Working with SEO Analyst: Introduction

Search engine optimization is something that is well-known to web specialists but just breaking the into popular consciousness. The need to have a bonafide SEO analyst on your team is growing year over year. People are starting to take note of the power that SEO has, and for good reason.

For whatever reason, most businesses haven’t yet taken the time to optimize their websites for search engines. In fact, very few small businesses are investing in SEO.

We’ll go into some detail about why that is a mistake, in addition to why it may be good for you that your competition is slacking. Most importantly, though, we’re looking to show you why an SEO analyst is a good investment for your business.

Let’s get to it.

If You Don’t Know SEO…

An integral part of understanding the value of an SEO specialist is knowing precisely what search engine optimization is. It’s different than marketing, although the two are often confused.

It’s a fairly straightforward idea with a lot of ins and outs. It gets more complicated as you look closer, but the fact of the matter is that you have to look closer in order to see results.

So, here’s the basic stuff:

How the Search Engine Operates

Search engines are so intertwined with the web that most people have only experienced the internet through the use of sites like Google or Bing. That’s because these sites tend to provide us with all of the information that is immediately relevant to us.

At the same time, the data archived in search engines is just that: archived. Search engines scour the web in search for sites that they haven’t yet indexed. They do this with the use of bots called “spiders” or “crawlers.”

These can be likened to little messengers that bounce from site to site through links, documenting relevant information so that it can be searched at the front end of the search engine. These bots make note of a number of things.

Their first mission is to index the site and make note of the content. Having the content noted allows the engine to pull up sites based on the keywords that a page has. The second mission of the bot is to rank the pages based on over 200 factors that determine where the site will land when it’s searched.

That’s a basic overview of how Google indexes all of its 30 trillion pages. Surprisingly, that is less than 1 percent of the internet.

Where Search Engine Optimization Comes in

Search engines use algorithms to determine which sites will be most relevant to the keywords that a user searches with. Imagine it: whenever a person makes one Google search, their keywords are run against 30 trillion websites. Somehow, the site always pulls up pages that are pretty much exactly what we wanted.

This means a couple of things. First, the algorithm Google uses is sophisticated. Second, because there’s a smart algorithm, we have the opportunity to use it to our advantage.

How Sophisticated Is the Algorithm?

The whole process starts with looking at the words in the search. The system looks at your spelling to check for possible errors, uses language models to cross-reference synonyms, and get an understanding of what you’re looking to find.

This is essential because many people will search for the same thing but use different language to do it. Further, the system determines how specific of results you’d like based on language cues.

Once they’ve got a basic idea of what you want, search engines run through the pages that could be relevant. The keywords in the search are referenced against other pages that contain those words, deciding which of those sites has the keywords in the most significant places.

The titles and headings of pages are common spots for essential keywords. This process on the search-end of things is only possible because the search engine has already ranked the usefulness of pages.

How An SEO Analyst Helps You Use the Algorithm to Your Advantage

The back end of the search engine, the ranking process, is based on hundreds of factors. We know of a number of those factors, but it’s in Google’s best interest to keep their cards close to their chest.

If everyone knew precisely how the algorithm worked, irrelevant sites could optimize to reach the top of searches without being useful to users. If that happened to a search engine, that engine would cease to be useful.

Sites like Google want to remain the most useful so as not to lose their users to other search engines. As a result, we have to guess at some of the finer points of search engine optimization.

There are some general areas that we know the ranking factors fall into, though. Things like freshness, keyword relevance, user experience, reviews, backlinking, and quality are all taken into account. It’s likely that each of those terms has subcategories of ranking within them.

Going with what we know, SEO analysts dig into those categories and fine-tune them to the needs of the search engine.

The Work of Optimization

Each area that requires optimization is a challenge in itself. That said, the difficulty of ranking well is dependent on your competition.

If your local competition has entirely failed to optimize, you’ll have to do a lot less work than you would if your neighbors were spending all their time on fine-tuning their sites.

People are bound to catch on, though, and it’s important to have a well-optimized site, especially for local searches. Most people pull out their phones and search “tacos near me” when they’re hungry for tacos.

They search “gas station near me” when they’re out of town and need to find gas. They search “flower shop near me” when they forgot their partner’s birthday.

That’s the way of the world now. Word of mouth and print advertising are slightly effective, but the primary visibility of our time comes when you rank within the top three results on a search engine. In order to get to that coveted spot, you have to work on the following things:

1. Creating Quality Content

It’s essential that your site produces web pages on a regular basis. The ranking your site gets will be dependent on the “freshness” of your content. This is why you don’t normally see any posts in SERPS (search engine results pages) that were created before 2013.

The fresher the better. While you’re creating fresh content, you need to make sure that it’s actually relevant to what users want. This requires that you base content off of keyword research.

2. Keyword Optimization and Research

Trends in what users are searching should inform the content that you’re creating. When you make blog posts that answer common user questions, you can be sure that there will be users to look at your site.

This means that you should do research to find trends in keywords and use those specific words and phrases to optimize your content. Optimizing your content for keywords typically means placing one in the introduction, the header, a few in the body of the content, and the conclusion.

It’s important that the placement of these terms is natural, but it’s generally good to have a few keywords scattered throughout the writing.

