The Power of Dental Google Reviews: Unveiling the Impact of Google Business Profile for Dental Practices
In today’s digital age, where online presence significantly shapes consumer purchasing decisions, many dental practices have realized the critical importance of Google reviews. These reviews, prominently displayed on your Google Business Profile (GBP), are not merely testimonials but powerful tools that can make or break a dental practice’s online reputation. Let’s delve deeper into the pivotal role of Google reviews, understand how GBP operates, and explore the substantial impact on a businesses’ online visibility and success.
1. Building Trust and Credibility through Google Reviews
Small businesses thrive on trust and credibility. Google reviews act as a digital extension of word-of-mouth recommendations. Review sites contribute to a practice’s reputation, assuring potential patients of the quality of service and care offered. An abundance of positive online dental reviews also reassures patients, instilling confidence and trust in the dental practice. Studies show that 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, indicating the substantial impact of dental patient reviews on trust-building.
The trust factor intensifies when patients encounter authentic and diverse experiences through a range of dental Google reviews. A mix of reviews showcasing different aspects of a dental practice or healthcare provider’s service, such as professionalism, friendliness, expertise, and the overall patient experience with healthcare provider, further solidifies trust among potential patients.
2. Enhanced Visibility and Local SEO through Positive Reviews
The foundation of a successful online presence for dentists lies in local search engine optimization (SEO). Google Maps listings are crucial in this aspect, directly impacting a practice’s visibility in local search results. Patient reviews play a pivotal role in the search algorithm, influencing a practice’s ranking. The quantity, frequency, and quality of reviews impact local SEO significantly.
Online reviews improve the visibility of a dental practice’s GBP, increasing the likelihood of appearing in the local “three-pack,” the top three results displayed on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). The more prominent a dental practice’s position in local search results, the higher the chances of attracting new patients searching for dental services in that area.
3. Influence on Patient Decision-Making via Online Reviews
Online reviews wield significant influence over patient decision-making processes. Prospective patients often rely on reviews on dental website to evaluate the quality of services provided by a dental practice. The frequency of online reviews directly correlates with a patient’s inclination towards choosing a particular practice. Research suggests that 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and these reviews play a pivotal role for many patients in their decision-making process.
Negative reviews, when managed effectively, present an opportunity for dental practices to showcase their commitment to resolving concerns and addressing patient needs. By responding professionally and empathetically to negative review requests and feedback, practices demonstrate their dedication to patient satisfaction and service improvement.
4. Feedback Loop for Continuous Improvement in Dental Practices
Review sites serve as a transparent feedback mechanism for dental practices to showcare a positive review. These reviews provide valuable insights into various facets of a practice’s operations, including service quality, appointment scheduling, staff behavior, and overall patient experience. The diverse range of opinions and experiences shared happy patients through review sites offers dental practices a clear understanding of their strengths and areas that need improvement.
By analyzing these reviews, dental practices can identify patterns, acknowledge successful aspects of their service, and address concerns or areas for improvement. Implementing changes based on these insights leads to more patients, an enhanced patient experience and an overall improvement in the quality of services offered by dental offices.
5. Understanding Google Business Profile (GBP) and its Impact on Dental Practices
Google Business Profile is an invaluable tool that empowers dental practices to manage their online reviews across Google’s platforms, including Search and Maps. By claiming and verifying their GBP, dental practices gain control over the accuracy of the information displayed, such as contact details, business hours, and location. Additionally, GBP offers various functionalities that allow practices to engage with both existing and potential patients.
To effectively utilize GBP:
Claim and Verify: Initiate the process by claiming and verifying the GBP listing for the dental practice. This ensures the legitimacy of the business and provides control over the information displayed.
Optimize Information: Ensuring the information displayed on the profile is accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date is crucial. Details like the address, phone number, website, and business hours must be regularly updated.
Encourage Reviews: Actively encourage satisfied patients to leave reviews on the GBP. Employ strategies such as direct links in emails or on the website to simplify the review process.
Engage and Respond: Regularly monitor and respond to reviews. Promptly thank patients for positive feedback and address concerns raised in negative reviews, displaying a commitment to patient care.
