As a dental professional, you know your business relies on reaching the right audience to drive more appointments, boost revenue and grow your business. But, with ever-increasing competition, the digital world is making it harder to stand out. How do you make sure your existing or new patients can easily find you online when they need your services? The answer lies in search engine optimisation, also known as SEO.
SEO can be a daunting term, but it doesn’t have to be. At its core, SEO for dentists is the process of optimising your website and digital content to increase your visibility on search engines such as Google and Bing. This is done through keyword research and strategies. In this blog post, we’ll delve more into the importance of SEO for dental and orthodontic professionals and how it can help increase your business’s bottom line.
Why SEO Marketing For Dentists Gets Your Phone Ringing
The digital space is saturated with websites offering dental care and orthodontic services. If your website isn’t optimised for search engines, chances are it won’t be seen by the right audience, reducing the possibility of potential clients finding you. By using SEO, you can ensure that search engines like Google, Bing, and others will favourably view your website in their search rankings. “Search rankings” means that your web pages appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) when customers look for your services online.
A dental-focused SEO strategy is different from a generic professional services campaign. Dental SEO marketing focuses solely on the techniques involved in bringing in the right clients for your dental practice. That translates to being seen by more patients who are actively looking for dental services, from professional teeth whitening to specialist orthodontic work. For example, if your practice only serves children, but you’re showing up in search engine results pages and ads for general dentistry, it’s a waste of your advertising dollars.
As marketing channels go, SEO for dental offices is about getting the website to rank higher than other dental practices in the area. How do you apply this to your business? You use the right SEO strategies that ensure new and existing patients with specific needs find your dental practice’s website over your competitors. This leads to higher conversion rates and increases the quantity and quality of appointments.
How Does SEO For Dental And Orthodontic Professionals Affect Your Business bottom line?
Implementing an SEO strategy today means you are building a strong marketing foundation that has the potential to be a long-term revenue driver. Cleverly executed SEO for dentists will consistently bring traffic to your dental practice website, meaning you’ll spend less on digital marketing ads. In doing so, you will save money on traditional advertising that you may have found first-hand has a more scattergun approach. Traditional marketing is hard to measure, particularly when it comes to the lead conversion of patients.
Clever dental website SEO will:
- Increase your online visibility: Dental and orthodontic practices need to be easily found by prospective patients. SEO helps improve the visibility of a website on search engines, making it more likely for potential new dental patients to discover you and choose your services.
- Utilise local SEO for dentist techniques, helping you reach more patients in your area: Potential patients search for dental and orthodontic services locally. Local dental SEO ensures that the practice appears in local search engine rankings, attracting new patients in the nearby area.
- Ensure marketing cost-effectiveness: Compared to traditional advertising methods, specialist SEO for dental clinics is a cost-effective way to market your services. It targets users actively seeking your services, resulting in a higher return on investment compared to broader advertising methods.
- Boost your credibility and trust: A well-optimised website with high rankings in search engine results often conveys a sense of credibility and trustworthiness. Potential patients are more likely to trust a practice that appears at the top of search results, leading to increased conversion rates.
- Bring you a competitive advantage: In the competitive healthcare industry, being easily discoverable online can provide a significant advantage. SEO for orthodontists, dentists and other dentistry specialists allows those professionals to stay ahead of the competition by ensuring their online presence is strong.
Ensure your dental practice doesn’t fall behind when potential clients actively seek your services. Most likely, your competitors will be heavily investing in dental search engine optimisation to do their best to stand out from the crowd. If your rankings on crucial keyword searches are low on search engine results pages, you’re overlooking valuable business opportunities within the dental industry. Now is the moment to act and elevate your online visibility through impactful SEO for dental clinic strategies.
Clever SEO For Dental Websites Can Boost Your Visibility
Keyword research is a fundamental aspect of SEO for dentists, and it involves researching and analysing particular words or phrases potential patients use to search for dental services online.
There are 3 main principles to selecting keywords in a bespoke dental SEO strategy.
1. Relevance and context
Using relevant keywords on your dental website signals to search engines that your content is valuable and useful to potential patients. When people search for dental services, they type in specific keywords or phrases related to their dental needs. If your website contains those keywords and information that match their search query, search engines are more likely to show your website in the search results. The aim is to use keywords that are relevant to the dental services your practice provides and ensure that they’re included in a context that makes sense to users.
2. Location-based Keywords
Location-based keywords are critical for dental practices as they make it easier for potential patients to find your services in their area. Adding city names, post codes or suburb names as parat of your website’s content is a great way to improve your dental practice’s visibility in the search results. Local SEO is essential if you want to attract patients who may be searching for dental services within your area. By using location-based keywords, you signal to the search engines that your practice is located in a specific area, increasing your chances of being found by local patients.
