In 2023, dentists can no longer ignore one of the most essential online marketing strategies: SEO. Studies reveal that 89% of digital marketers report SEO being successful for their companies. Search engine optimization (SEO) for dentists is the act of optimizing a dental practice’s website to increase the site’s visibility for search engines and users. So when locals search “dentist near me,” regardless of how close in proximity your office is to them, your practice won’t be on top of the search page without proper dental SEO marketing.
Here we’ll review our top tips and insights to better help you and your team boost your SEO and attract more clients.
Why Is SEO for Dentists Important?
As mentioned above, SEO for dentists can make or break your online marketing efforts. Whether you’re a new practice or have been around for decades, dental SEO marketing will help you find new patients and keep them. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of dental SEO.
Being Findable
It’s been shown that the first five Google search results account for 68% of all clicks, which goes to show how crucial SEO is for any business. SEO is also an organic – or unpaid – way to help potential patients find your dental website easily. This means that your practice doesn’t need to pump tons of cash into paid marketing campaigns to see an increase in traffic. However, if you want to ensure your SEO increases, or if you simply just don’t have the time to focus on this approach, you can always hire the services of dental SEO experts.
Building Trust
People understand that the reason certain businesses are at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) is because searchers have clicked on them the most, which means they must be the best of the best. The higher up in SERP your dental office is, the more likely people are to trust the legitimacy and expertise of your practice and click on your site. Plus, the more people click, the more Google will know to keep ranking you toward the top – this is the power of SEO for dentists.
Local SEO for Dentists
Local SEO for dentists is a more targeted way to attain new patients that are in your area. In fact, 93% of consumers used online searches to find a local business. People will search for “dentists near me,” in which case search engines will use that person’s location to pull results, or people will include a specific region like “dentists in Los Angeles.” So you really don’t need to worry about being the top searched practice in the country as long as your local SEO is successful. Here are some tips to help you achieve that.
Add Your Business to Google Maps
Dentists should always add their practice to Google Maps. You can do this by claiming your Google Maps Business Listing, adding information about your dental practice, ensuring you use a local phone number, and uploading quality photos of your office. We suggest that you hire a photographer to take photos that you can also use on your site and marketing materials. But if you can’t book a photographer just yet, you can always find royalty-free stock images of dental offices on websites like Unsplash or Pexels.
List Your Business in Local Directories
Be sure to list your practice on local directories. Search engines pull from every corner of the internet to generate a list of the most relevant results. So putting your dental practice on directories like Yelp, Zocdoc, and Health Grades can boost your SEO ranking.
Build Your Patient Reviews
Get patient reviews! This is a very important step for any business, whether or not they are looking to boost SEO. You can ask patients to leave a review on Google and/or a local directory like Yelp to increase local SEO. If you’re a new practice with few patients, try asking friends and family who have used your dental services to get started.
Other Aspects of SEO for Dentists
There are many facets of SEO for dentists that can contribute to the effectiveness of this marketing strategy. Dental SEO experts will suggest you implement as many as possible to really make the most of your efforts. Here are two of our favourite additional SEO tips:
Update Your Website
A key part of SEO is having a working and up-to-date website. When you start getting clicks on your site, you’ll want people to stay there and search around. But with an outdated website or one that has broken links and unappealing designs, that will be much hard to achieve. So if you don’t have a website yet or need to update your current one, it’s best to work with the experts to optimize your site.
Use Online Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are another way to bring in more clients once your website and SEO are in good shape. PPC advertising is where marketers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked, so basically, you’re paying for targeted visits to your website. SEO and PPC ads can be a dynamic duo that helps grow your business. In fact, Google pay-per-click ads generate a greater ROI of 200%. If you’re not sure where to start, take the time to research some of the best marketing agencies to help you utilize PPC to achieve your brand goals.
Find More Patients With SEO for Dentists
SEO for dentists is necessary to grow a practice to its full potential, and the experts at Marketify can help! We’re one of the top digital performance-marketing agencies here to assist dental practices with boosting their online presence so that while the dentists keep the patients smiling, we keep the dentists smiling.
Contact Marketify today for all your SEO needs!
