by Todd Boak | Sep 5, 2022 | Dental Marketing, Social Media
10 Hidden Benefits of Marketing on Social Media for Orthodontists
Is your Orthodontics practice making the most of social media? Social media marketing use is widespread, with 51% of US adults visiting Facebook multiple times a day. Expanding your marketing reach to include social media can have incredible results for your business, some more subtle than others.
But don’t just take our word for it. Read on for 10 hidden benefits of marketing on social media for orthodontists.
1. Increase Brand Awareness and Legitimacy
Two of the biggest benefits of any business is the boost to brand awareness and legitimacy. As an orthodontist, this is something you and your practice can cash in on too! If potential customers don’t know you exist, how can they come to you?
73% of small businesses are now investing in social media, and it is easy to see why. Once you’re out there, it’s a great tool for legitimizing your brand. Show off your activity by keeping an up-to-date social media page with regular, new content.
2. Quick Access Social Media Marketing Trends
You’ll have access to unfiltered conversations between potential customers and competitors alike. Understand what your competition is doing well, and their customer complaints.
Your target audience’s activity can also tip you off on any emerging trends. You can tap into those trends via social listening. It’ll show you what customers are thinking when they talk about your business.
This can tell you what products and services your customers enjoy most. It will also highlight any areas they might think you’re lacking in. This way you can make a move to rectify any issues.
3. Competitive Analysis
Social media marketing allows you to spy on your competition. What are they promoting? What sort of ads and campaigns are they favoring? How is your campaign strategy different?
By analyzing these things, you can open up new avenues for your content and advertising. They might be putting a lot of resources into Facebook but not Instagram. You could then focus on user-generated content or influencer marketing to stand out.
4. Better Customer Service
Social media has become the go-to for consumers to voice any concerns or questions. Unlike phone calls and email it is quick and easy.
It’s important that you have positive experiences on show as the whole world can see them. People will know you’re committed to providing a great service if you’re quick to respond.
People are also more likely to want to use your services if they can see you treat other customers well. People want to know they’re valued and can get the answers they need in a prompt manner.
5. Positioning Power
Having an active online social media marketing presence will give your business positioning power. But you have to be active. If your competition has an active Facebook page while you’ve neglected yours for months, it’s not going to look good.
Be consistent in uploading new customer stories and relevant content. This could be meet the team segments, or a tour of your practice. You could even do a ‘how it’s done’ video.
This will show you’re open and active to new, potential customers. Your social media page may well be the first thing they see after a Google search.
6. Better Search Engine Presence
Ad click-throughs and shares flag up to Google as ‘positive searches’. In short, the more browsing via social media, the bigger the boost to your search performance. Social media can present a huge traffic source for your business.
As a content distribution source, you don’t want to ignore social media.
A relevant, engaging piece of content could score hundreds of likes and shares. This can then see a huge upturn in traffic to your site. More traffic means more potential customers.
7. Appeal to Younger Audiences
It isn’t only the younger generation that social media attracts, but they are the ones more likely to need corrective work done on their teeth.
As these will be your future clients, you’re going to need to adapt to this trend to keep up. Otherwise, you might be losing out on business. Without a fresh intake of new clients, your practice won’t have longevity.
To attract this segment of the market, you’ll need to go beyond ads or TV commercials. The current place to be is Instagram. Most Instagram users are 30 years or younger.
8. Humanize Your Business
It’s a trend these days to ditch the stiff, suit-and-tie approach and show something more human. Getting personal with customers on social media is a product of this trend.
People don’t expect businesses to take a more casual tone or show a human side. As they don’t expect it, it’s refreshing to see and increases engagement with your content.
You can also achieve this through activism or charity work. Are your elastics made of sustainably sourced latex? Yes? Then shout about it. People would love to know how you’re practicing sustainability in the orthodontic field.
9. More Leads
This point is a simple one, but the key to any business’ success – more leads. With billions of people engaging in social media daily, your audience is waiting. Through social media content or paid ads, you’ll be reeling in more leads.
People’s purchasing decisions are highly influenced by what they see via social media. Having a positive, active social media presence introduces more people to your services. This, in turn, will convert to more sales as your reputation builds.
