As a dental office, you will always face stiff competition. It is up to you as a service provider to gain a competitive advantage in your field. For essential services like dentistry, you may not get as much walk-in traffic as you will from web searches.

It is therefore essential to invest in quality dental SEO services. Dental SEO services are meant to position your practice as a visible authority in your field. They are also intended to help you turn prospective customers into paying patients at your practice.

According to research, most web users are likely to turn to search engines when searching for a service. The reason is that searches can yield quick results for local businesses. Still, unless you have a robust SEO strategy in place, it is likely that you will get outranked and your competition will enjoy those leads.

Ranking poorly will keep your practice from reaching its potential. Start with these tips to improve your dental SEO strategy.

Hiring a dental SEO expert will help position your practice to be discovered by younger, online searchers.

1. Have a Great Website

Before you even think of a dental SEO strategy, you need to have a website in place. A great dental website design gives you a strong presence on the market. With the immense number of online searches conducted per day, having an accessible site places your practice in a prime position.

Web users usually trust businesses with websites more than the ones unavailable on the internet. Your site needs to be intuitive and informative. A professional website gives you an edge in making you a business leader in your field. It can also be a lead generation machine for you when designed properly.

You can achieve the full potential of a website by incorporating tools that make it more accessible. Such mechanisms may include mobile accessibility and fast load times. Having a site makes your clients more confident with your practice from the very beginning.

2. Work on Your Website’s Accessibility

Making sure your website runs smoothly on any device is a strategy that could help your dental practice’s rank. Google is keen to reward websites whose content is accessible via mobile. With a large section of web users who use portable devices, you should highly prioritize mobile access.

A mobile-friendly website means you can maximize on opportunities to serve potential patients who would like quick services, local services or emergency services. It could also translate to making your website shareable.

Users can locate you using tools such as maps. They can also share information about your platform in other apps primarily found on mobile devices.

3. Enlist Reputable SEO Companies

Search engine optimization extends further than keyword placement. As a professional dentist, however, you might not know all the intricacies of dental SEO ranking. It is important to engage the services of a reputable SEO company on a monthly basis to build your website’s authority in the eyes of Google and others. A good SEO company will help you come up with a strategy that gets you to the top of search engine results.

Due to the competitive nature of your field, a reliable SEO company can help you pick out the most effective strategies for best returns. SEO can be an investment, with plans generally falling in the $500 to $3000+ depending on your market. However, when you consider the lifetime value of a new patient, every dentist looking to grow will see the value of ranking high in search engines.

4. Keep Your Content Fresh

Regular content keeps visitors coming to your site. Your content does not need to focus on selling your practice every time. Creating fresh and relevant content makes Google evaluate your site often and give your content precedence if it is deemed valuable.

Additionally, users trust a site that gives them valuable information about a particular field. Even if they were not looking for immediate services, reading dental content on your website gives your business a better standing among competitors and establishes you as a thought leader.

More content opens your site to more opportunities to utilize on-site SEO strategies. These strategies translate into organic traffic for your website and strong search engine placement.

5. Invest in Social Media

Social media channels are a complimentary resource for dental SEO. Social media platforms can bring you targeted traffic. By interacting with your followers, you can analyze your data to make even better choices for your practice.

Social media provides an opportunity to gain insights into your patients’ preferences. You can then revamp your practice to cater to a wide range of potential clients. Social platforms are also useful in marketing.

Keeping an active social media portfolio means you maintain a grasp across diverse groups. This helps you develop future strategies that target specific groups. It also assists in improving the visibility and authority of your practice.

An active social media strategy can improve your website authority, give you channels for sharing your blog content, and provide insight about your customer’s key pain points (and how you may want to adopt your SEO plan to reflect them!).

6. Use Review Sites

It’s been proven for a while now that web users will trust a business based on feedback from previous users. If a first time user wanted to use your dental practice, they’d look up what other visitors have said about it. Having your dental practice in high-level review sites such as Yelp could bring in more traffic to your business.

It also helps potential clients settle on your business. A keyword chain like ‘dentist reviews + city’ leads potential clients to review sites which mention your practice.

You can use this strategy by asking clients to leave a review about your business. Even a handful of 5-star reviews boosts your reputation in a sea of competing services.

7. Use Local Listings

To reap maximum benefits, it would be great if you optimize your keywords for local search results. Potential clients are more likely to seek out the nearest practice for essential services for dentistry. Using resources such as Google Local, you can position your business as the go-to choice in your area.

You can include contact information and physical address details of your practice. Prospective clients can find you online or walk into the business premises directly to schedule an appointment.

Local listings also give you a higher ranking due to less keyword competition. For instance, using a keyword chain which includes your locality will bring clients to your page if you have optimized your site for local results.

