Do you want your dental business to stand out online but you find it quite challenging because of the strong competition? If so, you may want to consider applying local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to your business.
Local SEO refers to the method of optimizing your business website so it’d be visible on search engines when people enter a certain location on the search bar. This can be done through optimized content, keywords, and backlinks to your website.
Local SEO would also help your local business take advantage of search engine page results (SERPs) by being listed close to more relevant search results and ranking higher. Achieving this goal may take some effort on your part, but it’s nevertheless a worthy investment.
If you’re planning to adopt local SEO to grow your dental practices and attract new patients, here’s a list of the best local SEO strategies for dentists you may want to implement.
1- Build Your Business Profile
Working on your business profile is a local SEO strategy you shouldn’t ignore. To be more visible in search engine local results, try to create a search engine listing. And for it to be effective as an SEO tool and help you generate leads, use an application that would allow you to optimize and manage your business profile.
Related: Google My Business Listing Optimization Guide
When creating your profile, make sure all information you indicate is updated and accurate as one wrong piece of information could mean losing a potential patient. You’d also need to ensure you’re using the relevant categories related to your dental business. In terms of business description, make sure to write it clearly and remember to include your target keywords.
Another thing, don’t forget to add images. Photos of your clinic and equipment would give prospective clients an idea of what to anticipate when they pay you a visit. Not only that, but photos could even boost your credibility.
2- Work With A Reliable Agency
Working with a reliable agency that focuses on local SEO services is a worthy investment. Especially if you want to drive results, you can hire experts in such services, like Netlocal SEO to help you with your SEO concerns.
There are many reasons to consider implementing local SEO strategies. For one, you can benefit from the agency’s expertise and experience. Though you or your staff may have a background in SEO, experienced dental SEO agencies can help you become successful in your SEO campaigns. They’re well equipped and have more knowledge in this field. So they know the best strategies and campaigns that’d fit your business needs.
They’d also know how to make the most out of your marketing budget and still offer quality results. Reliable SEO agencies have already worked with various businesses from different fields, and they’d utilize their skills and experience to help you obtain the best results possible.
Related: Local SEO Ranking Factors Used By Google
3- Look For Valuable Keywords
Choosing the right keywords for your local SEO is vital for the success of your dental business. If you want valuable clients to see you, you need to find out what they’re searching for. When looking for dentists or dental services, they’d usually search for specific phrases or keywords. Some examples are ‘dental services near me,’ ‘dentists near,’ or ‘dentists in X [your location].’
It’s important you know all these keywords and how to perform keyword research and then make a list. You also need to ensure you’re targeting long-tail keywords, that is, those comprising three or more words. These keywords usually have better conversion rates and could boost your content visibility.
Related: SEO Keyword Research Guide
4- Implement CTAs
One thing that’d urge your target audience to take the next step is a call to action (CTA). This type of advertisement encourages people to perform actions like signing up for consultations, scheduling a cleaning, or submitting a form to get braces.
A CTA can be as simple as a button saying ‘Sign up for free’ or a landing page that’d direct your patients and prospective clients to your services. For easier access, include them in the pages of your website they’re more likely to visit, such as in your ‘Blog’ section.
Related: Ways To Boost SEO With Brand Metrics
5- Post Informative Content
Content is one of the leads of local SEO for businesses. With optimized and well-written content, you’d be able to make your dental business easily discoverable by online users who are looking for services similar to what you offer.
Using keywords based on frequently searched terms would allow a search engine to find your content if it’s relevant and accurate to searchers’ queries. This way, you’d be able to rank higher on SERPs.
When making your content, utilize topics and keywords that are mostly searched when people seek dental information or services. For instance, you can make a blog on ‘facts about oral and dental health.’ This topic would more likely convert potential clients instead of ‘how much do dentists make?’ Always remember, having shareable and quality content on your site would make it easier for people to find your website, especially those who need dental services.
Related: Ways To Repurpose Digital Content
6- Improve Your Website’s Design And Navigation
There’s much more than making and posting content when it comes to local SEO for businesses. For your dental business, the design of your website would have a significant influence on whether your local SEO campaign would drive results or not.
In general, SERPs only show websites that offer quick access to details and are easy to navigate. So if your page is taking too long to open, people would more likely abandon it and look for other dental websites that are faster and more accessible.
Related: Fundamentals of UX Design That Impact SEO
And if your website has lots of broken links or your pages are showing a ‘404 Page Not Found’ error, search engines would lower your site’s ranking on SERPs. Remember, a website that’s easier to navigate and loads faster on desktops and mobile devices would usually rank higher on SERPs.
7- Build A Strong Social Media Presence
Being active on social media is another local SEO strategy you can implement since it helps in building credibility in the mind of potential clients. While search engine algorithms may not affect your website’s search engine ranking directly, your social media accounts can show up on search results. And this could build awareness of your dental services.
You can take advantage of different social media platforms to build your social media presence, When used correctly, social media can be a great place to share industry news, business announcements, and even dental hygiene tips. To maximize this advertising strategy, make sure your social media pages are optimized. They should include stories or content about your dental practices and should have your business location details. You also need to have an excellent video or cover photo and include details on the services you specialize in.
Related: Tips To Build And Grow Your Social Media Presence
Besides sharing valuable and relevant content and optimizing your profile, a paid social ad is another excellent way to bring more awareness to your dental business and get more leads. It could also give your dental services the needed exposure, thus helping you attract more clients. But as with all other medical advertising methods, when utilizing social media, make sure your patients’ data are always kept private and confidential.
8- Have A Mobile-Friendly Website
Some clients would visit your website using laptops. And there are others who’d prefer to use their tablets or mobile phones. These devices have different dimensions, so your website should adapt to these different sizes, too. This entails having a website that’s mobile responsive. This means when designing your website, focus on fewer elements and fonts that can be scaled up and down easily depending on the screen’s size.
If you want to test your website’s mobile responsiveness, there are many tools you can use, some of which are free. You can search them online and do a comparison to find out which application is best to use. If you encounter problems, you can contact a reliable web developer to help you achieve a mobile-friendly website, one that works correctly and efficiently.
9- Join Dental Forums
Another way to boost your ranking is to become an authority in the dental industry. To do this, begin by signing up in different reputable online forums and becoming an active member. From there, you can start building your business presence by leaving helpful and valuable comments. You can help people understand some of the basic dental problems as well as talk about the hottest medical topics, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, don’t forget to place your website’s URL at the bottom of every comment. This would help boost your website’s traffic each time a forum member clicks the link.
Related: SEO Tips For Law Firms
Final Say
Great local SEO paired with a high-quality and accurate website would help engage your patients more, drive more leads, and grow your client base. This way, you can expand your business in ways you can indeed be proud of. But to achieve the best results possible, you’d need to be consistent with what you’re doing. Of course, you can’t expect instant results and you won’t enjoy immediate success from employing these local SEO strategies. However, following them would certainly help you achieve positive results in the long run.
