The importance of SEO ranking for a dentist’s website

Nov 1, 2021

SEO rankingSEO is not just about keywords. It is an all-in-one tool to elevate your online business to newer heights. It enhances user experience, builds trust, improves your search engine ranking, brings more traffic, and a lot more.  Today we will be discussing the importance of SEO for a dentist website.  Everyone knows that the business world has shifted online long ago. If you do not understand the technique for optimizing your site for search engines, your business may be staring at a failure.

SEO builds trust for dentist sites:

Of all the benefits it brings in, trust which is always fundamental for all business websites. The way SEO builds your site’s trust is through SEO ranking.  As an example, while a user searches for the term “Best dentists near me” in Google, your website must appear among the top five search engine results because it is unusual for users to go past the all-important front page of a search.  How your website is listed in the SERPs (search engine results pages) will build trust in your online dentist website and determine success or failure.

The importance of SEO ranking:

Here are the two pieces of data to make you understand the importance of SEO ranking. According to Nectafy, 88% of users who search for local businesses online make a phone call or visit the place within 24 hours.  When doing an online search, as we mentioned before they are not likely to go past the first page in an online search using a search term.
Likewise, 46% of all searches that happen on Google seek local information. SEO makes your site robust and skyrockets its visibility. If you do not optimize your site for search engines, and if your website does not rank well, you are missing at least 46% of searchers who could take your business to a whole new level.

Using voice search to boost SEO:

Along with using Google search to locate dentist’s websites is the method known as “voice search.”  Over the years, the way people use Google has changed a lot. Today, more and more Americans rely on voice search when they need local services and businesses.
In a study conducted among 1,000 American adults in 2019, 58.6% said they had used voice searches. Likewise, those who own smart speakers use voice searches more than any. Nearly 89% of smart speaker owners said they use voice searches.  The reason we stress too much on voice searches is that these people are your potential customers. Attracting them is the key to your future success as a local business. Gone are the days when people flipped directory pages to look for local businesses.

User experience for good SEO ranking:

Your website’s UX (User Experience) can either make or break your business. UX depends on various factors, including good SEO ranking, mobile-friendliness, navigation, clutter-free design, legible text, and site structure.  SEO experts usually start with decluttering your site. Simplifying your site’s navigation will help reduce the bounce rate. And it makes so much sense since most searches happen on mobile devices.
Mobile devices and cumbersome navigation do not gel well. When it comes to text, restructuring your content pieces into digestible ones will increase the scroll depth.  Other UX strategies are header optimization, Call-to-Action (CTA) optimization, hyperlink differentiation, etc.

Blogging boosts SEO ranking for dentist websites:

dentist websiteA blog is a place where you, as a business, can both do SEO and build trust among your potential patients and educate them will continuous blog articles about current industry news.  People trust you when you educate them through your words. A blog lets you speak about your business and the pain points of people with dental problems.  Staying on top of blogging will get more traffic to your website. The more articles you have addressing the common dental problems, the more trustworthy you will appear in the eyes of your potential audience.
A great choice for dentist blog articles are entries based upon the Covid-19 Pandemic.  This helps the average person to understand dentistry issues such as “How often should I replace my toothbrush” and “Is it safe to visit a dentist during Covid-19?”. When you address their queries, they will start trusting you more.

Additional techniques to boost the brand:

Consider publishing news on interesting dental cases by interviewing industry experts and publishing the excerpts.  Remember, the internet was created to pass information from person to person online and not to run a business.  By continuing to educate your viewers you will accomplish the goal of brand awareness.  Do this by blogging consistently and publishing industry news.  If done correctly, SEO can bring you dollars for years to come.

Improving SEO ranking by local SEO:

Local SEO increases your site’s visibility by multiple folds. You can attract new patients who rely on search engines to find local businesses through effective local SEO.  You might have seen Google autocompletes specific queries with phrases such as ‘near me,’ ‘around me,’ and ‘nearby.’  This mainly occurs when you search for local businesses. If your dental clinic is a hyperlocal one, you will lose a chunk of patients if you have not optimized your site for local searches.
Another mistake local businesses make is skipping mobile SEO. Keep in mind that search engines track users all the time. Hence, they tend to suggest the nearest businesses/services when being asked for.  This should include (Name, Address, and Phone Number) citation is a critical part of your local SEO strategy.

Using content marketing to help SEO ranking:

Businesses build themselves as brands using powerful stories. And SEO helps you to tell stories effectively.  The weapon here is content marketing. By saying content marketing, we don’t mean everyday content but content infused with words, phrases, and idioms that resonate with your brand.  For example, the following words are instrumental in branding your dental service.