3. Links

The more connected a page is, the more relevant it seems to Google. It’s important to link out to different sites, but it’s far more important to have sites link to you.

The process of accumulating links to your site is called “backlinking.” This means that you reach out to other websites that might have a connection to some of your content.

Once your site picks up enough steam, you’ll find that sites should link to you without you asking them to. In fact, you might be the site that they ask for backlinks if you’re popular enough.

4. Reviews

Search engines also value customer reviews and customer experience very highly. Achieving positive reviews starts with you and your physical business, of course.

There is, however, a wealth of options for incentivizing customers to give reviews.

Hiring an SEO Analyst

The information above might seem a little daunting. To be honest, we’ve only scratched the surface. Each of the general SEO categories listed above requires significant amounts of work and a lot of attention to detail.

Handling the work of optimizing your site correctly could take up dozens of hours a week. It’s almost as if optimization should be a job of its own.

That’s why SEO analysts exist. These are people who are skilled in understanding the nature of the search engine and how sites can tailor themselves to rank well. The investment of hiring someone to work on your site is an extremely valuable one.

Especially in a time of ‘near me’ searches and excessive reliance on search engines, having your site rise the ranks and reach the top will result in increased sales.

Think You Need Some Help?

It’s a good idea to think about working with an SEO analyst. It’s also smart to take a peek at your site and see if there are any longstanding issues with it.

If you’re interested in generating a presence online and improving sales, contact us to learn more about what you can do.

The post Working with an SEO Analyst to Improve Your Organic Visibility appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Just because you run a successful business doesn’t mean the search engines will automatically pick up all your products and services when potential customers are searching.

While these search engines algorhithms can seem confusing, but there is a method to the madness. Figure out that method, and you’ll end up with quality results.

Luckily, there are people who can optimize your website and manage marketing campaigns to make your business more visible online. This person is called an SEO expert. Search engine optimization is key for generating traffic on your site, which is the first step in growing your business using online marketing.

Do you need an SEO expert on your team? Let’s take a look.

What is an SEO Expert?

An SEO expert is someone who’s skilled in the art of building online traffic. It gets complicated, and it’s important to know what you’re doing because a wrong move could send you to the bottom of the barrel.

Search engines operate by reading your website and determining how much it can be trusted for your target keywords, which should reflect your primary products and services.

A good way to determine trust is to look at how many other websites are linking back to your site. If a popular website links to your website’s blog post or service pages, it’s a way of acknowledging your credibility for whatever that article or service may be. It’s kind of like the search engine algorithm’s version of a referral.

Typically, the more links to your site, the better. This gets tricky though, because not all links are created equally.

Think of search engines as crusaders for quality content in a never-ending battle against spam. Research shows that nearly 60 percent of the links on the internet are spam. Nobody likes spam.

The more spam that is associated with your site, the less likely you are to come up on a search. Alternatively, the more trusted sites that you’re associated with, the more likely you’ll be at the top.

That’s called link value, and we’ll get to that soon.

The process of acquiring links to your website is often known as linkbuilding, and is a critical part of improving your online presence. Linkbuilding is fairly technical and time-consuming, which is why many businesses prefer to hire an SEO expert to help guide their business to the top of the online search mountain.

With a few hours of research, you may be able to grasp and even execute a few basic linkbuilding ideas on your own. But you could also work on your own engine, build your own home, or defend yourself in court.

If you really want to dominate the search engine results, the most efficient route for many business is to hire an SEO expert.

The Link Almighty

So, why are links so important? How do they work?

The idea is pretty intuitive, but it can be helpful to get a run-through on the specifics. We mentioned a link is like a referral, but you can think of links as references on a job application.

The more references the better, right? That depends. You wouldn’t want to put a known drug dealer down as a reference on a job application.

You would, however, want to put Bill Gates down. That would immediately bump your resume to the top of the pile.

The concept is the same with links. The less trusted the links in your network are, the less likely a search engine is to trust you. If your site is frequently linked to websites like popular news sites or universities, you’ll be more trusted.

So the question is, “How do I get associated with the most trusted links?” The job search analogy applies here as well.

In order to be qualified for a high ranking job position, you need to have relevant experience, quality references, and the people skills to land the interview in the first place.

Thankfully link building is a bit more straightforward than job hunting, and unlike a job interview, it can be contracted out to the experts!

Just like with a job interview, if your website has strong references from other popular websites, it will be seen with more authority.

Types of Links

In the early days of the internet, search engines determined your spot by examining the material on your website. The status quo is now focused on how many people have linked to you.

We’ve established that having more links means having more SEO traffic. That’s a general rule, but as mentioned not all links give you the same pull in the eyes of the search engine.

Popular Sites

Links from popular sites will hold more weight in a search engine. Popular sites tend to have more links, so they are seen as more important. Getting links from popular sites will make you a more popular site.

However popular sites also know their worth, and it takes a skilled SEO expert to land those links for your business.

Niche Sites

Getting links from sites in your niche is also a huge plus. This means that you should try and buddy up with similar sites to your own, even if that means competitors.

Think of it this way: if you were a musician and you had links on the pages of every artist in the top 40, you’d get more traffic than if you had links from the 10 greatest plumbers in the world.

