects the way your business runs. After all, you offer a service that’s absolutely fundamental to living in our part of the world.

However, it’s still cutthroat out there and other practices are always competing to get patients in their doors. That’s why you need to do your best to show those potential customers that you exist and that your practice is the best choice. Local SEO services will help you do this.

Today we’re going to talk about the different ways that SEO services, typically associated with other companies, can help your dental practice bring in more patients. At the end of the day, you are operating a business and you need customers to stay alive. Let’s dig in.

The Benefits of SEO for Dental Practices

Using organic SEO will simply bring more awareness to the existence of your dental practice. Sure, you could run a perfectly successful one based on word of mouth and reputation, but you wouldn’t be giving yourself the best chance to succeed.

But how many dental practices have the time of day to focus on digital marketing? Chances are, you won’t have a marketing professional on your staff and you’d be remiss to do it yourself or have one of your office workers give it a shot.

Hiring an SEO service takes away the agonizing work of optimizing your website yourself. Here’s what you can expect from one of these valuable services.

1. Focus on Local SEO

Search engine optimization as we knew it was primarily focused on keywords and website performance to determine which sites were appropriate to display on a SERP for a given search term. Now, with local SEO, it’s taken a step or two farther.

Local SEO appeals to searches with local intent. So, if you’re someone looking for a dental practice in Fort Worth; when you type in your search terms, Google will take into account your location and display only practices near you.

As a business that operates in a static location, local SEO has to be the main focus.

2. Your Website Structure

The structure and speed of your website are some of the more important facets in appealing to Google’s algorithms. A slow and poorly laid out site is going to fall in the search rankings.

It should be easy for customers to navigate your website and find what they’re looking for within a few clicks. Categories and subcategories featuring relevant information are a must. For a dental practice, the site should be simple with only a few landing pages (about me, contact, testimonials, blog, etc.).

When you fill your landing pages with large images and unnecessary widgets, you’ll slow them down considerably. 40% of people will abandon a website if a landing page takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

3. Google My Business

Filling out your Google My Business card will improve your local search standings. If you fill out all of your pertinent information, namely the business details, your address, and contact information, then all of that will appear on Google and in maps.

More and more local searches are being conducted through map applications, so appearing on them will increase your chances of being found by your potential customers.

4. Consistent Citations

Filling out your NAP (name, address, phone number) on multiple listing sites will improve your visibility as well, but only if you fill out identical information on every platform. Inconsistent citations, which includes any online press about your practice, will lead to confusion for your customers and Google will burn you for it.

When we say consistent, we mean it. If you write “7th Street” on one listing and “Seventh St.” on another, that’s considered inconsistent. Every minute detail has to be the same.

5. Mobile Search

52% of global internet traffic is through mobile devices. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile search and mobile viewing, then you’re letting a big piece of the market pass you by. Any SEO service will be aware of this fact and advise you to build a mobile-friendly site.

6. Customer Reviews

Your dental practice should take customer reviews very seriously for obvious reasons, but also acknowledge that reviews have a big effect on your SEO. A practice that has thousands of great reviews published through various listings sites is going to rank higher than one with a few hundred good reviews.

Always encourage your customers to leave you a rating and review on the listings site of their choice. You should also promote your best ones on social media and through a testimonials page on your site.

7. Blogging

Content creation is a huge part of SEO. You can use your blog to give your audience interesting and informative articles on all things dentistry, but also to toss in relevant keywords and phrases to appeal to search.

Offering up dental guides and how-tos will establish you as an authority in your field. Don’t overstuff your posts with keywords; the information and writing should always come first. A good blog can allow your practice to transcend your local area and give you clicks from all over.

8. Social Media

You may not like it, but people’s awareness of you is heavily predicated on your social media presence. People use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to find almost everything these days, including their new dentist.

Simply being on these platforms won’t do it though. Formulating a content and posting strategy with your digital marketing service will get you more followers and create more awareness around your brand. When you’ve got a great social media presence, your Google rankings will increase.

Let Us Help You with Your Business SEO Services

Great business SEO services will take all of these methods into account and help you make the most out of your online presence. Just because you’re a dentist doesn’t’ mean that you can’t bolster your business online like everyone else.

At Harris & Ward, our motto is all about helping you connect with your audience, no matter the field you’re in. Visit our page today to look at the different service that we offer and choose the one that’s right for you and the future of your dental practice.

If you found this article helpful, come back and check out our blog for more on SEO and digital marketing.

Todd Boak

Todd Boak

Helped form Harris & Ward in 2013. Todd oversees the marketing and advertising functions of the business. From internal marketing efforts to the success of our clients. His expertise lies in strategic marketing, SEO, and digital advertising.