SEO for Dentists
There are many SEO professionals that SEO is a fine art and is a secret society, but truth be known that Google would much rather see higher quality sites with amazing content, than to attempt to game the algorithm.
When managed properly, a local SEO campaign can be one of the best marketing investments you can make for your dental practice. For best results, you need to approach SEO in a step-by-step fashion.
Here are the 4 key steps you must take to rank higher, generate more traffic, and attract more patients:
- Keyword research
- Keyword optimization
- Citations and Links
- Reviews
1. Keyword research
Start by listing the services your practice provides. This list might include orthodontics, fillings, crowns, teeth cleaning.
There are 2 types of keywords that apply to dental practices. Focus on Hiring Intent Keywords.
1) Phrases with hiring intent
2) Phrases with research intent
Your primary focus should be to rank for the phrases with hiring intent keywords since they usually signal that the person doing the search intends to take an action. For example, a keyword like “teeth whitening dentist” indicates hiring intent. These transactional keywords can then be used to optimize the homepage and your services pages of your website.
Research intent keywords are primarily used to gather information. For example, a search term like “teeth whitening at home” or “teeth whitening diy” is not looking to hire a dentist. Likewise, a person that searches “cost of dental implants” may not be ready to actually visit a dentist yet and are likely just gathering information.
2. Keyword Optimization
There are 2 major types of pages you’ll want to optimize. Your Google My Business page and the key pages on your website.
Google My Business Page
For local dentist-related searches, your Google My Business page is what shows up in the “Map” results. Having a fully optimized Google My Business page will play a key role in your Local SEO initiatives and deliver a compelling introduction of your practice to prospective patients. Another benefit is that often it’s faster and easier to get a Google My Business page ranking in Google versus your website. Additionally, Google shows these map pages at the very top of the search results.
Optimizing Your Website
On your website, the initial focus will be to edit your “core pages” which includes the homepage and service pages to make them match up with the keywords that prospective patients are searching for. Focus first on hiring intent keywords.