Dental SEO is definable as the work that makes it more likely that your practice’s website will be easily found on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. “SEO” stands for Search Engine Optimization.
So why does Dental SEO matter? Do you know how many searches were made for just the term “Dentist near me” on Google last month alone? 673,000 searches within the USA! That’s not counting searches in Spanish in the US, or on other search engines.
Searches for “Invisalign?” 246,000 last month. How about “Dental Implants?” 90,000 last month. Dental SEO is making it easier for these patients to find the information they need to choose a provider.
Even “Orthodontist near me” had 74,000 people search for it last month. Whether you want to grow your practice or just want to provide the best dental care, you owe it to yourself and potential patients in your area to make Dental SEO a top priority in marketing your practice!
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility, and brand awareness. It is a subset of SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. SEO is the practice of optimizing your website and content so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Local SEO specifically focuses on optimizing your website and content for local search results.
Local search results are the results that appear when someone searches for something that has a local intent. For example, if someone searches for "dentist near me," the local search results will show a list of dentists in the user's area. Local search results can also include maps, reviews, and other information that is relevant to the user's location.
Local SEO for dentists is strongly influenced by how close the searcher is to the physical location of your practice as well as your reviews and ratings, how fast your website loads, the keywords used and a few other factors.
Beyond the impressive headline numbers, let's delve into the strategic efforts that fueled Universal Smiles Dentistry's remarkable growth with DentalROI:
Local SEO for Dentists is often promoted as the solution. Let’s go over what Local SEO for Dentists is and how it relates to Dental SEO in general. While Dental SEO encompasses any part of the results you might find on a search engine, Local SEO only means the 3 results located right below a map. Thus Local SEO is only one part of search results, not the whole. Local SEO for dentists is a very important factor, especially for those on a mobile device, but it can and should be one facet of your Dental SEO.
Local SEO for dentists is strongly influenced by how close the searcher is to the physical location of your practice as well as your reviews and ratings, how fast your website loads, the keywords used and a few other factors.
So if Local SEO for dentists isn’t the be-all, end-all of Dental SEO, what is? The best SEO for dentists involves multiple factors including the ones listed above that effect Local. The best SEO for dentists always involves great content such as text and images. After all, what’s the good of getting them to click to your website if there is not enough information, unengaging information, or content that just is not very relevant to what they were searching for? The best SEO for dentists uses memorable content, especially video to both draw patients and convince them to reach out to your practice. Other factors such as website security, social media, and links all play a part in building the best SEO for dentists.
OK, now you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the technical requirements in SEO for dental offices but don’t worry! I’m going to explain how to dial down that anxiety! First, dental SEO can and should be an ongoing process. It’s not something you need to do all at once. In fact, trying to climb the rankings too quickly can cause you to be blacklisted by the search engines for spam-like tactics. Second if you work with a partner experienced with SEO for dental offices then you don’t need to learn anything new at all. Such a partner will keep you aware of changes in what the search engines value or allow as well as making sure that the new patients finding you on the search engines are the best match for your goals and offerings.
Dental SEO is complex, and a specialized marketing expert will bring you the best results in improving it. However, there are a few things you can start doing right away or in conjunction with your expert to improve your results. A few free online tools from Google and SEO software companies can help. Start with your keywords. Keywords are groups of words commonly entered on search engines to find what you provide. Figuring out what potential patients type in a search engine to find you is the best way to start improving your dental SEO!
Step 0 is only when you are just beginning and have not yet begun your SEO.
Determine the different keyword variations for your top treatments.
Check your rankings for those keywords compared to your competitors.
Write more pages on your site about your top, less-competitive keywords.
Test your site speed and performance regularly using quality 3rd party tools.
Have a web developer implement the recommendations from these tools.