Utilize Insights: Use the analytical insights provided by the GBP dashboard to comprehend how patients discover and engage with the listing. This data can guide the strategy to enhance the online presence and patient engagement.
The strategic utilization of a Google review link allows dental practices to wield the power of personal recommendations effectively. The more Google reviews that your business has the better. To gather more reviews leveraging dental reviews software is a powerful tool and a way to not only showcase the quality of your dental team but generate more positive reviews.
Expanding on the Importance of Dental Google Reviews
The ability to collect online reviews, particularly review sites and dental Google reviews, on a practice’s success cannot be overstated. These reviews serve as a bridge connecting potential patients with existing patients’ experiences, shaping perceptions and driving decisions.
Online patient reviews, particularly for a healthcare provider, is crucial in the age of social proof and digital word-of-mouth. Potential patients seek validation through the experiences of others who share positive reviews. A substantial volume of positive reviews not only attracts new patients but also cements the credibility of a dental practice. The trust and confidence that positive reviews instill in prospective patients significantly contribute to a practice’s success.
Google reviews act as an intricate part of local SEO online reputation. The algorithms used by search engines prioritize businesses with a higher volume of positive reviews. Thus, a dental practice with a multitude of positive Google reviews is more likely to appear in the top results of local search queries. Enhanced visibility in search results increases the chances of being discovered by potential patients seeking dental services in a specific area.
The influence of dental Google reviews on patient decision-making is profound. As patients increasingly seek information online, reviews often become the decisive factor in choosing a dental practice. A higher frequency of positive reviews creates a positive impression and instills confidence in potential patients, influencing informed decisions by other patients in their choice of a dental provider.
Negative reviews, when managed effectively, present an opportunity for dental practices to showcase their commitment to addressing concerns. Responding to negative review requests and feedback professionally and empathetically not only resolves issues for the concerned patient but also demonstrates the practice’s dedication to service improvement, thus positively influencing the perceptions of the dental team among potential patients.
Google reviews serve as a direct feedback mechanism, allowing practices to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Dental patients expect your business to have more dental google reviews than the competition. The diverse range of opinions and experiences shared encourage patients through reviews offers valuable insights that enable practices to refine their services, ensuring a better patient experience.
Review sites plays a significant role in managing and optimizing a dental practice’s online reputation. This platform empowers practices to control the information displayed on Google’s search results, directly impacting a practice’s visibility. Dentists can now review profile actively engage with patients, respond to reviews, and gain crucial insights to improve their services.
The strategic implementation of Google Business Profile allows a dental practice to harness the power of their dental patients’ Google reviews effectively, with prospective customers and ultimately contributing to their success in the competitive landscape of the dental industry.
Utilizing Keywords to Enhance Dental Reviews
In the digital marketing realm, keywords play a pivotal role in optimizing content for search engines. Incorporating specific keywords strategically enhances a piece of content’s visibility and relevance to search queries. These keywords are essential in attracting traffic and ensuring that the content reaches the intended audience.
For dentists seeking to optimize their online reviews, integrating relevant keywords strategically is crucial. Whether it’s on their website, in blog posts, or within their GBP, using these keywords enhances the chances of being discovered by individuals actively searching for dental services.
Strategically placed keywords not only improve a dental practice’s online visibility but also contribute to higher rankings in search engine results. Utilizing these keywords in a natural and informative manner within content and social media, can significantly impact a dental practice’s overall digital marketing strategy.
The significance of dental Google reviews and the GBP in the success of practices cannot be overlooked. These reviews contribute to good online reputation by building trust, enhancing visibility, influencing patient decisions, and providing a feedback loop for continuous improvement. The strategic of more dental google reviews and utilization of keywords further amplifies a dental practice’s strong online presence, ensuring higher visibility and relevance to potential patients actively seeking dental services.
Comprehending the importance of dental Google reviews, effectively managing review sites, and strategically incorporating keywords are pivotal aspects for businesses aiming to thrive and excel in the competitive digital and social media landscape of the dental industry.
In the realm of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), link building stands tall as a fundamental strategy for boosting website visibility and driving organic traffic. By strategically acquiring high-quality backlinks, websites can improve their search engine rankings, establish credibility, and attract relevant audiences. This article delves into the significance of link building efforts in SEO, while shedding light on the differences between blog posts, guest posts, and link outreach initiatives.
