Local SEO matters to your dental practice because it helps Google searchers bring up results for businesses close to them geographically. The numbers speak for themselves: According to a Google study published in May 2014, 80% of consumers turn to search engines to find local information, while 50% who search for a local business on a smartphone stop by the business within 24 hours.
Here are five tips for maximizing your practice's local SEO presence:
1. Use Google My Business
The first tip for any business to maximize local SEO is to take advantage of Google My Business to reach search engine searchers, Google Maps searchers, and G+ searchers. Google My Business offers a user-friendly, integrated approach to local SEO. It is targeted toward small businesses like your dental practice. While on the site, click "Get on Google" to claim your dental practice, and be sure to optimize your information with accurate and relevant keywords, images, business hours, and so on. Google encourages you to be specific.
2. Practice Consistency
Many organizations have a style book to ensure consistent material. Follow this concept with local SEO, and use the same NAP (name, address and phone number) and NAP style across all websites and platforms. Your hours, staff listings, maps and "About Us" information should be the same.
3. Include Local, Targeted Keywords
When it comes to your keywords, you need to be specific and describe your practice as more than simply "dentist." To best reach potential patients, you should also include city name and even neighborhood name, e.g., "Johnson County dentist," "Johnson County dental," and "Leawood Kansas dentist." You also want to include more detail about your services, such as general dentistry, CEREC, sleep apnea, cosmetic dentistry, and the like, and pair with them with geographic keywords. Use this approach for social media posts, too.
4. Add the Information Consumers Want
What are consumers curious about when they research dental practices online? Most often, they want to see address, phone number, proximity, hours, forms of payment accepted, and much more. Include this information wherever possible online.
5. Remember Third-Party Search Sites
Google My Business is a must-do, but other sites like Yelp, Bing, Manta, Yellow Pages, and Refer Local are important as well. More folks will find your dental practice as your Internet presence expands, so joining social media platforms like LinkedIn and Foursquare is a great move.
Bonus tip: Make your website mobile friendly to boost Google rankings and patient happiness. If you have any additional questions or need help with your dental marketing, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I'd be happy to assist your dental practice!
Sean Hamel is marketing director for HinrichsZenk+Pesavento LLC (HZP), with responsibility for marketing programs, content and web development, brand management, public relations, digital marketing, ad buying, and corporate sponsorships. He is served well in these roles by his experience as a marketing coordinator and time in corporate accounting, financial advisory services, and real estate. Hamel thrives on challenges, particularly those that require outside the box thinking, and finding solutions to drive HZP into the new age of digital media and inbound strategy. His content development system provides a vast library on a variety of topics to engage readers and support HZP as an authority in the business of dentistry. He can be reached at [email protected].
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