3. Competitive Keywords
These are keywords that have high demand and high competition. In the dental industry, such keywords may include “dental implants” or “teeth whitening.” Although these are popular keywords, they’re also highly competitive, making it harder to rank high in search results. However, using competitive keywords can still be beneficial for your dental practice. By incorporating these keywords on your website, you enhance the chances of your website being found by potential patients looking for dental services online.
The Online Search For “Long-Tail” Keywords
SEO agencies will sometimes refer to phrases and keywords as “long-tail”. When it comes to SEO for dental websites, what does this term mean?
Long-tail keywords are specific phrases that are less common and more specific compared to competitive keywords. In the dental industry, these types of keywords may include “emergency dental care” or “orthodontic treatment in children.” A dental SEO agency will also know to localise the keywords so the phrases mention a city or a location.
Why are long-tail keywords so important in SEO for dentists? They are highly targeted and can attract more qualified leads to your dental practice because they match the specific needs of potential patients. Using long-tail keywords on your website can help attract high-intent traffic to your site and improve the quality of leads generated. This is what dental search engine optimisation is all about – understanding the keywords and phrases your patients are looking for, and serving them helpful and engaging content on those topics with a call to action to book.
Why great content is so important in SEO for dental website users
Google loves words on a page to read, but having just any type of content won’t cut it – creating great content is key to successful SEO for dentists. It can boost your website’s search engine ranking and visibility, making it more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results.
Google’s algorithm favours high-quality, informative content that is relevant to the search query. When you create valuable content that is tailored to your target audience, it becomes more shareable, which generates backlinks to your site. These backlinks help increase your website’s authority and boost its ranking.
Great content will attract new patients, and it engages with existing ones. By creating content that is relevant, interesting, and valuable, you are demonstrating your expertise and showcasing your dental practice in a positive light. This can lead to increased patient engagement, such as shares, likes, comments, and reviews, which can help promote your dental services and reputation.
There is one more reason why content is so important to SEO for dental website builders. Your page’s content acts as the narrative guide, crafting stories, addressing inquiries, and providing the answers or information sought by users. More than just offering insights, it is the link that establishes a connection with your prospective clients. It embodies your brand, setting the tone and initiating a conversation that fosters trust and rapport. When your content resonates with and directly addresses the concerns of your audience, it cultivates a profound sense of connection.
How Is Local SEO For Dentists Different From General SEO?
Local SEO for dental in Australia is targeted towards specific geographical areas. While general SEO aims to rank a website nationally or even internationally, local dental SEO focuses on ranking a business website based on its geographic location. It’s aimed to improve your local search and to highlight local services.
As a dentist, the majority of your patients are going to come from your immediate area, so it’s crucial to optimise your website for Local SEO. This includes optimising your practice name, address and phone number (NAP), and creating location-specific content on your website.
There are a range of techniques required when dealing with Local SEO for dentists and other healthcare practitioners in your industry.
1. Google Business Profile (GBP) is essential for Local SEO for dentist and orthodontist practitioners
GBP (once known as Google My Business) is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence across the search engine and its associated properties such as Google Maps. By creating a GBP profile for your dental practice, you can verify your business information, respond to reviews, and publish posts about your practice, among other things. This increases your chances of ranking higher in Local SERPs and appearing in Google’s coveted “Local Pack.”
2. Local directories and backlinks are critical for Local SEO
One of the key ranking factors in any local search optimisation is the number and quality of local directories and backlinks pointing to your website. Local directories like Yelp, Healthgrades, and Zocdoc are resources for patients looking for a dentist in their area. These directories help search engines recognise your website’s credibility, authority and trustworthiness, which, in turn, leads to a higher ranking on Local SERPs.
3. Service and Location pages are key for Local SEO for Dentists
Service and Location pages are significant for Local SEO. Service pages inform people about the dental procedures you offer, and Location pages target people searching for dentists in their area. These pages are instrumental in driving local search engine traffic to your website.
By optimising your website for local search, you can increase your visibility, build trust, and rank higher on local dental search engine optimisation results pages. Remember, Local SEO is different from General SEO, so it’s essential to work with a dental SEO company that understands these nuances. BAMBRICK® has notched up years of dental SEO services and can create a targeted Local SEO strategy that suits your dental practice’s unique needs. By doing so, you will see a measurable increase in traffic to your website, and, ultimately, in your practice’s profitability.
Creating A Dental SEO Strategy For Mobile Devices
Going mobile has become a crucial part of business success in today’s digital world, and dentistry is no exception. Mobile devices have become the preferred means of accessing the internet in recent years. Many dental and orthodontic patients use their smartphones and tablets to search for information about dental health issues, treatments, and dentists or orthodontists in their area. Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that your dental or orthodontist website is mobile-optimised to provide a seamless user experience and improve your website’s ranking.