A good SEO expert will work to build relevant links from authoritative sites in your industry.

Link Neighborhood

You will want to link to other sites as well, and by doing so you enter into new “link neighborhoods.” A link neighborhood is the nexus of links that you are connected with in a sort of link exchange.

Because of this, you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t linking to sites that aren’t trusted. Your best bet would be to link to popular websites that get a lot of traffic (but that doesn’t mean that you should avoid the chance to promote a friend, or local artist’s website).

Low-Ranking Links

When you comment on a social website, or post frequently on social media, you are also generating links. These don’t hold nearly as much weight as a link from The New York Times, but hey, it’s still something.

You may be thinking, “I could just post a million comments in every video I watch on Youtube!” Don’t think that.

If you throw an inhuman amount of low-ranking links into the internet, the internet will associate you with those low-ranking links. You would then be spamming. You would become the Internet’s enemy.

Time Frame

The internet has been around for a long time. Ever notice that you never see websites from before 2005? That’s because links lose value as they age if the website is not updated with fresh content and design.

You’ll want to keep your website current and maintain an active SEO linkbuilding strategy, even if you are already ranking well for your search terms.

Search engines do this to keep their searches up-to-date because some things just aren’t relevant anymore.

How Do I Improve My Link Value?

An SEO expert can help you, but you may already have access to some low-hanging fruit.

Just like anything else, you’re going to have to start small. Ask around to people that you know who have websites or blogs. If they’re in your niche, even better.

Build relationships with other people in your niche by commenting or messaging with them. The comments will add a little value to your site in the search engine, while the simple act of reaching out greatly improves your odds of getting links on this person’s site.

Another way to boost your site’s ranking is to start a blog that falls into your site’s niche. You’ll want to maintain it and write consistently. Many SEO experts can help you manage this as content and linkbuilding go hand-in-hand in a good SEO campaign.

Developing quality content on your blog will reinforce your linkbuilding campaign, as the search engines will see that not only do you have good links pointing to your site, but you are consistently producing relevant content related to your keywords as well.

It can be difficult to do all of the things listed above on your own. Hiring an SEO expert, as mentioned, can save you time and grow your business when done right.

What Should I Look for in an SEO Expert?

Just like links, not every SEO expert holds the same value. It may seem like a simple job at first glance, but there is a lot of detail and work that goes into optimizing your site.

Make sure to have an open discussion with the person or team you choose before they begin taking the internet by storm. A storm can be good and bad.

The person managing your site holds a lot of power, and they can do some damage to your reputation if they aren’t careful. That’s why you need to ask them a few things before you begin doing business:

Set clear expectations as to what you would like to see. Discuss a result that you would like to see in a certain time frame, and hold them accountable to that. They should be able to look at your keywords ahead of time and make recommendations to match your budget and timeline.

Next, make sure that their practices are going to be beneficial to you. Ensure that they aren’t going to turn your site into one that’s registered as spam, or link you to unfavorable sites. This is what happens when many “budget” SEO experts start running a campaign

Lastly, look for reviews and references. If your SEO expert can’t point to specific examples of successful work, your company probably isn’t going to be their first home run.

Start Doing the Work

Developing an effective and successfully-ranked website is not always easy. You can hire an SEO expert, but you’ll want to begin laying the groundwork as soon as you can with some of the tips in this blog.

Regardless of whether you go the DIY-route or contract a professional SEO company, make sure you have a good understanding of your business metrics and customers before you start.

Ready to go? Start brainstorming ways to generate high-quality links to your site that won’t damage you in the long run. If you’d like to talk to us about SEO for your business you can get in contact with an SEO expert.

The post How an SEO Expert Can Help You Grow Your Business appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Do you want to take your business to the next level and see it grow considerably and consistently? A high quality, strategic SEO campaign can do just that and more.

Did you know that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results and 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine?

What’s more, a study by Outbrain found that search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%.

You can spend as much or as little as you want on SEO, but what would happen if you went all out? Here’s what actually happens in a $1500/month SEO campaign.

What is an SEO Campaign?

SEO involves the optimization of a website, blog or web platform to encourage genuine traffic to be directed towards the site more often. SEO is pivotal in determining the rank of websites. If done right, it will attract more people to your site and therefore increase long-term growth.

What Kind of Businesses Should Aim for the $1500 per Month Budget?

Small and mid-size business, often with local emphasis should look at this kind of price range.

For regional businesses with a niche audience, $2000-6000 is more reasonable and for international businesses, expect to pay more than $10000 a month for optimal results.

What Do you Get for $1500 per Month?

An SEO campaign budget of this level will usually provide extensive link building, which is a very important part of generating online authority. It will also include:

• Keyword analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Onsite SEO
• Content strategy and development
• Google Analytics
• Monthly reporting

When Will You See Results?

In the SEO world, you won’t see results overnight and this is really important to keep in mind.

In the first few months of A $1500/month SEO campaign (or any for that matter), there will be a gradual increase in traffic to your website. But by the 5th or 6th month, rankings will go up significantly.

Don’t panic if you don’t see immediate results, it takes time for SEO to affect rankings, traffic, sales and leads.