10. Build Customer Content and Stories
As an orthodontist, it’s natural to want to show off your great handiwork. But did you know it could boost your business too?
Customer success stories and photos are key to getting higher conversion rates. Social media marketing is the best place to find these and use them to your advantage.
By monitoring tags and mentions, you can share positive customer reviews and stories. This will help reinforce your brand and people will know you’re good at what you do.
The Benefits of Marketing on Social Media You Don’t Want to Miss
So there you have it! Your orthodontics practice could easily be enjoying the benefits of marketing on social media. Don’t delay and see what a difference a social media presence can make to your business.
You’ll see brand awareness and legitimacy grow. Post regular, engaging and relevant content. Customer stories, meet the team and practice tours are a good choice.
Now you know the importance of marketing on social media, be sure to get the most out of it by checking out our article on choosing social media that works for your business.
by Todd Boak | Sep 2, 2022 | Dental Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
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.
by Todd Boak | Sep 2, 2022 | Dental Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
The Benefits of SEO for Your Dental Practice
What if I told you that you could drive up to a 14% conversion rate for your dental practice with SEO? No business should overlook the benefits of SEO because it’s the holy grail of online marketing. Search engine optimization is all about attracting visitors actively searching for dental services, making it absolutely necessary.
Most dentists are rarely interested in the tech aspect of promoting and marketing their business. They’re well aware they must have a business website and a social media presence. However, when you delve deeper and mention SEO, their eyes just about glaze over. What they fail to realize is that SEO should be the backbone of their dental marketing strategy.
If you’re a dentist looking for the best strategy to expand your reach and grow your business, then read on to find out the benefits of SEO.
Dental SEO Will Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website
The most significant benefit of SEO is that it drives organic traffic to your website. Organic traffic is the traffic that comes from visitors who search for your services on search engines. When patients search for dental services on search engines such as Google, they already know what they want and are actively looking for leads or information.
When your website is optimized, these patients will have an easier time finding you on search results. With the help of SEO, you can rank on the first page of Google for specific keywords geared towards your services. When patients search for these keywords, there will be a higher chance of clicking on your website result.
This makes SEO one of the best ways to engage in inbound marketing. SEO will help you market your business to a specific target audience and demographic. You’ll be receiving high-quality traffic from patients who are most likely to engage you and visit your dental facility.
It’ll Help You Stay Ahead of Your Competition
Your dental office could be the best in your area, and your competitors could still do better than you. This will be the case if you underestimate the power of SEO while your competitors don’t. With such advancements in technology, you need to understand that over 80% of consumers research a business online before visiting.
This means that your patient will do thorough research on your business before coming for dental services. If they search for dentist offices in your area and find your competitors on SERPs, then you can be sure they will use their services and not yours. However, if your website is optimized, these patients will also find you on SERPs, increasing your chances of beating your competitors.
You’ll give your patients a chance to realize that you are the best dentist in your area. You’ll be able to provide them with your contact information, as well as social proof of why they should choose you. However, without SEO, your competitors will outrank you, get a better online reputation, and win so much more business.
You’ll Offer a Better User Experience
There is so much more to dental SEO than bringing in organic traffic. An optimized website enhances your user experience and brings you higher engagement rates. You see, there are so many factors that play into SEO.
Implementing all these factors will ultimately help you provide a great user experience. Some of these factors include incredibly good content, high website speed, backlinks, and much more. What you need to understand is that Google has very intelligent algorithms.
They help determine whether websites offer a good user experience. They determine whether you’re offering relevant and informative content. Of course, the websites with a better user experience will rank higher on search engine result pages.
With a well-thought-out dental SEO strategy, all these factors will be in place. Google will consider your website worthy of a higher ranking. The best part is that your patients will appreciate a positive user experience.
Once they find useful content and realize that your website is easy to navigate, they are likely to be return visitors. There’s also a higher chance that they’ll take you for a professional in your field and give your dental facility a try.
You’ll Experience the Benefits of Local SEO
Local SEO is absolutely fundamental to the success of any small to medium dental practice. It focuses on optimizing your online presence for users located in your practice area. Local SEO mostly focuses on specific regions, cities, and towns and will help you establish a great reputation in your locality.