The Essence of Link Building
Link building serves as the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. Search engines interpret these links as a vote of confidence, signaling that your website offers valuable and authoritative content. In essence, link building is the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing. It helps search engines recognize your website’s relevance and establishes connections that lead to higher rankings.
Enhancing On-site Link Building: Publishing blog posts on your own website is an excellent way to build a strong foundation for link building efforts. By creating high-quality, informative, and engaging content, you attract readers and increase the chances of obtaining organic backlinks. Each blog post should include internal links, which connect different pages of your website, promoting smooth navigation for users and improving search engine visibility.
Internal links play a crucial role in enhancing the user experience by guiding visitors to relevant pages within your website. From an SEO perspective, internal links distribute the ranking authority across your site, ensuring that all pages have a fair chance of appearing in search results. Additionally, internal links help search engine crawlers discover and index your content more efficiently, improving overall visibility.
Furthermore, blog posts can act as a source of external link building when other websites find your content valuable and link back to it. By consistently producing high-quality blog posts, you establish your website as an authority in your niche, making it more likely for others to reference and link to your content. This, in turn, boosts your website’s credibility and visibility in search engine rankings.
Expanding Outreach Horizons: Guest posting involves writing articles for external websites within your industry or niche. It allows you to tap into a new audience while gaining valuable backlinks. When contributing a guest post, you can strategically insert relevant links back to your own website. These links serve as a gateway for new users to discover your content and explore your website. Guest posts not only enhance your website’s visibility but also establish your authority within your industry.
Guest posting provides an opportunity to showcase your expertise and reach a broader audience beyond your existing user base. By crafting well-researched and insightful articles, you can capture the attention of readers on authoritative websites. The links you include within the guest posts direct interested readers to your website, increasing traffic and potentially converting them into loyal followers or customers.
When pursuing guest posting opportunities, it is crucial to target reputable and relevant websites. A thorough analysis of their domain authority, readership, and engagement will help you identify suitable platforms for collaboration. By contributing valuable content and adhering to the guidelines of each website, you build a positive relationship with the host website, potentially opening doors for future collaborations and gaining even more visibility and backlinks.
Forging Connections: Link outreach, also known as link building outreach, is a proactive approach to acquire backlinks. It involves reaching out to website owners, bloggers, and influencers, requesting them to link to your content. Link outreach requires personalized and compelling pitches, highlighting the value and relevance of your website. It is essential to target authoritative websites and build genuine relationships based on mutual interests. Through link outreach, you can expand your network, gain exposure to a wider audience, and strengthen your website’s credibility.
Successful link outreach campaigns begin with identifying target websites that align with your industry or niche. Look for websites that are likely to benefit from linking to your content, such as resource pages, round-up posts, or articles related to your expertise. Craft personalized and concise outreach emails that clearly articulate the value your content provides to their audience and explain why linking to your website would be beneficial.
When conducting link outreach, it is crucial to focus on building genuine relationships rather than simply pursuing backlinks. Engage in meaningful conversations, share relevant insights, and offer support or collaboration opportunities to website owners. By demonstrating your expertise and genuine interest in their work, you increase the likelihood of securing backlinks and establishing long-term partnerships.
Additionally, link outreach can involve other strategies such as broken link building, where you identify broken links on target websites and offer your own content as a replacement. This approach helps website owners improve their user experience by replacing broken links and provides you with an opportunity to acquire high-quality backlinks.
The Role of Link Building in SEO
Link building efforts contribute significantly to SEO success. Here’s how:
Improved Search Engine Rankings: High-quality backlinks signal search engines about your website’s relevance, boosting its rankings in search results.
Enhanced Website Authority: Quality links from reputable sources establish your website’s authority, leading to increased trust among users and search engines.
Increased Organic Traffic: As your website climbs the search engine rankings, it attracts more organic traffic, resulting in higher conversion rates and business growth.
Brand Exposure and Visibility: Backlinks from authoritative websites increase your brand’s exposure, allowing you to reach a wider audience and build brand recognition.
