In our last two blog posts (The Reasons for Building Up Your Google Profile and How To Complete Your Google Business Profile), we went over the reasons for completing your Google Business Profile and covered how to complete your profile. By filling out your Google Business Profile with more information, your office’s online listing becomes more competitive with other dental practices in your area. Your office also becomes highly accessible online or on Google Maps and easier to contact when your practice’s phone number and website details are readily available.
What else can you do to drive more traffic to your website? How can you optimize your Google listing to maximize your online presence and raise your ranking in search results? In today’s blog, we are going over four ways you can improve your search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your online visibility, target local prospects, attract more patients, and gain a competitive advantage over other practices in your area.
Why using SEO makes a difference
Before we go over the four ways you can improve your search engine optimization (SEO), we wanted to talk about the reasons you may want to spend some time doing so. Dental practices should use SEO for several reasons, including:
- You increase your online visibility
Using keywords raises your Google ranking and helps your practice appear more on search index results. As we discussed in our previous blogs, having more quality online visibility also helps attract more patients – in SEO terms, this is called your “conversion rate.”
- You can target local traffic
Using specific keywords, you can target people who are more likely to need your services. If you are a specialist or you primarily treat a particular demographic, ensure that you use corresponding keywords. You can also target a specific area by using your town, city, or neighbourhood in key phrases, such as “periodontist in Toronto” or “family dentist in the Beaches.” Using relevant keywords helps you reach the right audience online, increasing the chances of prospects finding and booking appointments in your practice.
- A cost-effective marketing technique
SEO maintenance costs are relatively low compared to traditional marketing methods your practice may invest in, such as print advertising, billboards, or local radio ads. While the keyword research and initial setup may take time and effort, the payoff of a well-maintained SEO plan will help your practice grow reliably.
Ways your practice can use SEO
Using SEO techniques helps improve your practice’s online visibility and performance. Utilizing your Google Business Profile is just one of the ways you can improve your office’s SEO. Some other methods you can use include:
1. Using keywords
Target a few specific keywords relevant to your practice to drive traffic and turn online viewers into patients. Using multiple keywords, also known as “phrases,” counts towards keywords. Research the most-searched dental terms and use the keywords that match your office best. Google Trends is a good starting place for determining which dental keywords are most commonly used. Here are some more websites to help you start your keyword research:
2. Webpage content & utilization
Optimizing your webpage content with relevant keywords and searchable phrases goes hand-in-hand with your Google Business Profile keywords. Using your chosen keywords on your website contributes to higher indexing your practice’s website. Ensure your keywords and phrases are worked into your content naturally so your content is straightforward and natural. With keywords that are relevant to your practice, keeping your content clear should be reasonably simple. If you want to learn more about how Google indexes your website based on keywords, this article explains the process well.
You also want to ensure your website is user-friendly, as this impacts your SEO. You can optimize your Google search index ranking by making your website mobile-friendly, quick loading, and easy to navigate.
3. Content creation & social media presence
Maintaining an online presence on social media platforms contributes toward link-building, which is another SEO method. Link-building (or back-linking) raises your Google search ranking. However, it can take some commitment to maintain reliable backlinks from third-party websites. If your website is relatively new, this article describes you can raise your Google search ranking without backlinks.
Creating your own content and backlinking to your website is a quick solution that can help boost your ranking.
Content can be anything from drafting social media posts (such as Instagram reels, TikTok videos, Instagram photos, or Facebook posts) to having an FAQ on your website. Maintaining a blog or posting videos on a YouTube channel are also great places to publish content. (Read: 3 Ways Video Tools Benefit Your Practice.) Allocating some time toward routinely posting on a few social media platforms can potentially go a long way for your dental practice’s SEO.
![A segment from Google’s page on “How [search] results are automatically generated” under the section “Quality”. The segment reads: “After identifying relevant content, our systems aim to prioritize those that seem most helpful. To do this, they identify signals that can help determine which content demonstrates expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.”](https://abeldent.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image.png)
Some easy post ideas include practice updates, such as upcoming monthly holiday hours, dental tips for maintaining oral health at home, and explaining specific dental procedures. Ensure any content you publish is high-quality content. Google measures quality in terms of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. To read more about how Google measures the quality of online content, read their explanation here.
4. Online reviews
Online reviews count towards your SEO. We discussed the importance of online reviews in our previous two blog posts linked above. We concluded that having a multitude of positive reviews strengthens your search result. Using a review management system such as ABELDent RMS simplifies your review gathering process – you can learn more about how ABELDent RMS works here.
Overall, SEO offers dental practices numerous benefits, including increased online visibility, targeted traffic, higher conversion rates, enhanced brand authority, cost-effectiveness, local targeting, and a competitive edge in the digital landscape. By investing in SEO, dental practices can strengthen their online presence, attract more patients, and grow their business.
