Are you interested in improving your local SEO strategy, but feel that the current tactics you’re taking just aren’t giving you the results you deserve?
Would you like to learn more about SEO for dentists, but fear that you won’t be able to find the time to implement a solid digital marketing strategy in addition to running your practice?
Are you just tired of losing business to other, less qualified, dental professionals in your area?
If so, then you need to keep on reading this post.
We’ll take the guesswork out of local dentist SEO marketing — and tell you where you can find professional digital marketing services in the process.
1. Start a Blog
The first thing to do when you want to start local dentist SEO marketing for your practice?
It’s time to start a blog.
First of all, writing about the most common dental procedures, what to expect out of a teeth whitening session, or even offering up tips on how readers can improve their dental care will help to strengthen your authority as a dentist.
People will perceive you as an expert who is more knowledgeable than the competition, and even as someone who uses more up-to-date techniques than other practices do.
Additionally, blogging is a wonderful way to get to know your site visitors and readers on a deeper level. You can engage with them in the comments section and provide immediate answers to their questions — like how they can make an appointment with you.
It also lets you increase your Google rankings by directing more traffic back to your website. Whenever you comment — on your own posts or someone else’s — always include a link back to your own website in your comment signature.
Finally, blogs allow you to include more localized keywords in your content in a natural way (more on keywords and their role in SEO for dentists in a moment.) They also allow you to tell search engines that your website is updated often.
This means that you’ll have more indexed pages and rank higher than other dental practices that don’t have a blog.
2. Connect with Other Local Businesses
As a local dentist, we know that you already likely make it a priority to connect with your local community offline.
But you also need to make connections with local businesses digitally. This means that you should like and share their content, engage with them on social media, and yes, even ask them to link to your website on their own page.
This is, again, an incredible way to get in front of your local market — the people in your service area. You know these people support local businesses, and you can even offer them a discount if they make an appointment with you as a result of a referral from a local business.
3. Choose the Right Keywords
When you’re trying to master local dentist SEO marketing, you need to think about using location-based keywords in your static website content, your social media updates, and your blog posts.
This means that your keyword phrases should include the name of the state, city, or even the county where your practice is located. Not only will this help you to show up more quickly in the search engine results of those within your local area.
It will also help you to connect with the people who are already actively looking to make an appointment with a local dentist. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
Make sure that you include longtail location-based keywords and more complete questions like “Where can I find dental services in San Antonio?” This helps to better optimize your local content for voice search.
4. Get More Online Reviews
Another important local marketing tactic that dental businesses need to take into consideration?
What people are saying about them — and how many people are talking about them — in their online reviews.
Claim your Google My Business listing and fill out your profile on third-party review sites like Yelp. This way, you ensure that your competitors can’t claim them for you!
Never be ashamed to ask your patients (especially your most loyal ones) to write a review of your practice. You can even enter them into a drawing for a free teeth whitening service in exchange for a review.
And if those reviews are a little less positive than you would have hoped for?
Always walk away from the computer before you respond. Remember that close to 90% of people read online reviews about any business before they make an appointment with them. So, if you’re online getting defensive — or aggressive — towards patients, they’ll likely go somewhere else.
Thank both positive and negative reviewers, and let the latter know that you appreciate their input and are working on finding a solution. You should even contact them directly so you can improve the patient experience and understand what exactly went wrong.
Need More Help With SEO for Dentists?
From ensuring you have plenty of online reviews to taking the time to start a blog, we hope that this post has helped you to better understand what local SEO for dentists is all about.
Of course, the real improvements to your local SEO strategy will come when you connect with the digital marketing professionals who will help you to get the job done right.
That’s where we come in.
Spend some time on our website to check out our portfolio and learn more about the wide variety of local SEO and design services that we have to offer.
When you’re ready to take your dentist SEO marketing to the next level, and get more patients than ever before, get in touch with us to make a change for the better.