The Benefits of Using a Monthly SEO Service

If you’re looking to form a long-term partnership with an SEO service, a monthly campaign will enable you to develop a working relationship and strategy that grows with time. Monthly services are also fantastic if you need to outsource SEO work since it’s one less thing for you to have to worry about regarding your business.

You’ll have someone managing your campaign from start to finish, leaving you time to focus on everything else.

Final Thoughts

A well-rounded marketing plan is imperative for both new and established companies. Regardless of how many years your business has been up and running, it is essential to think long-term when addressing budgetary considerations for any SEO campaign.

The Internet is constantly changing. There are trends and methods that will come and go, but SEO is here to stay, which means you and your business need to jump on board.

Want to learn more about how Midas can help with your business’s SEO needs? Contact us today to talk to one of our experts.

Curious about our past work? Check out our impressive portfolio.

The post What is Involved in a $1500/Month SEO Campaign? appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Are you ready to make this the year you improve your SEO?

This definitive guide will walk you through the most important SEO strategies this year.

Get your SEO improved now so you can focus on the other important aspects of business.

With these top 10 SEO strategies, you will be on the fast track to improving SEO in no time.

The Top 10 SEO Strategies

1. Use strategic link building

According to Google, links are one of the top 3 factors when it comes to ranking. This has been confirmed by many studies.

However, the links need to be quality and used in the right way to improve SEO. Make sure you have high-quality content that links to reliable sources. Never link to a competitor.

2. Optimize for mobile

If you neglect the mobile version of your site, you won’t be competitive.

As of late 2016, mobile has become the most common form of web browsing. Between phones and tablets, more people than ever are looking at your site on a mobile device.

Google actually now uses a site’s mobile version as its primary search engine index. Make sure your site looks good and is easy to navigate on mobile.

3. Shorten URLs

Your URLs should be descriptive and include keywords, but don’t overdo it.

The first 5 words of your URL are the most important. It’s best to have a shorter URL that features primary keywords early.

4. Optimize for voice

People now voice search more than ever before. Speech recognition software has improved greatly, making this an easy way for people to search on the go.

Make sure your content is searchable by using keywords and phrasing people are likely to use when voice searching.

5. Optimize for location

Google now prioritizes location in searches. A distant business is not as helpful to customers as one in their neighborhood.

Use local keywords, and make sure your address is clear on your site.

6. Give users a good experience

The amount of time a user spends on your site affects your SEO.

Keep them clicking through your site for as long as possible. Your site should be interesting, informative, and easy to navigate.

7. Try guest blog posts

Add quality and interest to your site with guest blog posts.

A guest blogger can introduce your product to a whole new audience, and give a unique perspective. This ups the credibility of your site.

8. Add length and detail

Long content is more useful than you might think.

Readers don’t want fluff. They would rather see 1,500 words of detailed, useful blog content than 250 rambling words that give them nothing useful.

Use longer posts to get into detail and hold readers’ interest, keeping them on your site longer.

9. Expand keywords

Using lots of meaningful keywords is better than using a few vague ones.

It’s not enough to have just a few keywords across your whole site. Add detail with as many keywords related to your business as possible.

10. Consider intent

Keywords, guest posts, location, and more mean nothing without intent.

Randomly throwing in keywords won’t drive much traffic to your site. Nor will lots of fluffy, rambling blog posts.

Your intent should be providing information that is interesting and useful to customers. Give them a reason to visit your site and stay there.

In 2017, it’s not just about quantity, it’s about the quality of keywords, posts, and everything on your site.

Conclusion

SEO is one of the most important tools for growing a business in 2017. It doesn’t need to be difficult.

Managing the data of short-tail and long-tail keywords can be challenging at scale, but you can use a tool like Linkio to keep your link building campaigns organized as you implement these strategies.

With these top 10 SEO strategies, you will quickly see improvements and surpass the competition.

The post Top 10 SEO Strategies to Move Your Business Forward appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Cold calling, lead generation out of a Rolodex, newspaper press releases: these are the tactics traditional marketers once favored.

For decades, these tactics were successful. Today, technology has completely transformed marketing. If you don’t have SEO that works, your company is at a disadvantage.

If you’re not ready to let go of all your traditional marketing tactics, you don’t have to. You just have to know when to implement SEO that works. Here are five such instances.

1. You Need a Mobile Site

If you’ve noticed that everyone around you always seems to be on their smartphones, you’re not the only one. This is a common occurrence today.

It makes sense then that people will probably use a mobile device to discover your company.

This is where mobile optimization comes in. This premise requires two versions of your website: one for desktop users and one for those on their smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

These sites need to load quickly and look as good (if not better) than the desktop site. This means no cut-off text, weird page arrangements, or stretched images.

2. Link Building Is Crucial

As a traditional marketer, you may not dabble much with links. In modern SEO though, link building is mandatory.

With link building, you generate inbound links back to your website. These can come from guest posts, media mentions, or social media (more on this later).

These links always point back to a page on your site, such as your homepage, landing page, or ecommerce store. The better you are at link building, the higher your Google page ranking.

What this means is that your website is more likely to appear on the first page of Google search engine results. With increased visibility, you’ll get more traffic and sales.