Get this, almost 50% of all Google searches are seeking local information. Even better, over 70% of consumers searching for local businesses end up visiting businesses within five miles. Do you know how much this could be a game-changer for your dental clinic?
One of the benefits of SEO, or local SEO for that matter, is that it’ll help local customers actively searching for dental services find you. You’ll have more qualified traffic, a higher conversion rate, and possible loyal customers should you deliver impeccable dental services.
SEO Is Cheaper Compared to Paid Advertising
It’s a given that SEO will cost you some kind of investment, but not even a fraction of what paid advertising costs. One of the major benefits of SEO is that it’s a long-term strategy that will keep on bringing more and more patients. With a solid SEO strategy, your website could rank on the first page of Google for months, if not years.
This ultimately translates to substantial savings, more traffic, more leads, and higher ROI. It may take a while before you can get significant SEO results, but once they start trickling in, the results will be well worth the effort.
You’ll Build Trust and Credibility
With SEO, you will be providing your patients with a high-quality website, a great user experience, and relevant content. All these will boost your credibility as an industry authority and submit your reputation as a trustworthy dentist.
When you offer value to your patients, they’ll, in turn, look at you as an industry leader. They’ll give you the consumer trust that’ll propel your business to greater heights. Satisfied patients will recommend your business. With online reviews being so important, trust and credibility should not be overlooked.
Top Benefits of SEO: Why Your Dental Practice Needs SEO
All this may sound complicated, and for the most part, it is, but the benefits of SEO far outweigh the complications. Besides, even if you have no idea where to start, our professional SEO experts will be more than willing to take the reigns.
If you feel that it’s about time you scale your dental practice, then you need SEO. For the ultimate SEO services, please give us a call today. We’ll go through a consultation, define the best SEO strategy for your dental practice, and deliver beyond your expectations.
by Todd Boak | Aug 29, 2022 | marketing, Dental Marketing
How to grow your orthodontic practice
There will always be difficulties when expanding an orthodontics practice, but if you’re willing to learn from others’ experiences, it will be easier to manage.
The motivations that influence how practices operate tend to vary from owner to owner. Some may prioritize efficiency, while others may prioritize quality. Others may prioritize balance and quality of life for their team over revenue or efficiency. Not every practice owner is focused primarily on growing their practice in size, but being growth-oriented is still important.
So where should you start?
Organic Search Presence (SEO)
Are you only using word-of-mouth marketing to tell others about your orthodontic practice? While this can be powerful, it shouldn’t be your only marketing method. Orthodontic marketing is all about attention to detail and authentic engagement.
In today’s digital age, you have a ton of resources right at your fingertips, so use them. Start with your orthodontic website, and update the content to include a page specifically for orthodontics. Be sure to curate content specifically for each of your unique services. Google wants you to be detailed and engaging.
Make sure current and prospective patients know what to expect from your services by describing them and addressing FAQs. Post reviews and testimonials to give others a better idea of what you offer.
Once your content is ready, you can start optimizing your online presence for better search engine results. Use keywords, phrases, and images in your website, blogs, and social media content to target your ideal audience. Google will reward you with higher search engine results if the information you provide is relevant and helpful. Orthodontic SEO is a crucial part of a modern orthodontic practice’s marketing strategy.
Want to learn more about orthodontic seo?
Social Media
A recent study has shown that orthodontists who use social media and have a practice website are more likely to get new patients. The study also showed that orthodontists should post information or run social ads in the evening, when patients and their parents are more likely to be using social media.
Utilize social media to its fullest capabilities by posting at appropriate times. Keep in mind that content is king, and that posts with authentic content that emotionally connect with your audience are more likely to be successful. Provide value to your audience, but be careful of over-posting. Monitor where new patients are coming from, as this can help you tailor your social media posts.
Reviews
Patients are increasingly using the internet to research doctors and dentists, with 74.6% of patients looking online for information on medical care, according to PatientPop. Furthermore, 59% say that online reviews influence their decision on which provider to choose.
It’s not enough to just have patient reviews – they need to be good. Nearly half of consumers (47%) won’t use a business that has less than 4 stars, according to BrightLocal.
Reviews are important for local search rankings. If you don’t have enough reviews, or if your reviews are not frequent enough, or if you’re not reviewed on multiple sites, you’re not giving Google the information it needs to rank your practice higher. This means that without reviews, your practice will have trouble attracting new patients.
