Dental SEO: The Ultimate Guide to SEO Marketing for Dentists
Upscale Digital
Time has shown that search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for most businesses to thrive. That is especially true in competitive businesses where people have many options, such as dental practices. SEO can make the difference between nobody finding your site, and your site appearing on the first page of Google.
Keyword research and optimization, trustworthy content, and a smooth user experience are key principles of SEO. Simple things, like optimizing for mobile page experience, are easy to overlook, but they’re essential parts of dental SEO. Adding internal links within your site will ensure proper hierarchy. Finally, authority links will add credibility and help you rank higher.
It’s vital to not only direct traffic to your site but to make it easy to navigate. Nowadays, SEO is a dental practice’s best tool for growth. Follow along as we explore the key principles of dental SEO so that you can maximize your dental practice’s potential.
Why Is SEO Vital for Dentists?
Dentists rely on acquiring and keeping patients who stay with their practices, and that’s why SEO is so important. SEO, or search engine optimization, is all about crafting a well-made website with top-notch content that ranks high on search engines. Ranking high on search engines like Google is essential for potential patients in your area to find your dental practice.
Everything from keywords and page speed to authority links can boost your page ranking and discoverability. This may not feel necessary for dentists, but dental practices are perfectly primed for SEO. That’s because search engines value and prioritize websites that feature useful, authoritative, and trustworthy content.
There is so much valuable, verifiable information within the dental field that you can use to boost traffic to your site. By creating well-researched content with links to reputable sites and studies, you can earn more visitors and patients. Currently, 95% of Google traffic comes from the first page, and you can’t get there without focusing on SEO.
And while SEO is only one avenue of potential success when it comes to dental marketing strategies, it’s probably the best investment long-term, and beats paying for Google Ads every single month.
How to Properly Execute Dental SEO Marketing
1. List Your Dental Practice in Related Online Directories
When it comes to dental SEO, exposure should be one of your biggest priorities. While keywords help boost traffic, it’s also a great idea to take advantage of online directories related to your practice. Medical directories specifically, like ZocDoc and Healthgrades rank high on Google, and are effective because they focus on medical practices.
It’s also a great idea to list your dental practice on Yelp because it always ranks high. The review feature of Yelp can also help increase exposure and lend legitimacy to your practice. Ideally, you should focus on directories for local businesses in the area, so you get traffic from people searching for local dentists.
When possible, list your practice on the websites of insurance providers that you accept if they allow it. That said, it’s important to be careful about what directories you list your practice on. After all, it won’t do you any good to list your practice on directories and booking platforms outside your service area.
2. Exemplify Your Expertise
You can significantly boost your website’s Google ranking if you exemplify your expertise. That’s why it’s important to focus on “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness”. E-E-A-T is especially important for dental businesses and other medical practices where you handle your patient’s health.
Google will look for specific things that verify your dental practice’s credibility, such as accreditations. This includes the practice’s accreditations, as well as the qualifications and experience of the dentists who work there. Everything from board certifications to listing the colleges the dentists attended can help boost credibility.
Include hard facts, data, and quotes from reputable authorities and sources within the dental field. A professional, well-designed website full of facts that are easy to swallow appears trustworthy to Google and your site visitors.
3. Research Local Keywords
Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of SEO for dentists, or any business, for that matter. Local keyword research specifically increases the chances your practice will cut through the sea of competitors in the area. Putting related keywords in the content and headings on your pages can help your site rank on Google.
That said, it’s important to prioritize the right keywords for your business based on volume. For example, you may focus on an untapped keyword and rank for it, but it won’t help if nobody searches for that keyword. Instead, focus on the monthly search volume for local keywords and direct your attention to the most popular ones.
Using keywords alone isn’t enough to rank, however. These keywords won’t help boost traffic much if the content on your page isn’t authoritative and trustworthy. Make sure to include keywords naturally, or else your content may simply appear as spam, and it will backfire. It also helps to naturally reference your location on several pages on your website to ensure it ranks for local Google searches.
4. Perform an SEO Audit
In many cases, the best way to boost traffic is to figure out what isn’t currently working. The best way to do this is to perform an SEO audit to see what’s missing. An SEO audit can provide valuable information, such as broken outbound and internal links and problems with structured data.
Accurate and informative, an SEO audit can point out easy-to-miss problems, such as problems with headings and title tags. You can use this information to boost an article’s word count, restructure the headings, fix links, and add meta descriptions as needed.
SEO audits can also tell you about performance problems, such as slow speed, that will hold your site back. After the audit, make sure to correct the issues it finds and implement appropriate headings and keywords. Audit your page as many times as needed until the errors are minimal or nonexistent to boost traffic and improve the user experience.
5. Prioritize On-Page SEO
While off-page SEO can also boost traffic, you should first prioritize on-page SEO for your dental practice. On-page SEO refers to the keywords and internal links between pages on your website that encourage action and more traffic. This is easiest when you start with a fresh site, but you can also go back to older pages to boost the on-page SEO.
