If you have been trying to build an online presence for your dental practice, it is crucial to include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices while you are at it. For the not-so-tech savvy, here’s what entails a good dental SEO: KPI monitoring, on-page website optimization, curating locally-targeted content, including relevant keywords in the website copy, and dental practice indexing on various local citation listings.
Dental SEO is integral to digital marketing strategies pertaining to dental practices. This helps drive online traffic, attract new patients, and retain existing ones. A data-driven program that backs your dental SEO plan makes room for increased visibility and reach of your dental practice. In this article, we will be talking about the top 5 benefits of dental SEO to dental clinics.
1. Citation Building = Greater Online Presence
Before we go into details, let’s first understand what a citation is. An online citation is basically every time someone mentions your dental practice online. Be it your dental office location or contact information, any mention of your practice, even if not directly the name of it, can amp up online citations and in turn, drive more traffic to your practice.
Always make sure you claim your business on Google’s Business Profile listings. This way, you build both legitimacy and attract new customers in the lookout for a nearby dental clinic. As your dental practice racks up increased citations on Facebook, Google, and similar relevant directories, it is an uphill road for you. Your online visibility will go up exponentially, and there is no turning back from there.
2. Expect Higher Local Visibility
What does higher visibility mean? Well, in layman’s terms, all it means is that more people will be able to see your dental practice. This can only be achieved by incorporating local SEO practices. Higher visibility can directly translate into higher web traffic, and more qualified leads and new patients. The goal is to make your dental practice so easily discoverable to locals that every time anyone is in need of dental services, your business pops up first thing.
With your dental practice website, the aim has to go beyond simply attracting viewers. There is no point in attracting the wrong kind of viewers who do not translate into real patients visiting your clinic at the end of the day. It has to be all about getting the right viewers who will make their way to your dental office to avail the services you offer.
3. Local Search Optimized Website Means More Traffic
It all boils down to the right kind of traffic that will eventually bring qualified leads, instead of a one-time click and go. After all, you must get more bang for your buck when you invest in SEO marketing for your dental practice. Without ROI, there is no gain in any kind of digital marketing. Investing in digital marketing and SEO practices for your dental business is always a good idea, and we always encourage it. There is no getting money without giving money first.
The problem is, it can be easy to simply give money after you have saved up for a while, but it is not as easy to get the ROI you are expecting. One of the most impactful and effective ways to achieve your desired ROI is surely by focusing on local SEO practices that optimize your website for people nearby to view your practice.
4. Excellent Local SEO = More Visibility on Google Maps
You may ask, why do you need to be visible on Google Maps? Well, we have all looked up our required services over Google Maps once in a while. Moreover, when you look for a specific service nearby on Google, you will inevitably be shown the closest places which offer the said service before other informative details about it. You want to feature in those lists of recommended places nearby.
This is accomplished by completely optimizing the Google My Business account of your dental practice. It consists of simply verifying and completing the fillup of all your business-related information. From contact information to address, office hours, email address, and everything in between, make sure you do not leave any field blank. Not all dental practices do this, so this will help make you stand out among many competitors nearby. This will directly translate into higher Google rankings, and in turn, more traffic.
5. Local SEO Can Be Key to Managing Reputation
This is where we talk about something quite important to digital marketing, be it for dental practices or otherwise. Online reviews are essential to building trust and developing a positive image of your dental practice, and a certain way to achieve that is by incorporating local SEO in your online presence, be it your website, My Business listings, social media mentions, and so on.
Services, especially oral healthcare-related ones, rely a lot on word of mouth and testimonials of those who have already been to your practice. Make sure there are spaces for feedback, comments, and testimonials online, so that prospective patients know you are trustworthy. Positive online reviews can translate into generation of revenue overnight, and local SEO can help you achieve that.
To Sum Up
A dental SEO plan optimizes your dental practice’s local visibility and makes room for opportunities that help you in attracting prospective new patients while still retaining the existing ones. A dynamic dental SEO strategy capitalizes on patients who are looking for local information, in turn offering a return on investment by amping up your dental business by leaps and bounds.
We have focused on the importance of dental SEO and its benefits. With an experienced and professional digital marketing team, your dental practice can leverage the insurmountable power of affordable dental SEO strategies. You might be confident in your ability to provide the best in class dental services from the comfort of your office, but this digital age calls for much more than that. If you want to capitalize on your efforts, it is essential to build a robust SEO plan for your dental practice.