Use Online Scheduling Tools
No-show and cancellation rates are extremely important, as they are the primary drivers for your collections. Part of patient education is teaching patients to keep track of appointments. In a 2013 study, 27.8% of respondents said they relied on memory, and 40% of respondents said forgetting was the reason for missed appointments in the past.
As part of your treatment plan delivery, your staff should ask patients about what scheduling reminders work well for them. This could be intrinsically tied to a patient’s lack of understanding about the treatment they are receiving, or why that treatment and showing up to their appointment is important.
If you are experiencing poor attendance and cancellations, you may want to reassess your scheduling tools. Do you use an online scheduler? How about a text reminder service? Identifying where the problems are with scheduling can help improve your operational and treatment efficiency, both of which are important for your bottom line.
Community Engagement
It is important to use social media, but it is not a substitute for getting to know your patients in person. Do everything you can to become part of your community. Attend local events. Get to know other business owners. Consider joining groups like the local Chamber of Commerce. This will make you more recognizable and people will see you as a good guy instead of just another orthodontist.
To reach more people in your community, plan a special day just for them! Offer free consultations, screenings, and a Q&A session, as well as family games. You can’t grow your local presence unless you’re actively involved, so this is a great way to make an impact.
Grow your orthodontic practice one step at a time.
You can’t grow a successful orthodontic practice overnight, but there are steps you can take to scale your growth strategically. The tips above can help you reach more people, grow your knowledge, and establish your team as community leaders.
Focus on your digital marketing efforts first. It’s easy to blend in with your competition by mistake. Be intentional and build a simple and solid website. Most marketing campaigns point back to your website so ensure it showcases you and your staff appropriately. Modern consumers see right through stock photography and uninformative content.
Choose the right partnerships. You can outsource your digital marketing efforts to a reliable agency resource. But, don’t think that removes all marketing from your dental practice. It’s important to own your local presence, doctor referrals, and relationships with your patients/parents.
by Todd Boak | Aug 9, 2022 | Dental Marketing, Google
Use SEO to Help Your Dental Practice Grow
If you’ve heard of any of the hottest marketing trends in recent years, you’ve undoubtedly heard of SEO, which has quickly become one of the most popular marketing tools in the world.
At least, so we’re told. Even today, 70% of businesses still have no SEO strategy.
For your practice, that’s great news. It means there’s less competition standing in your way, especially at the local level. Let’s talk about the importance of SEO for dentists and how to use it for your dental practice!
What Is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website’s content for Google and other search engines, allowing you to rank higher for various searches. The higher you rank, the more traffic you’ll receive!
SEO is an attempt to rank higher in the organic results, which users tend to trust more than search ads. In many cases, this can lead to greater trust and higher conversion rates.
Also, the SEO process is completely different from paid ads. Instead of buying space at the top, you simply attempt to prove to Google’s algorithm that you have the most comprehensive, engaging, relevant, and user-friendly content for users.
How Does SEO Work?
Google and other search engines use software known as crawlers that index and rank hundreds of billions of pages on the web. They do this using a sophisticated algorithm that attempts to match the best content with users based on keywords and search intent.
This is why when you search for “dry cleaners” on Google while you’re in Maine, you don’t get results for dry cleaners in Virginia. Google understands that your search intent was likely to find dry cleaners near you, so it used your location as a factor in your search results.
Because of this, organizations and websites are constantly trying to compete with one another to rank ahead on various keywords and searches. To do this, they need to optimize their websites, content, and even off-page ranking factors. These are the three “pillars” of an SEO strategy.
Google wants to match the best content with users, but they need to understand a site’s credibility and usability before promoting its content. For this reason, Google uses over 200 ranking factors to determine the quality of a website. Most importantly, you should focus on page loading times, mobile-friendliness, and UX design.
To establish a site’s authority (credibility) on a topic, they rely on other websites to “vote” in their favor by linking to their content. These are called backlinks, and the more you have, the easier it will be to rank ahead of the competition in your given niche. From there, strong content that’s engaging and informative for users is all you need for SEO success!