Link building remains an integral part of any successful SEO strategy. By leveraging blog posts, guest posts, and link outreach efforts, websites can significantly enhance their online presence, climb search engine rankings, and drive organic traffic. A well-executed link building campaign fosters connections, establishes authority, and improves the overall visibility and credibility of your website. Embrace the power of link building and unlock the true potential of SEO.
In today’s digital age, simply being the best local business in town isn’t enough. You also need to ensure that search engines, particularly Google, recognize your superiority. To achieve this, relying solely on your Google Business Profile (GBP) won’t suffice. Fortunately, we have identified seven crucial local search factors that can significantly impact your rankings and help you stand out from the competition.
#1—Primary GBP category: The Most Important Factor
When it comes to local search rankings, selecting the appropriate primary category for your Google Business Profile (GBP) is an absolute game-changer. This factor holds immense significance in outperforming your competitors and securing a top spot in search results. Thankfully, finding this option is a breeze—simply navigate to the Business category within your profile’s business information section. By accurately categorizing your business, you enhance its visibility and increase the chances of appearing prominently when users search for relevant services or products in your area. A well-chosen primary category serves as a powerful signal to search engines, helping them understand the nature of your business and connect you with potential customers more effectively.
#2—Keywords in GBP Title: A Simple yet Effective Technique
While aesthetics are important, don’t underestimate the impact of incorporating keywords into your GBP title. Even if it may not always appear visually pleasing, this technique has been proven to yield positive results more often than not. Including relevant keywords strategically in your title can significantly boost your search rankings. However, it’s crucial to strike the right balance and avoid falling into the trap of keyword stuffing. The search algorithm recognizes and rewards businesses that judiciously include keywords that accurately represent their offerings and align with user search intent. So, don’t shy away from leveraging this simple yet effective technique to optimize your GBP title and improve your visibility in local search results.
#3—Proximity of Address to the Point of Search: Location Matters
In the ever-evolving world of local search, the location of a person’s phone plays a pivotal role in Google’s recommendation algorithm for nearby businesses. This means that optimizing your address information with specific terms related to your location can significantly enhance your chances of being included in the search results when users are looking for local businesses. Take advantage of this factor by considering local landmarks, neighborhoods, or specific districts when optimizing your address details. By aligning your business with the geographical context, you maximize your visibility to potential customers in your area. Whether it’s a neighborhood-specific product or a service catering to a particular district, tailoring your address information to reflect these details can give you a competitive edge and help you stand out from the crowd.
#4—Physical Address within the City of Search: Stay within the Bounds
Sometimes, a store’s physical location might be situated just outside of what Google perceives as the city’s borders. Unfortunately, this can negatively impact your rankings. To ensure optimal visibility within your target city, it’s crucial to have your business’s physical address within its recognized boundaries.
#5—Combating Spam Listings: Protect Your Legitimate Listing
Have you noticed the presence of “phantom” or non-existent local stores competing with your legitimate listing? These spam listings can harm your rankings and confuse potential customers. To address this issue, you should promptly report these fraudulent listings by completing a business redressal form. By taking action against such practices, you safeguard your business’s reputation and improve its search rankings.
#6—High Google Ratings: Earn Trust and Visibility
Authentic, positive customer ratings in substantial quantities are not only a defining ranking factor but also a key driver of conversions. Studies indicate that 50% of users will only consider a business if it has a minimum 4-star rating. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, respond promptly to feedback, and prioritize customer satisfaction to build a strong online reputation that can significantly boost your search rankings.
#7—Leverage Additional GBP Categories: Broaden Your Reach
In addition to selecting a primary category, you have the opportunity to choose up to nine secondary categories for your GBP. Take advantage of this feature to enhance your visibility among users searching for specific services or products. Keep an eye on your competitors’ categories and consider adding relevant secondary categories that align with your offerings. This strategy can help you capture a wider audience and improve your overall search rankings.
With these seven local search factors in mind, you are now equipped to optimize your business’s online presence and put yourself on the map—both figuratively and literally. By implementing these strategies, you’ll increase your chances of ranking higher in local search results and attracting more customers to your doorstep.
Interested in more articles related to local search? Here are a few curated reads for you.
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!
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!
Do you want more dental patients? Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing can make a world of difference and help you get them! Like compound interest, gains can be exponential.