Use A Mobile Responsive Design
The first step in optimising your dental or orthodontist website for mobile devices is to embrace a responsive design. Responsive design is a design method that ensures your website works seamlessly across various devices such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops. With a responsive design, your website adjusts to fit the screen size of the device used to access it, ensuring that your users don’t have to zoom in and out of the page or scroll left or right to view the whole website. A responsive design also enhances user experience, which ultimately improves your website’s ranking on Google.
Create A Simple Navigation
Your navigation needs to be simple. Mobile devices have smaller screens, and users are more likely to bounce if they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly. Simple navigation includes using “hamburger menus” that expand or contract with a click, organising your menu in an easy-to-use drop-down menu, and using clear, concise labels that accurately describe each page’s content.
Shorten Your Paragraphs
Concise content is critical when considering SEO for dentists looking for webpages that are mobile-friendly. Mobile users are on the go, and they’re more likely to skim through web pages than read them word-for-word. Therefore, it’s essential to make sure your content is concise, engaging, and easy to read. Use bullet points, short paragraphs and headings to make your content scannable and easier to digest.
Speed Up Your Load Time
Mobile users expect web pages to load quickly. A page that takes too long to load, will increase your bounce rate, and negatively affect your website’s ranking on Google. To optimise your dental or orthodontist website for mobile devices, ensure your page elements, such as images, are compressed and optimised for mobile view. Also, avoid using external media and plugins, as they increase load time.
The Power of Patient Testimonials in SEO For Dental Websites
One strategy that often gets overlooked in the world of dental SEO services is incorporating patient testimonials and reviews. Not only do these testimonials add credibility and authenticity to your website, but they can also have a significant impact on your search engine optmisation.
Patient testimonials in your SEO strategy have a range of benefits:
Building Trust
Reviews and testimonials can help establish trust and build credibility with potential patients. When people are searching for a new dentist or orthodontist, they want to know that they are in good hands. By showcasing positive reviews from satisfied patients, you can demonstrate that you are a reliable and trustworthy dental practitioner. Not only can this help with getting more website traffic, but it can also lead to higher conversion rates.
Helps Improve Your Search Engine Optimisation
Patient testimonials can actually help improve your website’s search engine rankings. Why? One factor that search engines such as Google take into account when ranking websites is user engagement. In other words, if your website has high levels of user engagement (e.g. visitors spending a lot of time on your site, sharing and commenting on content), it signals to search engines that your site is high-quality and relevant. By incorporating patient testimonials and reviews into your website, you can encourage visitors to spend more time engaging with your content.
So how can you use patient testimonials effectively in your dental SEO strategy?
- Firstly, ensure that you are only using real and authentic testimonials – avoid using false or “fake” reviews as this can damage your credibility.
- You should also ensure that you are regularly updating your website with fresh testimonials, showcasing a range of patient experiences.
- Additionally, consider using structured data markup to help search engines understand and display your reviews properly in search results. This sounds difficult to do, but a company with dental SEO services experience, such as BAMBRICK®, can assist you with this.
- Finally, don’t be afraid to promote your testimonials – share them on social media, in email campaigns, and on other relevant platforms to help increase visibility and engagement.
By following best practices for using testimonials effectively, you can establish trust, build credibility, and increase user engagement with your website. Of course, it’s important to remember that patient testimonials are just one part of a larger SEO strategy – be sure to also focus on optimising your website for mobile, using relevant keywords, building quality backlinks, and staying current with your content. With the right SEO tactics in place, you can help grow your practice and reach more patients than ever before.
We Are Different In The Way We Provide SEO Services For Dentists
OUR SEO FOR ORTHODONTISTS & DENTISTS PACKAGE STARTS WITH 3 SIMPLE STEPS
- KEYWORD RESEARCH – We find the best keywords that are specifically targeted to the phrases and searches your existing and potential new patients search for.
- LOCAL SEO – Update and optimise your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), build citations and use other local SEO techniques.
- CONTENT MARKETING – Create engaging content about your dental services with the right keywords, internal links, images and meta content aiding your SEO efforts.
What You Really Need To Invest In For Great SEO For Dentists
Your dental SEO campaign plays a vital role in helping you compete against larger players with bigger budgets in the dental industry. Unlike a digital marketing campaign with Pay Per Click advertising, SEO doesn’t require daily budgeting to stay visible. Instead, it requires investments in web design, web development, and content writing services.
How Much Does Dental SEO Cost?
While there is an investment into gaining specialist support that SEO companies can provide, the ongoing cost is time. SEO necessitates investing time and effort in regularly producing content, analyzing results, and being patient for improvements.
While SEO campaigns may not yield immediate results within the first few weeks or months, consistent effort will eventually pay off, driving the necessary traffic to surpass competitors. For affordable SEO services that deliver sustainable, long-term outcomes, speak to our specialist team today. BAMBRICK® caters to dental, orthodontists and other dental health practitioners looking to understand the significance of content in SEO.