This is much easier after you perform an SEO audit, but you can also do it by simply checking your existing pages. Add keywords to existing pages that are lacking and link to other pages on your site. Readability is key, and that’s why it’s important to structure your headings in a way that encourages the reader to keep scrolling.
For example, readers are often put off by huge blocks of text that aren’t separated. Make use of H2 and H3 subheadings below a strong title and incorporate keywords throughout. Generic headings that don’t provide information, such as “Contact Us” don’t do much to boost your on-page SEO. However, you can encourage your readers to choose your dental business with a final call to action subheading.
6. Create a Google Business Profile
Back in 2005, Google launched a free tool that makes it easy for businesses to increase their visibility. Google Business Profile lets you list your business, website, phone number, location, hours, and rating. The more information you put on your profile, the better it will rank.
For example, you will find several dental practices in your service area if you search “dentists near me”. You will likely notice that some of them appear lackluster and only list the name and location. Generally, those dental practices will rank lower on the list.
Google ranks these profiles based on relevance, prominence, and location. Well-known businesses rank higher. You can boost your notoriety via a strong website that focuses on dental SEO and relevant information. According to Google, “Your position in web results is also a factor, so search engine optimization (SEO) best practices apply.” A five-star rating on Google can significantly help you rank higher and encourage new patients to find your practice
7. Ask Patients for Reviews
One of the best ways to increase your site’s credibility in the eyes of Google is to earn positive reviews. While some patients may post reviews on their own, it’s a great idea to request reviews. According to Forbes, a recent survey showed that just over 75% of consumers use reviews to make decisions about purchases and businesses they patronize.
One great way to encourage your patients is to send them an email requesting a review after their latest appointment. You can automate this to make it easier. Make sure to link to your Google review page or Better Business Bureau page as this can potentially increase traffic to your website.
You can also encourage your staff to mention that you always appreciate honest reviews during the appointment. Check your Google review page as much as possible and respond to reviews warmly and appreciatively. Of course, you may receive some negative reviews, but it’s important to respond to them as well without being combative.
8. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Phones
An easy-to-navigate website can rank better, and it will also make visitors more likely to choose your dental practice. More than ever, it’s important to optimize your website for mobile phones and tablets. In 2023, 57% of web traffic came from mobile phones, and there’s no sign that this trend will slow down.
That statistic doesn’t even include web traffic from tablets. It’s important to consider factors such as page layout and text size when you optimize your site for smartphones. For example, touch screens can be tricky when it comes to clicking links when the font is small. Because of that, it’s important to make sure your internal and authority links are big and bold.
This will make it easy for visitors to visit other pages on your site to further boost traffic. Include a clickable phone number so visitors can easily call your dental practice to schedule an appointment. Keep your website simple and avoid flashy images as they may not appear on all smartphones.
9. Write Blog Posts Regularly
While your website should convey what your dental practice does, it’s also an opportunity to gain traffic through blog posts. Blog posts increase the chance that your dental practice’s site will rank high on Google. That said, this will only happen if you post valuable content related to high-volume keywords.
For example, you can create blog posts about specific dental services, technologies, and oral care tips. These posts can earn site traffic from people in your area who may not even be searching for a new dentist. Use your keyword research to create blog posts that revolve around specific dental services and trends.
Include authority links so your content seems valuable to Google and in turn, ranks higher. Once you accumulate more posts, create internal links to other pages on your site to continue the traffic loop. Ideally, you should make at least 6 blog posts per month to maintain steady traffic.
10. Earn Links From Other Websites
While you should focus on getting traffic from Google searches, it’s also important to get traffic from other websites. Backlinks from other sites increase the chances that people who wouldn’t otherwise find your site will discover your business. However, this will only work if you earn backlinks from sites related to your dental business.
The best way to do this is to create content that other websites find valuable enough to link to. For example, create posts about specific dental services, such as teeth whitening, veneers, and root canals. Fill these posts with valuable, concise information and authority links that make them desirable.
This will encourage other medical and dental sites to link to your business. Readers will see the link, determine that your site has valuable information, and hopefully click on it. Use high-ranking posts that have been back-linked and write similar yet more comprehensive.
Direct your content to sites that link to your competitors to earn links from them. This “Skyscraper Technique” is tried and true, and it’s one of the best ways to boost traffic and recognition.
Use SEO to Take Your Dental Practice to the Next Level
Simply put, proper dental SEO marketing is all about creating quality content. Such content must target specific keywords that can land your more patients. Also, your website’s design should be built with conversions in mind.
Ask yourself these questions; is my phone number displayed clearly on the top right of each page? Is my navigation menu useful? Do my service pages clearly communicate what my dental practice offers?
It’s essential to create a site that’s easy to navigate through and features useful information that Google finds valuable. Earning positive reviews and backlinks from other sites will help you rank higher and gain more patients over time.
After all, we all need a dentist, but nobody is going to choose one they can’t trust. Do you specialize in root canals? Then, target related keywords to that service and focus on appealing to potential patients within your service area. Make your website as useful as possible, and remember that you’re writing content for real people, your future patients.