The keys to successful SEO for dentists are consistency, creativity, and patience. If you stick to a plan and pay attention to keyword blogging, Google My Business, web design, backlinking, and online reviews, you are guaranteed to improve your pool of prospective patients.
If you’re unsure about any of the jargon associated with SEO, don’t worry. We’ve explained all the key concepts that dentists need to know in order to create a successful digital marketing campaign that will attract patients. Good SEO companies will use these strategies. Keep reading this complete guide to dental seo to learn more.
Before We Start, Let’s Establish Some Definitions
On-Site and Off-Site SEO
There are two main types of online marketing techniques: on-site and off-site SEO. On-site SEO refers to things that can be done on your website, while off-site SEO involves the actions of other websites.
On-site SEO includes optimizing your website for search engines through techniques like internal linking, metadata maintenance, and blogging. Off-site SEO involves promoting your website through activities like guest posting, article syndication, and backlinking.
SERPs
SERPs are the lists of results that search engines return when someone types in a query. The goal of all SEO efforts is to get as close to the top of the SERPs as possible.
Keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines. They help to establish what the person is looking for, or the intent of their search. Popular keywords for dentists include:
Dentist in [insert area]
Benefits of dental care
Can a dentist help with pain?
Teeth whitening
Dental practices near me
SEO for Dentists: Building an SEO-Friendly Website
A website is essential for any online marketing campaign. It provides a place to promote and link to your products or services. However, it’s important to consider what your website says, how many pages it has, and how it balances user experience with search engine rankings.
Must Be Responsive
An SEO-friendly website must be responsive, meaning it must look good on any size screen, from a small phone to a large wall tv screen.
Home and Landing Pages
At a minimum, dentists should have five core pages on their websites.
Homepage
About page
Services page
Blog homepage
Contact page
It’s crucial to have a separate landing page for each service, with at least 500 words (though 1,000 or 2,000 is even better). For example, if you offer dental cleaning, teeth-whitening, cosmetic, and dental implant services, make sure you have a landing page for each one.
In our experience, dental websites with over 20 pages and weekly blog posts perform the best.
Custom Design and WordPress Development
Custom WordPress websites are ideal since the platform is well-supported and easy to use. By using WordPress, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. And, after a bit of instruction, most people can publish blog posts without help.
Building a website on WordPress has increased security advantages. WordPress is a popular platform that is constantly updated to keep users safe from cyber attacks. There are also several trusted security plugins available.
Every dentist should claim their business on search engines, industry websites, and map directories when launching an online marketing campaign.
Claim Your Search Engine Business Accounts
Google My Business is the first account you should set up for your business. Google is the most-used search engine in the United States, processing an estimated 5.6 billion searches a day. By claiming your territory on the platform, you can ensure that your business is visible to potential customers.
There are many benefits to optimizing your website for local search, including appearing higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords.
Remember, though, that while Google may be the biggest game in town, it’s not the only one. So claim your business accounts on other platforms like Bing and Yahoo!
Get Yourself on Directories
There are thousands of online directories, but not all of them are legitimate or helpful. Sign up for the ones that are relevant to your industry and will actually be beneficial for you.
You can use Yext and Synup to find good medical and dental directories, but both programs cost money to access fully. Harris & Ward is a professional online marketing team that maintains memberships with such services.
SEO for Dentists: Content Wins
Content creation is essential for any SEO campaign. The more articles, landing pages, and digital media you produce and publish, the more online visibility you will gain. This in turn will attract more links and traffic.
Service and Landing Pages
Your website should have a main landing page (homepage), a contact page, blog, and specific landing pages for each service offered. Each service page should be at least 500 words, but more is better, and well written.
Develop a Blogging Strategy
Blogging can help improve your website’s SEO. Fresh, weekly content is pleasing to search engine bots, and the more content you have, the more questions and issues you can address. In most cases, websites with more content tend to do better in search engine results, providing more opportunities to build your online presence.
Developing a blogging strategy can help you write relevant posts and publish them regularly. Most businesses with effective blogs use content calendars. Using one can help you save time.
As long as your writing relates to dental care or your practice, you should be fine. It can also be helpful to pick topics that conform to potential clients’ search intent. However, be sure to optimize your writing for conversions, or you’ll miss out on an opportunity.
