Getting more patients through the door is an objective many dentists struggle with every day. Implementing an effective dental marketing campaign is the key to ensuring your practice continues to grow and take on new patients. There are several facets to dental Internet marketing, with one of the most important being search engine optimization, a process by which a website's online visibility is enhanced to increase incoming traffic, as well as the website's ranking in the search engines.
Increasing your website's ranking in Google and other major search engines is critical to getting found, as potential patients searching for a new dentist very rarely go past page one of Google’s search results. In fact, a 2010 study by Chitka¹ found that results on page one of Google received approximately 94% of traffic.
So if you want to be on page one — which you do —here are five tips to get you there:
1. Backlinks
A backlink is a link from another website linking to your website. These links are viewed by search engines as votes in favor of your website. The idea is that if a website links to your website, that you must have something worthwhile to share with the world. To get started with backlinking, submit top quality articles on dentistry to dental websites, blogs, or journals and ask for a link at the end of the article. Another source of a quality backlinks are dental business directories such as Findmydentist or state business directories.
2. Social Media
Google, Bing, and several other search engines have revealed that Facebook shares and likes, Twitter shares, and Google + shares all influence your website's ranking. While you may not have an influx of patients coming into your practice through your Facebook or Twitter page, Google does look at how many people are pressing on the “like” button on your website. Does this sound like a popularity contest? Well, it sort of is.
3. On Page Optimization
If your dental office is located in Gurnee, Ill., for example, then your website should have a strong indication that the office is indeed in Gurnee, Ill. Do this by stating very clearly on your home page what services your practice offers and where it is located. This information should be shown in several areas of your website, including the home page and contact page. On the home page, display the practice's address as well as a short introduction to your practice with the text “Gurnee, IL Dentist,” “Dentist in Gurnee,” or “Gurnee Dentist” embedded within the paragraph.
4. Meta Tags
Google gives webmasters tips on how to optimize their websites to help bring them to the top of its search results. There are several components to meta tags that you will find in the source code of your website. One is referred to as “meta keywords,” which according to Google and other search engines, is not a variable factored into the algorithm that calculates the ranking of your website. This is because webmasters have abused the meta keyword function by “stuffing” as many keywords in the meta keywords section as possible. Regardless, it is good practice to list the main keywords that you are looking to rank for. The three keywords every dental practice should aim for and include in their meta keywords are “city + dentist,” “dentist + city,” and “dentist in city.” The other part of the meta tag function is the “meta description.” A good meta description is concise and accurately depicts what services the practice offers to people in the area. Here is great example of what a good meta description looks like:
“Located in Gurnee, Ill., Gurnee Dentistry provides high-quality dental care in a stress-free environment. Come visit Gurnee dentist today.”
5. Blogging
One of the most prolific concepts in the world of search engine optimization is that “content is king.” If your website doesn't share information relevant to the dental industry, then search engines have a difficult time knowing if your website should be on page one. The more you blog and refer to “city + dentist” in your posts, the better the chances that the search engines will bring you closer to page one.
So, there you have it, five search engine optimization tips that will help bring you to page one of Google. If you are reading this and feel confused or overwhelmed, give Findmydentist.com a call for a free consultation at (877) 598-0828.
References:
1. http://insights.chitika.com/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/
Findmydentist.com is a dentist directory that connects patients with dentists in their area. Findmydentist also provides dental marketing services to dentists to help them grow their practice.