  • Care
  • Helpful
  • Affordable
  • Friendly
  • Trusted
  • First-Class
  • Convenient
  • Personalized
  • Certified
  • Top Priority
  • Experts
  • Same-Day Appointment
  • Free Consultation
  • Comprehensive
  • Insurance Accepted
  • Cozy
  • Sterilization
  • World-Class
  • Real Results

Let’s say yours is a dental clinic in the bustling New York, and you wish to appeal to the upper class. You may structure your content around words like world-class, experts, cozy, comprehensive, trusted, certified, first-class, and personalized.  These words strike a chord with those whose concern is not money but the Patient Experience.

Becoming an authority dentist website online:

SEO ranking highTo Emerge As an Industry Leader, and to become an authority website,  you must use your organic blog articles to develop your expertise in the dental field.  Utilize your blog to address the common questions around dentistry. For example, you can give oral hygiene tips, home remedies for common oral problems.  Writing about the procedures, case studies, interview excerpts are also good ideas to demonstrate your domain expertise.
You can also write about interesting and weird cases in your domain to boost SEO ranking. For example, there was this incident wherein a British woman superglued her teeth to avoid visiting a dentist but lost all of her teeth.  You can pen a satirical blog post based on this incident by giving a title like “Dentists are ‘glued’ to this new idea of using a ‘superb’ everyday product to fix broken teeth!”

How SEO helps my Local Dental Practice?

SEO differs from industry to industry. Since the dental industry is relatively local, the strategy that works better is local SEO. The optimization mostly starts at the GMB (Google My Business) listing level. This is because when locals search for dental services, your business has chances to pop up with contact details. Another SEO strategy is generating geo-specific content such as “Average cost of dental implants in Arizona.”

How Much Dental SEO Cost Per Month?

The budget purely depends on your objectives. Different businesses have different goals. While some may only want brand awareness, some expect inquiries and high-quality leads. A tentative cost for the dental SEO would be anywhere between $500 and $1,500 per month. Some companies charge you a one-time fee such as $5,000 or $10,000.

Dental directories and links of interest:

The American Dental Association
ADA has been in the industry for 160 years. The association has 1,62,000 members and teams up with industry leaders to provide end-to-end dental care. It also strongly advocates for public health.
Super Dentists
Super Dentists is a directory for outstanding dentists from eight dental specialties. These dentists are chosen by their peers and through independent research. The directory gets published in dailies and magazines.
Dentists.com
Dentists.com allows you to find dentists in your geographic area quickly. The site has a separate portal for dentists with resources to grow their business, such as Continuing Education (CE) courses.
Dentist Directory
Dentist Directory is a straightforward one with quite a few options to narrow down your results. It has been in the domain since 1999, and you can even search dentists by the language they speak.
Smile Guide
Smile Guide serves both as a directory and a source of information on the various aspects of oral health. The site has a floating dialog box wherein users can search for dentists by Zip Code.
 1-800-Dentist
1-800-Dentist offers free and personalized dental referrals. It has connected over 9 million patients to the right dentists so far. The site has a 24-hour support window to find an emergency dentist in your area.
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
AAPD represents the specialty of pediatric dentistry and is a professional membership association. With more than 10,800 members, AAPD is one of the frontline advocates of children’s oral health.
Free Dental Care.us
Free Dental Care US allows you to find dentists who have a sliding fee schedule. The site is a user-contributed database, and it allows one to report inaccuracy through a dedicated contact form.

SEO FAQs to Help Increase my Dental Appointments?

SEO Ranking conclusionBy leveraging the voice search trends and local searches, optimizing your dental website correctly will help increase appointments for your dental business. Today, people are increasingly relying on voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. These bots understand users’ queries very well and give them the most relevant results.
Keep in mind that 46% of all searches on Google seek information on local businesses and services. The results often have a phone number which is crucial in increasing appointments.
Thanks for stopping by and learning more about the importance of SEO ranking for a dentist’s website.  Our designers and programmers at Inside Design Orlando (Orlando Website Design, LLC) are here to assist you in all things design and programming.  You’ll shine in the year ahead.  Contact us today for options to move forward.  Have a great November ahead and hurry back for more from the Design Wizards at Inside Design Orlando.
Post contributor: Joseph Schneider, Dir. of Marketing at: https://www.haitna.com / Dallas TX
Jean Holland-Rose,  SEO Professional with Orlando Website Design

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