A recent survey found that about 72% of internet users search the web for health information before taking action, while 77% of patients rely on search engine results to find a dental practice near them before booking an appointment.
With today’s technologically savvy patients and easy internet access via smartphones and tablets, it’s imperative that dental practices have an optimized website and strong online presence to be successful.
SEO for Dental Practices
Even with good and clear content about your services, business location, and working hours, your website or social media page is useless unless it is highly visible.
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps to ensure that your site ranks well in search engine results pages (SERPs).
With Google’s constantly changing algorithms that crawl the web looking for websites using underhanded or black hat tricks to increase their visibility, it is important that dentists work with skilled and experienced SEO experts to get your brand to the first-page of the (SERP) organically, and keep it there.
Best Dental SEO Strategy for Real Results
1. Local SEO focused on your geographic area & targeted services
Local search results are what appears when you include the name of your geographical area in your local business search, e.g. “orthodontist in Los Angeles”.
With Google focusing on providing searchers with the most relevant results, it tends to prioritize local results with both the search engine and Google Maps.
Getting your business to appear in local search results is the key to attracting patients near you. We can help you create a local search strategy through My business Local Page listing, citations on local business directories, and generating positive reviews.
2. Original content writing (blogs / SEO pages )
Content marketing focuses on improving the first touch point between your business and prospects – your website.
Generally, you can expect any patient searching for a dental practice to have certain questions about the services available for addressing specific problems, the procedures, what makes a good candidate, cost, and other things.
A good content marketing strategy helps to establish you and your practice as an authority in that field, and possibly the best dentist in your area.
3. Local online directories
In addition to getting listed on Google My Business, you should also submit your business to other local business directories – where Google retrieves local business data – to boost your ranking, especially in the map results.
Google considers links from external sources, such as Yelp, dentist profile listing, and Yellow Pages as credibility checks. Having more quality external links makes you appear like the authority in your field and area, which in turn helps you rank higher.
SEO for Orthodontists
More people are looking for dental services to improve their smiles, and braces and aligners are getting more popular with teens and adults. The number of orthodontists is also growing to keep up with demand, which has made the field competitive.
A good SEO strategy can help your business stand out and maintain a steady stream of new patients visiting.
SEO for Periodontists
As a specialty practice, periodontic-related keywords don’t receive as much search traffic as general dental terms. This means that your business will be competing for fewer potential new clients.
With some general dentists offering the same services, it is important that periodontists optimize their search engine rankings to attract patients.
SEO for Pediatric Dentists
If you want your pediatric dental practice to be found organically for local searches, then you need to optimize your website with content using relevant phrases, such as “pediatric dentistry” and “nearby dentist for kids” on the homepage and other pages.
It’s Not Just About SEO…
Considering that more than 50% of internet users browse the web on a mobile device, it is imperative that you have a responsive, user-friendly website that provides a great user-experience on mobile devices. Google also ranks mobile-friendly sites more favorably than those without a responsive design.
Perhaps even more important is having positive online reviews for your dental practice.
In fact, research shows that medical reviews are one of the most read types of reviews, coming in second after hotel and restaurant reviews. A good online reputation will help to boost your SEO, new patient acquisition, and conversions.
Dental SEO Company
As a leading dentists and dental practices digital marketing agency, we realize the enormous challenge of creating a successful online presence for your brand.
Whether you’re a new or existing practice looking to reach more clients through the web, we can help to optimize your company website or design a more responsive one so that it’s easy to find through search engines on a desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
Contact our SEO experts to discuss the best SEO package for your dental practice.