In today’s connected world, society’s go-to when looking for a product or service is to head online and do a quick search, either on their preferred search engine or on social media. Even in dentistry and other healthcare professions, digital marketing is becoming increasingly important.
According to Digital Authority Partners, digital marketing for dentists helps set dental practices apart from their competitors. It’s a way for businesses in a competitive industry to gain new patients and better serve their existing ones.
Are you clients online? (Hint: Yes!) So, you need to be too. In this article, you’ll learn what the best online marketing for dentists consists of and how you can implement our top tips.
1. Have An SEO-Optimized Website
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of making your website appear higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). Its purpose is to drive relevant traffic to your website. It sounds simple, but there are many elements to SEO – it’s a full-time job in itself. However, there are several SEO tools you can use to make life much easier.
Keyword Rich Content
Much of on-page SEO focuses on keywords. Essentially, you need to find out what keywords your target audience is searching and incorporate them into your website content strategically and naturally. Free tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs are a great place to start when looking for terms to use.
Once you’ve optimized your content, you should see your website climb the rankings for those particular keywords. Users will resonate with your brand more if they see phrases that match their search queries.
Technical SEO
You may need the assistance of an expert at this point, but technical SEO is geared towards providing the best user experience possible on your website. Specifically, website loading speed and mobile responsiveness should be your major concern.
People are impatient – we’re used to having access to all the information we need instantly – if your pages load slowly, users will just leave. The most common causes of slow loading are overly large image files and excessive third-party content. However, there are many other potential causes for concern. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to find out what you need to improve.
Is your website fully responsive for all devices? If not, it should be. Over 50% of all searches are done on mobile, meaning you need to cater to a lot of different devices and screen sizes. A responsive site makes it easy to navigate for every user. There should be no scrolling left to right, no clickable elements too close together, and no tiny font size. Google Mobile-Friendly Test can point out any fixes you might need to make.
Targeted Landing Pages
Another over-50% stat for you – more than half of all searches are location-based. As a dental practice, the vast majority of patients and potential patients will be searching based on location – unless you have some special circumstance, you’re likely not traveling too far to see a dentist.
Creating targeted landing pages enables you to make highly impactful, super specific content. For example, if someone is searching for a children’s dentist in Houston, Texas and you have a landing page dedicated to those specific keywords, chances are you’ll be one of the top-ranking websites.
2. Create A Social Media Presence
In addition to traditional dentist SEO, there are ways social media can grow your business online. The majority of people in today’s society take part in social media, whether they’re actively posting or are just consuming content. Many now use it as a search engine, as well. If you understand which platform most of your patients are using, you can create a profile that speaks to their needs.
However, social media is only worth it if you are able to be consistent. Long gaps between posts, little engagement, and not conversing with other users will be detrimental to your online presence and brand image.
3. Sign Up For Google Business
When potential clients conduct a Google search based on location, the top three results are pinned on a map – wouldn’t it be great if your business was one of them?
One of the most important aspects of dental practice digital marketing is local SEO, and you can kickstart your optimization by creating a Google Business listing and completing the information as thoroughly as possible. The next two points will help you rise in the local SEO rankings.
Encourage or Incentivize Patients To Leave Google Reviews
Reviews are the new word-of-mouth marketing. How often do you purchase a major product or service without reading reviews first? Probably never. The same is true for your patients – they want to know what other people are saying about your dental practice.
Frequent, high-rated reviews will give your dental practice the online credibility you need to drive more traffic to your website. Encouraging or incentivizing existing patients to leave you a review will skyrocket your local SEO ranking.
List Your Dentist In As Many Relevant Directories As Possible
In addition to reviews, online directories where your business is listed will improve your online presence greatly. These listings are known as citations, and the more relevant ones you have, the better your ranking will be. Think of them as backlinks – when another website links to yours.
One incredibly important thing to remember when listing your business on any directory: ensure your address and contact details are listed exactly as they are on Google Business, otherwise, the value of the citations won’t be passed on to your listing. You may even want to keep a record of each directory you’re on so you can easily update your accounts should your business details change.
In Summary
Refining your dentist digital marketing strategy is the key to increasing online traffic for your practice. Optimizing your website, social media, and local SEO presence will put you in front of more potential patients than ever before, and providing a highly targeted experience that focuses on both humans and search engine crawlers is your ticket to the top of the rankings. Implementing even just these basic strategies is guaranteed to have an impact on your website, and ultimately, your business, too.