How to Use Local SEO for Dental Practice
Now that you know how SEO works, you can see why it’s become such a popular dental marketing strategy. It’s great for driving organic traffic, but only if you know how to use it! Let’s talk about how to use local SEO for dentists.
Keyword Research
When we discussed matching keywords for searches, what was the first one that came to mind for your industry? Was it “dentist” or “dentist near me”? These are two of the most likely searches users would use if they are looking for a dentist in their area.
However, it’s best to diversify your keyword strategy. If your entire competition is trying to rank for these short-tail keywords, then it may be challenging to rank ahead of them, especially in the short term. For that reason, try adding long-tail keywords into your strategy for more immediate results!
Keywords like “dental practices in Boston, MA” or “root canal near me” are going to have less search volume than “dentist.” However, the people who search for these keywords are more relevant to your niche and more likely to convert into paying patients. Therefore, you should use a healthy mix of these keywords in your strategy.
Using your favorite online keyword research tool, find related keywords to your industry. You can also analyze your competitor sites on these tools to see which keywords they’re ranking for. This can help you diversify, generate new topic ideas, and more.
Don’t just go with the obvious ones. Use as many as possible that have decent search volume (use Google Trends to compare) and low competition. Once they’re on your website, there’s no limit to how much they can offer!
Update Your Website
It would reflect poorly on Google’s service if they were constantly promoting low-quality sites to their users, so their crawlers are constantly testing usability. Most importantly, they look for:
- Page loading times
- Mobile-friendly design
- Clean navigation system
- Proper page structure
- Internal and external linking structure
- Image optimization
- Metadata
The list goes on, but optimizing these site wide will go a long way toward improving your SEO campaigns. Without a strong website, you’re building a house on a broken foundation.
There are SEO tools available online to test these, and you should compare yours to your competitors to see what needs improvement. However, a lot of these tools will lead you down rabbit holes that are entirely unnecessary, so proceed with caution. If you want expert insights, always choose a professional SEO audit for the best results.
Build a Content Marketing Strategy
Dental marketing doesn’t have to be too tricky. You already have the industry knowledge that you need, allowing you to create or outline content, which can save you plenty of money by taking on some of the work yourself.
The easiest way to get started with content marketing is to start a blog. You can answer regular questions that your patients have and position your services as the solution. For example, you could have topics like:
- “Why do my teeth hurt? Common causes of tooth pain.”
- “Does a root canal hurt? The procedure explained.”
- “Dental implant vs bridge: What’s the difference?”
The list goes on. These are great ways to draw relevant traffic to your website. From there, you can answer their questions and let them know at the end about your services and how you can help with their problems.
Always end your posts with strong calls to action (CTAs), encouraging users to contact you or seek out your services. Just remember that you’re writing for potential patients, not search engines. Keep your content engaging and informative, and always try to eliminate fluff or filler content.
It’s good to have long-form, comprehensive posts that engage readers, but only if the content is clear and concise. Try breaking up walls of text, reducing wordy sentences, and always having something to say!
Off-Page SEO
Building backlinks isn’t too important for a local dental practice, but you do still need to worry about your off-page ranking factors. If you have local affiliates that can offer backlinks, they could give you an edge over the competition, but don’t stress too much about them. Instead, focus more on what’s in your control.
First, you should claim and optimize your listing on Google My Business. This could be the first thing users see when searching for dentists in your area. Answer all of the prompts on your profile and try to engage with users whenever possible.
Next, get listed on other local business listings or dentistry-specific listings, and keep all of your information consistent. Remember to update all of them if anything changes. All of this will help confirm to Google that you are who you say you are, but only if the information is accurate and consistent.
Also, because you have an official office, don’t forget to list your dental practice on Google Maps and other popular GPS systems. This can help in similar ways to Google My Business, but it will also help draw new users looking for dentists near them on the map. Google Maps may also show up as the first result when users search “dentists near me,”so make sure your practice is seen!
Start Ranking Your Practice Today
Now that you know how to use SEO for your dental practice, put these tips to use and get the most out of your strategy today. SEO takes time to come to fruition, so the sooner you start building your strategy, the sooner you’ll see long-lasting results.