3. Keywords Matter

The keywords you choose in a blog post can also influence your traffic and SERP results. Keywords should read naturally. You also have to watch your keyword density, or how many times the keyword appears in the copy.

Long tail keywords are more specific and descriptive. These often include up to four words. The keywords may describe your industry and location, like “auto mechanic in Chicago.”

Not only should keywords appear in your blog posts, but also on your landing page and in social media posts.

4. Longer Posts Are the Norm

Unless you’re writing a press release, it’s no longer preferable to write shorter content.

Google algorithms now favor content with word counts in the thousands, ideally 2,000 words and up.

These posts need to captivate and hold a reader’s interest until the end. Thus, there should be no fluff, but informative, actionable content.

5. And Our Last Tip for SEO That Works…Social Media

While “social media” in the days of traditional marketing was picking up the phone and chatting, things are different today.

Marketers know that an overwhelming majority of people use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like. If your company doesn’t have a social media presence, you’re an oddity.

Social media lets you sell products and services, build links, and generate traffic.

To make the most of your social media, you should share company news, blog posts, and other relevant content across your profiles.

Need more help with your marketing? Contact us directly to get things started!

The post SEO That Works: 5 SEO Truths to Boost Your Rankings appeared first on Midas Marketing.

As a business owner who’s digital marketing savvy, you know about SEO–search engine optimization.

You also know how important it is to incorporate it into your site and blog content.

But are you aware that SEO is going through a major change?

The use of voice search via mobile is on the rise.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re appealing to audiences in Portland, Oregon or the high mountains of Nepal.

The growing popularity of this technology will affect your web design and SEO.

Voice Search Versus Desktop Search

Traditionally, people have typed out exactly what they want to find into search engines.

They don’t bother with full sentences.

If they want to know Johnny Depp’s birthday, they’ll just type “Johnny Depp’s birthday.”

But the thing is, that isn’t the way we talk.

When we want to know something, we phrase our query in the form of a question.

So we’d verbally say, “When is Johnny Depp’s birthday?” or “When was Johnny Depp born?”

Notice that the second query does not contain the word “birthday.”

As the technology becomes more prevalent, we need to anticipate not just keywords but also questions.

Who’s Using Voice Search and Why

Unsurprisingly, the largest group of people using voice search are millennials.

The demographic least likely to use it is older folks of retirement age.

Most instances of its usage also occurred recently, which indicates growth.

Top uses of the technology include asking for directions, calling a contact, and dictating text.

Younger users are also likely to use it to get help with their homework.

The Rise of Instant Answers

Anyone who’s used Google recently has seen its tendency to enlarge text from its first result.

It also places the text on the right or at the top in a blurb-like manner.

This makes the text pop out to the searcher’s eye.

Not to mention, it steals visibility from the info in the other results.

Searching via voice operates much the same: highlighting the info in the first result.

We’re an impatient society.  And we like having results now.

This trend of getting “instant answers” is going only to continue.

The Increasing Use of Mobile Devices to Get Answers

These days, phones are essentially like handheld computers.

And you can bet that they make up a huge portion of search engine devices.

In fact, they’re used to get over 50% of all search engine uses.

The percentage is so high that Google has actually switched to mobile-first indexing.

Again, we’re an impatient society.  We like conveniences.

We don’t like waiting to get answers.

The trend of using mobile devices, which are voice search compatible, is going to grow.

Switching Strategies

Given all of this data, it’s clear: the time to regroup and rethink SEO is now.

Especially given that user engagement with your site affects your ranking.

One strategy is to offer safe content.

That is, content that can’t be confined to a simple answer.

For instance, it’s better to offer an in-depth product comparison instead of just a price comparison.

You can also hire a marketing firm to help you optimize your site or blog for this new technology.

At Midas Marketing, it’d be our pleasure to make sure your web space is ready for the change!

Please reach out to us to get a head start today!

The post The Importance of Voice Search for the Future of SEO appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Digital Marketing for Dentists: Is it Really Necessary?

Not too long ago, choosing a dentist was an simple process. People would ask their friends for recommendations or would check with their families and picked based on instinct. Today, the tech revolution has taken the guesswork out of finding the right dentist for their needs and budget. Digital marketing for dentists is more important now than ever before.

Unlike a few years ago, when the only sources they could trust were their friends and families, people now have access to a wealth of information right at their fingertips. They can use search engines like Google to look for dentists in their area, read reviews on Yelp or use social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to seek medical answers. In fact, 40% of consumers say that the information they find online affects their health decisions. 93% of them claim that it’s more convenient to find answers online than to call a dentist’s office.

Digital marketing for dentists has become more important than ever before. This change in how consumers research and shop their services can mean either bad news or good news.  It all depends on how you react to the new rules of engagement. If you’re accustomed to getting new patients from referrals, it might be hard to adapt. Now that patients are flocking to the internet, dentists who don’t market themselves online will be at a real disadvantage. If your online presence is weak, you will get lost in a sea of dentists who understand that if they want to grow their practice, they need to conquer the digital world.

Because we know how overwhelming online marketing for dentists can be, we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to help you promote your practice.

Let’s dive in!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) For Dentists.