When blogging, you should never:
Blog about religion or politics topics
Blog too often about terms unrelated to dental care
Write about your patients without gaining their permission
Badmouth other dentists or treatment methods
If you want to write your own dental blog posts, make sure you know how to use keywords and other SEO techniques like metadata, title tags, h1-h2 tags, and alt image text.
Article Syndication
Article syndication can help you get backlinks and name recognition, but be careful – if it’s not done correctly, it can harm your SERP ranking.
This is a process of publishing articles written by someone else under your name. Getting your name and practice out there online is great, but be careful of which websites you publish on. Algorithms may penalize you for duplicate content if not done correctly, which could negatively impact your ranking.
Guest Posts
Posting articles on your blog and guest posting on other blogs has three core benefits:
Expands your digital marketing footprint
Gives you brand name exposure
Provides quality backlinks to your businesses website
Working with a professional online marketing team that has already established a network of publications is the easiest way to secure guest posts. If you’re doing it alone, a good place to start is with affiliated professional organizations. For example, ask if your dentist’s association or local Chamber of Commerce has a publication that accepts articles from members. Also, dentists who aren’t competing for the same patients will sometimes collaborate on guest posting projects.
SEO for Dentists: Links Matter
To secure top spots on SERPs for desired keywords, you need to build a link portfolio. Without one, it is nearly impossible to land those coveted spots. So the question becomes: what types of links do you need to cultivate?
Foundational Backlinks
The value of a website’s backlinks depends on the website’s reputation. The more respected and established a website is, the more valuable its backlinks are.
Websites with .edu and .gov top-level domain suffixes offer the most valuable links. Links If you can get backlinks from established websites like Wikipedia and .org sites, do it! The same goes for .com backlinks from top industry sites.
Strategic internal links are a great way to link to other pages on your website. For example, this is an internal link to our blog post about the advantages of using WordPress. They are easy to implement and help both users and algorithm bots.
Backlinks and Mentions
Foundational backlinks come from websites with low authority, but they can provide a lot of “link juice” if you have enough of them. Guest post backlinks from high-authority websites are much more effective and can help improve your rankings quickly if done correctly. Mentioning your website on a local newspaper’s website is another good way to boost your local SEO.
Social media is essential for businesses today. Many people in their 20s and 30s rarely use search engines, instead relying on social media to find products and services. Therefore, it is important to have active accounts on multiple platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
In terms of social media content, every week you should:
Post links to any new blog entries and guest blog spots
Post links to evergreen landing pages
Highlight industry news
Comment on accounts that potential patients may also follow
Avoid controversial topics on social media, as you would when blogging. You want to attract clients, not drive them away.
Dentist SEO: Tools You Can Use
If you want to super-charge your SEO efforts like the pros, you’ll need a couple of tools.
Yoast: The Apple of WordPress SEO plugins, the free version of Yoast is fine for beginners, but if you want to unlock the plugin’s potential, you should upgrade to the premium version.
SEMrush and Ahrefs: The two leading standalone SEO platforms are SEMrush and Ahrefs. They both have dynamic keyword and backlink features that give account holders an edge.
SEO for Dentists: Good Reviews
Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews can be very effective. For the best results, it is most important to establish a consistent flow of Google reviews. Positive Yelp posts can also be very helpful, and adding Facebook mentions often does the trick.
Paying for reviews can be considered unfair and deceptive marketing, which is punishable by the Federal Trade Commission. It may be better to hire a professional marketer to get testimonials and reviews.
Do not use a cookie-cutter dental digital marketing company. Your investment will be cannibalized if you do because the content and designs will be the same as your competitors.
To stand out, you need to cover similar topics and themes as other dentists, but in a way that is fresh and new. Algorithms and people are both drawn to what is new and different, so if you can find a way to stand out, you will be more successful.
Connect with a Digital Marketer
Harris & Ward is a digital marketing team that can help you attract more clients. We have a track record for helping dentists rank highly on search engines, so you can be sure we know what we’re doing. If you’re ready to get more clients, contact us and we’ll get started.
We tailor our online marketing and promotional services to each individual client, ensuring that they stand out from the competition. We don’t use generic templates – every client is unique to us. Follow us on social media and check out our blog for more tips on seo for dentists.
