Guess what? In 2015, there were almost 200,000 practicing dentists in the United States. For you as a dentist, this means you’re facing lots of competition.
How can you differentiate yourself? One great strategy is search engine optimization (SEO).
However, if you’re new to digital marketing, it can seem intimidating. For that reason, we’ve put together this guide complete with tips all about SEO for dentists.
Check out our advice below!
1. Begin with Keyword Research
The basic idea of SEO is getting your website pages to rank higher on Google. The higher you rank, the more traffic you’ll receive.
And keep in mind that more traffic equals more patients, which equals increased revenue.
To begin the SEO process, start with keyword research. This will help you identify the phrases that people type in when searching for a dental practice.
When your results are more targeted, you’ll find better success from your SEO efforts.
2. Work on Your Titles and Descriptions
Next, focus on optimizing the titles, descriptions, and H1s on your site. Each web page has these elements. They tell Google and users what content they’ll find on that page.
There are specific things you can do to optimize these elements to improve your rankings.
First, you should make sure they include your target keyword, location, and other relevant information. Also, make sure they are descriptive and relevant to your business.
This strategy will help improve your position in search results.
3. Optimize for Local Searches
As we mentioned, you should optimize your website to perform well for your specific geographic location. This will make it easier to reach potential patients who live in your area.
For example, when someone searches “Dentist in Seattle,” you want your website to come up. If you don’t optimize your site for local SEO, you’re going to lose out on hundreds of potential customers.
To make this happen, be sure to set up online profiles. Start with your company’s profile on Google My Business.
This is where you can enter your location, contact information, and hours. If you ever need to make any changes, you can do those here as well.
Also, consider creating a profile on Yelp and Facebook. These will also help people find you in local searches.
4. Start Writing Content for SEO for Dentists
Now it’s time to start producing content. As you create engaging content that’s centered around relevant keywords, you’ll be able to shoot up in the rankings for those searches.
But once you have your main pages created, like your About Us page, Services page, and Contact Us page, what else can you publish?
This is where the core of content marketing comes in: blog posts.
Blog posts are great because they allow you to cover various topics on your site in a natural, engaging way. In the long run, quality content can boost your online exposure and help you establish yourself as an industry expert.
Include your location in these posts to better rank in your specific area.
For example, if you want to rank for the phrase “dental implants in Orlando,” you can write a post about the benefits of dental implants and include your location throughout it.
5. Collect and Display Reviews
Most businesses are aware of the benefits of online reviews. People read these very often when looking for products and services.
But did you know that having recent and relevant reviews can also improve your SEO rankings?
That’s because Google loves to see that your site is consistently updated and that people are continuing to talk about you online. This shows it that your business is relevant and engaging.
The truth of the matter, though, is that many people don’t leave reviews without being asked to. That’s why you should ask your satisfied customers for online reviews, both in your office and online through email, your website, or social media.
Another option is to set up a reviews page on your website. Here, you can post the positive reviews that your company has received so you can have them all in one place for potential patients to reference.
6. Don’t Forget Links
Another important aspect of SEO for dentists is link building. Google likes to see that other sites are linking to you. It shows authority and relevance.
This is even better when the external links come from sites with high domain authority. Google sees this and knows that high quality sites are linking to your site, which proves you’re trustworthy.
It’s also a good idea to link internally on your site. This means linking to your own pages from your website. It helps Google see how your site is connected and also shows that your content is relevant.
7. Focus on Mobile
More and more people are using mobile devices to surf the Web. If your site does poorly on smartphones and tablets, your practice will suffer. It’s that simple.
Avoid this by using a responsive site builder when creating your website. This is a software that automatically resizes your website to fit any screen. That way, you don’t have to create lots of different versions of your site.
When your site works well on mobile, you’ll get more traffic. This will improve your visibility online and help you reach a wider audience.
Closing Thoughts
You made it through our list of tips regarding SEO for dentists. Start implementing these practices today, and soon you’ll begin to see results.
Have questions or want to learn more? Contact our team today!