Stay up to date with our latest digital marketing news for your practice and feel free to contact us with any questions or for help with your SEO strategy!
by Todd Boak | Aug 5, 2022 | Dental Marketing, Google
Dental PPC Guide to New Patients
Do you have the right digital marketing plan in place? A system that drives new patient phone calls and increased search volume. Every dental practice needs the right tailored plan. Let’s explore dental ppc advertising.
PPC advertising differs from SEO in that it is much quicker to see results from. While SEO can take several months to show any measurable results, PPC can be set up almost immediately to bring visitors to a site.
This guide is for you if you’re looking to learn about PPC for Dentists and how to get started on a successful campaign. We’ll introduce you to the basics of PPC and its benefits, so you can make the most of this marketing tool.
Google Ads for Dentists
Dental PPC advertising is an affordable solution that could bring you more attention online. You’re only charged for the advertisement when someone clicks on it, so it’s uniquely affordable.
PPC ads can help your dental office market your services by reaching more prospective patients online. Here are the top 6 reasons PPC advertising can help:
- Increased visibility – PPC advertising is the quickest way to appear at the top of search engine results pages. Paid ads will place your website at the top of the results almost immediately, rather than waiting weeks for organic ranking.
- Beat the competition – Reaching the top of the search engine results can be difficult, especially if your website is new. Paying for top placement with PPC ads can give you exposure above your competitors.
- Targeted website traffic – Studies show that only 5% of searchers click paid advertisements, but that 5% is also much more motivated to enlist services than the average Internet user. If you’re running ads for a term searched at least 400 times per month, this highly interested 5% could equate to at least 20 new patients each month.
- Control over spending – When running PPC ads, you set your maximum daily budget, so you never spend more than you want. You can also stop the ads immediately if you determine they aren’t as lucrative as you hoped.
- Keyword management – When creating an advertising campaign, you can select which keywords you want to target. This makes onsite optimization easier and allows you to control which terms you want to be known for.
- Trackable success – PPC ads have a clear ROI, unlike traditional SEO. With SEO, you have to wait for search engines to index your site, and even then tracking results can be difficult. With PPC, your entire campaign is tracked, so you can see exactly how it impacts your web traffic and marketing efforts.
Dental PPC Pros & Cons
There are pros and cons to every method. Before you make any decisions you should know them.
PROS
Immediate Visibility – PPC ads offer immediate visibility when you choose your keywords well. They appear on the top and next to organic results, on the first page of search results, so your audience can see them without having to scroll down. Organic SEO can take up to months to generate traffic to your site, while PPC ads can offer fast results for timely offers.
Qualified Target Audience – PPC ads give you the ability to target specific individuals who are interested in finding a dentist or getting a dental procedure within a certain location. With PPC, you can geo-target your ad based on a certain radius, which is important if you’re pulling in patients from several towns. It is very hard to optimize your website for a town other than the one your practice is located in, so PPC is a great solution to capitalize on business from surrounding towns.
Budget Conscious –PPC ads allow you to target potential customers interested in dental services near you. Geo-targeting lets you show ads to people within a certain radius of your practice, making it easier to attract patients from several nearby towns.
CONS
PPC ads can be expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. Smart Insights recently did a study that found PPC conversion rates averaged around 3%. If you pay for 100 clicks at $50 per click, you could end up spending $5000 with only a 3% conversion rate.
Campaign Management – It’s not enough to just make a PPC ad and hope for the best – someone needs to manage them effectively in order to see results. This means testing keywords, messaging and target preferences, and being able to quickly analyze and adjust the ads for maximum impact.
Lack of Conversions – Ad clicks don’t necessarily mean conversions. Someone clicking your ad may not necessarily result in a call to your practice. Having great ad copy that drives searchers to a landing page on your website is extremely important. Qualified internet marketing companies will review and create landing pages when developing your PPC marketing strategy, which is a key factor in making a successful PPC campaign.
Internet users have become accustomed to seeing ads in various forms, such as banner ads, remarketing messages, and PPC placement in search results. Therefore, it is important to carefully select keywords, messaging, and testing in order to grab your audience’s attention. Each internet marketing channel works in conjunction with the others, so it can be difficult to find the right combination of channels and messages if you are busy running your own practice.
Interested in learning more? Harris & Ward is a leading dental ppc agency. Let’s talk!