In the past, people would have to visit their dentists for practically everything. Since they didn’t have access to specialized information, the only solution was to jump in their cars, drive to the dentist’s office and ask them about their medical issues. These days, due to the wealth of information online, people don’t necessarily have to book an appointment for a simple diagnostic.

Even when it comes to finding a dentist, people often turn to Google before they turn to friends and family recommendations or direct mail ads. So, if you want potential patients to find your business, you need a search engine optimization strategy.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Make Sure Your Website Contains NAP Information

The first thing you need to do is to check if your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) appear on the homepage of your website and preferably at the bottom of every page. Make sure the information is text and not an image. Google’s spiders cannot read images.

• Search Google for “Dentist + City/Zip Code.”

Pretend you’re a potential patient looking for a dentist in your area. Go to Google and enter the search term “Dentist” and your city or zip code (example: “dentist in Portland”) By analyzing the search results, you will get a better understanding of where your business is situated.

• Research Keyword Ideas

Most dentists think of the main keywords that are related to their business and use them to optimize their websites. But search habits can vary, and not everybody uses the same word or phrases.

For example, you might think that when people are looking for dental services, they type in “dentist in Portland, Oregon” or “dental office in Portland.” But what about variations of your main services? For instance, some people might search terms such as “dental implants” or “teeth whitening,” while others might search for more broad keywords like “dentist near me” or “dental care.”

To get a comprehensive list of keywords, go to Google’s Keyword Planner, type a keyword phrase (e.g.: “dental services”) and carefully examine the suggested ideas and ad groups.

If you are struggling to think of more keywords people might be searching for your dental practice, use Google Autocomplete. This tool is based on actual searches performed by users, so it can give you a valuable insight into what people are searching for on a particular subject.

Open Google and type in keywords like dental, toothache, root canal, implant, and so on. See what results you get.

Google Related Searches is another tool you can use to get related queries people might have used. Go to Google.com, type in your keywords and look at the related search terms suggested at the bottom of search results.

• Make a List of Relevant Keywords

After you’ve carefully researched all possibilities, it’s time to create a list of keywords that are truly relevant. Go through the list and remove everything that seems unrelated. Use keyword research tools to get valuable insights about how well your keywords will perform.

• Check for Both Head and Long Tail Keywords

Head keywords are typically just one to three words long and are very generic (example: “dentist”). Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are made up of 3 or 5 words and are more specific (example: “affordable dentist in Portland, OR”). As a result, long-tails aren’t very competitive, but they can rank you higher than head terms.

It is important to have a balanced keywords strategy, so you should check for both head terms and long-tail terms. Although long-tail keywords don’t receive high search volumes, they are less competitive and, thus, convert better. Additionally, keeping a regular blog is a great way to improve ranking for long-tail keywords as you can build your blog strategy around specific terms!

• Use the Keywords in the Right Places

Now that you have a list of relevant keywords, it’s important to place them properly.

Website Backend: The critical places you need to put your keywords on your website backend are: the page title, meta description, meta keywords, alt tags for images, and the URL itself.

Website Frontend: The most important places you need to put your keywords on your website frontend are: page heading, subheads, main body, and image captions.

Search engines are becoming more “human” every day, so the best search strategy you can do is have a comprehensive website with a lot of useful information related to your key search terms.

• Avoid Keyword Stuffing

One of the biggest SEO mistakes you could make is using too many keywords. For example, don’t just throw everything you have on the homepage (dental services, dental implants, emergency dentist, toothache services, etc.) That will only confuse Google, and it won’t be able to identify what the page is about. Instead, create different landing pages that target a specific keyword. For example, create a specific page for “Dental Implants” where you can use keywords related to implants.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of SEO, it’s time to move to social media promotion.

Facebook Ads for Dentists

With 1.86 billion active users and the possibility to accurately target potential patients without draining your budget, Facebook advertising can generate significant business for your dental practice.

Why Facebook and not other social media networks?

Think about it this way. First of all, most of your audience is probably already on Facebook. The average American spends around 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Secondly, Facebook advertising provides extensive targeting options that include multiple variables, such as location, gender, age, demographics, behavior, and so on. You can use these factors to put your dental practice in front of specific, often motivated, potential patients.

Here’s how to increase your chances of getting more patients through Facebook ads:

• Write Compelling Headlines

One of the reasons people use Facebook is to unwind. Presenting them with your ads without being disruptive or intrusive can be a challenge. When your headline looks the same as your competitors’, people will ignore it. Spend enough time on your headline to ensure it communicates your message quickly and effectively. Use physiological triggers like curiosity, anticipation, or social proof to grab their attention. Don’t be afraid to be fun and conversational too!

• Make Your Ads Relevant

Relevancy is a crucial element when it comes to Facebook advertising for dentists. If your ads don’t target your audience needs effectively, then you are just wasting time and money.

• Make Them Visually Appealing

The human brain can process images 60,000 faster than text, so it should come as no surprise that visual ads get more engagement than text. Make sure to use compelling images that are relevant to your business. Most importantly, stay away from stock imagery if it looks too cliche.

• Include a Compelling Value Proposition

Tell your prospective patients why you are better than your competition. Describe how your services can solve their problems and improve their lives and explain the specific benefits they can expect.

