When it comes to gaining new patients, dentists depend on Google—whether they realize it or not. We use the example of a man who’s just moved to a new town, and doesn’t know anyone there; he needs to find a good, reputable dentist, but how? Of course, he turns to the Google search engine, which provides him with listings for dentists in his area. If you happen to be a dentist in that area (or a practice manager), it’s essential to have your practice appear on that list.
This isn’t something that happens by chance, but rather by SEO for dentists. But what does SEO for dentists actually look like? And how can it set up your practice for SEO success? We’ll highlight some of the key categories to consider.
Dental SEO is Local SEO
First, understand that dental SEO is ultimately local SEO. If your practice is in California, it does you little good to appear on search engine queries in Tennessee. What you need to do is boost your visibility among local consumers—that is, people who can actually give you their business.
There are different components to this, including:
- On-page optimization
- Off-page optimization
- Google My Business optimization
- Citations in local directories
- Strong online reviews
To ensure that your dental SEO practices are getting results, you’ll need to put some work into each of these areas.
Content Matters, Too
Another angle to consider as part of your dental SEO marketing is content. The goal of content marketing is to establish your business as authoritative and trustworthy—the brand of choice among consumers. This is all the more important in medical and dental fields: You need to not only be found by consumers but to be trusted by them. You need them to feel confident that your practice is legitimate, and content marketing can help with that.
Blogging is the most obvious solution here—a way to dispense tips and information that engenders trust while also registering with search engine algorithms. In addition, press releases can have a big impact on local rankings.
Don’t Forget About Reputation
In keeping with that last point, your practice needs to have a solid reputation; it needs to be a name that inspires confidence. That’s where online reputation management comes into play.
In the context of dental SEO, online reputation might include any of the following elements:
- Monitoring online mentions
- Ensuring positive reviews on sites like Yelp
- Managing reviews on Facebook, Google, and other sites, as well
Here again, press releases and blogs can be used to enhance the image of your dental practice and to develop a truly sterling reputation.
Dental SEO Marketing
The bottom line: Your practice needs to be found by Google search engine users—and dental SEO marketing is how that happens. Enlist our expertise in this field. Contact Digital Advertiser today, and ask us about how we can help you create a strong and successful dental SEO campaign.