8. Embrace Video

YouTube racks up billions of video views every day. In fact, it is the second largest search engine behind Google. While you can spend hours writing up new content, you can direct some effort to video production.

Social media platforms are increasingly giving videos preference. By creating short, informative videos, you are developing a strong presence in a low competition environment. You can even use videos to market your practice by showing procedures.

Users too are showing an inclination towards video over traditional reading. You can package your message in easy-to-grasp graphics. Once potential clients see the business, they feel like they can trust the services you offer.

Making exciting educational videos also encourages users to share the content they find. The videos must be of good quality and in a format suitable for sharing.

9. Utilize Online Forums

Forums are an often overlooked, yet valuable assets in SEO ranking. Constant engagement in discussions gives you and your practice more visibility on search results.

Forum engagement can range from Q&A boards to commenting on blogs. It is also an opportunity to place your practice in service-specific platforms. The result is garnering more organic traffic to your site.

You stand better chances of appearing on the top of search engines if you offer helpful commentary on forum boards. It is even better if your input in these forums gets upvoted or rehashed by other users. New users and potential clients can correlate your presence with being a trusted resource for dental services.

10. Focus on Customer Service

Customer service has the potential to make or break your website and your reputation. For your dental practice, it is crucial to ensure that your patients experience stellar customer service every time.

Poor customer service can lower your ranking due to negative reviews and reports. If clients are continually complaining about your website, you might start experiencing lower return visits to your site.

When you’re investing in SEO, it only follows that your website and staff need to deliver on their end once potential patients discover your practice online! Excellent customer service will help you understand the diverse needs of your clientele so you can offer better dental services.

Dental SEO – Wrap Up

SEO is a vital resource that you can implement to help your practice achieve its full potential. You need to use other strategies to make sure you are getting the most out of your SEO campaign. As a professional brand, these tips will only bring you as much success as the consistency you put behind them.

A strategic dental SEO plan will strengthen your brand profile and keep you at the top of search results. Your audience will consider you a valuable resource for dental services.

To position your business as a reputable resource for top-class dental work, you need to consider hiring SEO experts. Forward-thinking dentists should embrace the mass shift of audience from traditional walk-in models of business. If you’re not entirely sure who is the right fit for your dental SEO needs, consult local listings.

If you want help in SEO, copywriting, web design, and digital marketing, the team at Midas Marketing is here for you. Just reach out to us whenever you’re ready!

The post Top 10 Dental SEO Tips to Grow Your Practice appeared first on Midas Marketing.

How does your website stand up in today’s digital age? Will potential patients contact you for an appointment after they land on your site?

When a potential client clicks on your website, you only have 10 seconds to wow them.

Your website design is the most important digital tool for your online reputation. So, you better make it count.

Get it right and you’ll be converting new patients left and right. But get it wrong and risk losing potential business for your practice.

Here are 7 dental website design must-haves for your practice.

Investing in a clean, custom dental website is necessary to position your practice for long-term success – it’s no longer optional!

1. Use Your Homepage to Impress Your Audience

Your homepage is a digital first impression of your brand. It’s where potential patients go to find information and learn about your company.

You have one chance to impress your audience with a clean and comprehensive homepage. Use this as an opportunity to be out-of-the-box creative and visual. The homepage should draw attention, without being too busy or cluttered.

Go for one amazing image that showcases your practice and captures the essence of your brand. Think bright, happy, and healthy smiles in wide dimension. Dentist office websites should evoke a sense of comfort and care from your audience.

Remeber to think above the fold, like a newspaper. How long the viewer stays on your site depends on what they see without having to scroll down. A modern yet simple design theme is best.

You want to stay light on content and incorporate your logo and slogan on the homepage. Also be sure to include a call to action. As well as clear and easy to find contact information.

2. Make It Easy to Navigate

Easy navigation is what makes a good website. It keeps it easy for viewers to find the information they need. Without having to waste time searching throughout your site.

Have a clear and concise menu at the top or side of your website. list your most important pages here. Use a drop-down function to keep lower priority pages out of view.

A dental practice website design should include the following sections:

• About Us
• Meet The Team
• Services
• Reviews
• New Patients Section
• Contact Us

You may also want to consider adding a special page about your dentistry experience. This is a section to showcase what makes the dentist unique. Highlight education, awards, and community involvement here.

I can also be helpful to list insurance providers on your website. Shortcuts to important information and documents are also appreciated by new patients.

Include office hours, address, and an interactive map in the contact us section. This helps users find you through Google maps when using their mobile phones.

Include a linkable logo on your website template so it shows up in the same spot on every webpage. This way it’s easy for users to get back to your homepage.

The website footer should include your contact information and social icons. Make it easy for viewers to call, email, or find more information.

3. Consistency Is Key

Be consistent throughout your entire dental office website design. Have your branding evident, with a pleasing color palette.