• Include a Strong Call To Action & Offer
  

When writing your CTA, make sure to keep things simple and straightforward. Don’t make potential patients guess what they should do next – tell it to them in an easy-to-understand language. If possible, present new patients with an offer for coming in the door.

• Test Multiple Versions of the Ad

Test the headline, the ad text, the call-to-action, and so on. Make time to create multiple versions of the same ad and then test each one. Test different headlines with different ad texts, different call-to-actions and so on.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) for Dentists

Before potential patients can find you on Google or like you on Facebook, they have to know that you exist. You can use SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing to grow organically and slowly get at the top of everybody’s mind. However, that takes time. In fact, it might take between three to six months to see any results from your SEO efforts. If you’re a small dental office struggling to stay afloat, you can’t afford to wait that long to increase your ranking and drive traffic to your website.

That is where Google AdWords comes into play.

Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of PPC:

• Set Specific Goals

The first step to any PPC campaign is to set measurable goals. Write down the results you are expecting to get and how much effort you are willing to invest. Example: “I will spend $500 on PPC advertising, and I will get 20% new leads in three months.”

It helps to have a good idea of your conversion rates and lifetime customer values before you engage in PPC advertising. That way you can easily know how well your campaign is performing, and if the ad spend is sustainable.

• Build a Comprehensive Keyword List

Research both your industry and your competition to come up with a list of keywords and key phrases that are relevant to your potential patients. Use the Keyword Planner to discover keywords you might not have considered.

• Select Your Target Audience

If you aren’t careful when targeting your ads, you might serve them to searchers who aren’t interested in your services. Best case scenario, they will ignore your ads; worse case scenario, they will click on them and then bounce without converting, costing you money.

Pay special attention to the targeting process. Target attributes like the geographic location; make sure it’s within driving distance from your dental office. Target the specific types of audiences based on age groups or income. Target the devices they are using and use other smart targeting strategies.

• Use Negative Keywords

One of the best features of Google AdWords is that it allows you to use negative keywords to let the search engine know which keywords it should exclude from searches. For instance, if you provide luxury dental services, you don’t want your ads to show up for “cheap dental services” or “affordable dental care.” So, you should add “cheap” and “affordable” as negative keywords.

• Test

A/B testing, or split testing, is a great way of measuring the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns. By creating a second version of your best performing ads, we can determine whether changing the ad text, the image, or the call to action can result in higher click-through rates or conversions.

Content Marketing for Dentists

Few dentists can take content marketing seriously. They can’t understand how posting a few articles every week or month can help them get patients.

But, here’s the thing: companies who blog regularly get up to 97% more links on their website than those who don’t (great for SEO). More than that, those who focus on blogging are 13 times more likely to enjoy positive ROI.

Here are other ways content marketing can help your dental practice grow:

• Content Marketing Can Help You Nurture Relationships with Your Prospects: Content marketing is a great way to target different audience segments and guide them through the sales funnel. Through how-to posts, FAQ pages, and infographics, you can answer their questions and motivate them to move to the next stage of the funnel.

• Content Marketing Can Establish You As an Industry Leader: Once you’ve proven your expertise as a trusted and reputable dentist, you can become the go-to source people turn to when they have a question. The authority you gain as an industry leader can make potential patients more likely to choose you over the competition, thus increasing your bottom line.
• Content Marketing Can Help You Rank in Search for Keywords: If you write a blog post on a specific search term and you have a good SEO strategy in place, there’s a good chance that post will rank well in Google and other search engines for that term.

Conclusion

The way people search and purchase dental services has changed. If not too long ago you could rely on referrals to grow your patient list, nowadays people use search engines, social media, and review sites to look for dental services. If you want to remain relevant in this digitally-driven age, you need to go where your customers are. Digital marketing for dentists is no longer negotiable for practices looking to grow.

Although online marketing is an effective way of increasing your practice, it requires your full attention. To keep your current patients engaged and attract prospective ones, you need strong SEO efforts, active social media profiles, and effective PPC strategies. And don’t forget, your dental website design is important too!

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of time and effort you need to invest in putting your dental practice in front of the right people, then we can help you. Contact us today for more information on how we can collaborate to help you use online marketing to grow a successful dental practice – we have specific experience with digital marketing for dentists, just like the one above!

The post Digital Marketing for Dentists: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Midas Marketing.

If you’re like many people, you have a website built in WordPress, and you’re using Yoast’s SEO plugin to help streamline your on-page optimization efforts. Yoast uses a red/yellow/green light system to let you know how well certain things are optimized. One of those factors is something called the “Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score,” and if you’re like many of us, you’ve noticed the light keeps staying yellow.

Here’s the truth about it: it’s not something you need to worry about. We’re about to fill you in on exactly why the Flesch-Kincaid score is a flawed metric for online content, and why it has little to nothing to do with SEO.

What Does the Flesch-Kincaid Score Measure?

The Flesch-Kincaid score measures “readability,” defined as how difficult something is, to read in English. It’s rather like “grade levels” for reading. A score of 90-100 is defined as an easy read, suitable for fifth graders. Low scores of 0.00-30.0 are considered college graduate level.

Yoast has a little conniption if your score goes over about 75. Here’s the problem, though: that’s a seventh grade reading level. Have you talked to a 12- or 13-year-old recently? They’re not very sophisticated people. They’re middle schoolers.