Make sure your digital branding techniques translate well to all other marketing materials. Text, colors, logo, and content should remain consistent across all marketing channels. This will help patients to identify your brand and better relate to it.

Use optimized images for your website. Go for quality, not quantity. Too many images will also affect how fast your site loads. A site that takes a long time to load will receive a higher bounce rate.

Pay attention to the size and spacing between letters and images. Text and background colors should complement one another and be easy to read. 16 pt size text is a general rule of thumb.

Use a text that reads well on all web pages. Sans serif fonts translate best for online text.

You’ll also want to limit the number of fonts you use. Too many different fonts can look unorganized and distracting.

Use subheadings and bullet points to break up text on web pages. It is friendlier on the eyes and will help your reader find information quicker. Your audience will also find your dental practice website design more engaging and be less likely to look elsewhere.

4. Get Friendly with Google

If you want your website to rank high on search engines, you’re going to need to make friends with Google.

To do so, pay special attention to your content. It should be fresh, inventive, and relevant.

You’ll want to lace important keywords throughout your website. This includes headlines, titles, descriptions, and meta tags. Google is also a fan of long-tail keywords.

Content should be natural, and easy for readers to digest. Local keywords are also important. They will help Google recommend you in local dentist searches.

Need help figuring out which keywords to use? Consider an SEO expert to increase online traffic to your website.

Linking to other affiliate sites (online review platforms, etc.) can also boost your SEO. Always check your hyperlinks to make sure they work and pages have not gotten moved.

Google also pays attention to the speed of your site. Use an online tool, such as Pingdom, to test how fast your site responds. Also, be sure to claim your business on Google My Business.

5. Keep Content Fresh and Relevant

Having fresh content is key for keeping your website up-to-date. Not only does this help with SEO, but it shows patients you pay attention to the details.

Be sure to keep your website updated with office upgrades and changes in company policy. Make sure your dental website designer gives you access to the backend of your site. This will allow you to make quick changes when needed.

It’s also helpful to use Google Analytics to measure traffic. If certain pages are getting low or non-existent viewing time, redesign them.

Blog About It

One of the easiest ways to add fresh content is by blogging. It’s simple to add a blog to your website using WordPress.

Aim to update it at least three times per week. Cover topics ranging from company updates to best practices to dental trends. Pick trending topics that patients can relate to, such as teeth whitening methods.

Start a Newsletter

Create a company newsletter as part of an email marketing campaign. It will let you stay in touch with current customers and reach out to new leads. Have an easy newsletter sign up right on your homepage.

Use an automated service such as MailChimp to create and deploy campaigns. Track the effectiveness of campaigns to see what tactics get the most engagement.

Get People Talking About You

Online reviews and testimonials are important for your business.

84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. So, ask all those happy customers to share their experience with the online community.

Aim for quality reviews on Google, Yelp, and other third-party sites. Don’t forget to respond back to your reviewers. It shows you value their feedback and are open to recommendations.

You can link reviews and testimonials right to your website. New patients will want to see real-life feedback from your customers. It will also do wonders for your SEO.

6. Don’t Get Left in the Digital Age’s Dust

The digital age doesn’t take lightly to old, outdated websites. And neither do your patients.

Over 50% of people use their mobile phones to conduct online searches. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and test every single webpage. This will also make Google happy and push your website ranking higher up.

Younger generations expect to be able to do everything from the comfort of their smartphones. Consider a booking widget on your website. This will allow patients to make appointments after hours.

Use video content where applicable. Did you recently redesign your dentist office? Use a digital tour of the new space as a marketing tactic.

You’ll also want to avoid these website design mistakes.

Share Smiles

Be present on social media and use it as a tool to share stories of your brand. Facebook and Instagram are the main channels your patients turn to when seeking more information.

Share relevant articles and images. Showcase your employees and become involved in the community. Post seasonal highlights and holiday favorites to boost engagement.

7. Be Digitally Convenient

Use your website to meet the needs and expectations of your patients. Give them the information they seek right at their fingertips. Nowadays, people prefer this over calling and speaking to someone in the office.

Consider a patient portal. It makes it easy for patients to pay bills online, review records, or leave a message for the dentist. Appointment scheduling tools are also appreciated.

Go paperless and have important forms available online. This way patients can fill them out right on the website or email them in. Hyperlink your email address to make it quicker for patients to get in touch.

Provide a contact form for potential patients so it’s easy for them to get in touch. Add an FAQ’s section to help save time by answering popular questions.

Dental Website Design Tools for Online Success

Following these dental website design practices can help turn leads into new patients. Use these tools to enhance your digital brand and maintain a happy client base.

Is your website in need of a revamp? Learn more about how a contemporary and user-friendly website can transform your practice.

The post Dental Website Design: 7 Must Haves That Will Skyrocket Your Success appeared first on Midas Marketing.