Do you really need to write at a middle school level? No, probably not. With that said, it may depend on your audience — and that’s exactly why we have a problem with the Flesch-Kincaid score.

Why Using the Flesch-Kincaid Score is Misguided

Yoast, of course, is just trying to help you out. They’re trying to help you write clear, readable content that your audience will enjoy. However, using the Flesch-Kincaid score to measure that might not be particularly apt.

It’s Not Even an SEO Ranking Factor

First of all, the Flesch-Kincaid score has absolutely nothing to do with how you’re going to rank in Google. Maybe you could argue that content that’s too complex will drive people away, but again, it depends on who you’re writing for.

But the thing is, Google has never used the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Scale as a factor in any of their ranking algorithms. You don’t have to write at a sixth grade level to rank. In fact, dumbing things down too much could hurt you if you’re writing for a highly educated or technically proficient audience.

Technicality Depends on Your Audience

Yoast’s use of the Flesch-Kincaid score assumes that you want your content to reach the most generalized mass-market audience that it possibly can. Something written at a sixth or seventh grade level can be read and understood by pretty much anyone, from 12-year-old kids to PhD researchers.

But is it the best choice for your site? Maybe not. Personally, if I go to Google and type in “ecospace utilization by Ediacaran biota,” I’m definitely not looking for anything a sixth grader could understand easily. If you’re writing for an educated audience, or you’re writing for professionals in a certain field, it’s completely okay to use technical jargon, complex sentence structure, rich vocabulary, and other things the Flesch-Kincaid score frowns upon.

Now, if you’re designing a science education site for high school students, maybe Flesch-Kincaid really is something you should pay attention to. But if you’re writing for educated adults, like programmers or physicians, why dumb down your prose to meet some arbitrary metric?

Know Your Audience

This is what it all comes down to: knowing your audience. To write great content that engages your audience, you need to really understand who your audience is, what they’re looking for, and what they enjoy. That takes effort, market research, experimentation, and a lot of thought and consideration. There’s no simplified red light/green light approach to this, which is what Yoast is trying to give you by using the Flesch-Kincaid score. If you’re concerned about your writing style, ask a human being. A real human reader is much more likely to be able to tell you if your prose is a little too James Joyce for their tastes. Software just isn’t that great at judging writing styles.

The post The Truth About the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score appeared first on Midas Marketing.

When it comes to SEO, there are quite a few ranking factors that Google’s algorithms take into consideration — as of a few months ago, at least 200. We all know that quality backlinks, contextually relevant content, and fast website speed are important. But what about user engagement? Does your visitors’ behavior on your site affect how you’ll rank?

Traditionally, it’s usually assumed that it really doesn’t. If you do a “ctrl+F” search for “engagement” in the Backlinko list of ranking factors we linked above, you won’t find anything. But many SEO consultants believe that this belief is flawed, and that engagement factors do have an impact on your ranking.

Defining SEO and User Experience

First, we need to define “user engagement” clearly. There are several metrics we can use to quantify it:

• Bounce rate
• Time on page
• Site load time
• Pages per session

These are just a few potential metrics that illustrate engagement. Now, it’s worth mentioning that technically speaking, these things do not appear to be “ranking factors,” per se. However, they may still influence your rankings indirectly.

The Big 2: User Engagement Metrics that Definitely Influence Your Ranking

Some things, like bounce rate or pages per session, probably aren’t measured by Google directly. However, there are two engagement metrics that are directly relevant here: SERP CTR and dwell time.

SERP CTR stands for “search engine results page click-through rate,” and it’s certainly important. If people are Googling a query, and they’re not clicking on the link to your website that comes up on page 1, it implies that you’re not offering the information they’re looking for. If no one’s clicking it, it might not be a good answer to that particular query. You can view data about SERP CTR in Google Webmaster Tools.

Naturally, there’s a long history of black hat attempts to manipulate the SERP CTR. Bot farms, warehouses full of overseas workers, and other means can be used to artificially inflate your click rate. Fortunately, Google caught on to this a long time ago, and it’s not particularly effective in 2016.

There is a good way to improve your SERP CTR, though: by changing up your meta titles and meta descriptions. Today, keywords in meta descriptions aren’t much of a ranking factor for the search engine, but they are important for persuading human readers to visit your site. Compelling meta titles and meta descriptions make people more likely to click your page.

Dwell Time

Dwell time is how long someone stays on your site after clicking the link. Theoretically, a longer dwell time meant they found what they were looking for. It’s a combination of bounce rate metrics and time on site metrics, and it measures how long it takes before the person returns to the Google results. A couple of years ago, Google tested a feature that lets you block a site if you kept clicking back from it quickly. This suggests that dwell time is something they look for and that it may even be a minor ranking factor.

What About Other Engagement Metrics?

Other metrics may or may not matter. Google’s algorithms are proprietary, and what SEOs know is gleaned from publicly available patents and from rigorous experimentation. But at any rate, you definitely want to build a site that people want to visit. Otherwise, you won’t see conversions. Great content and a pleasant user experience are essential for convincing people to stick around, whether or not it directly impacts your search rankings.

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