As a dentist with a physical location, most of your clients are likely coming from the local area. This is exactly why optimizing local SEO for dental offices is essential for your digital marketing strategy.
How Does Local SEO Work?
Local SEO (search engine optimization) refers to the different methods of optimizing your online presence so that you rank highly among local searches.
Local searches refer to people that are looking for your services near your physical location. According to Google, the way in which people search for local services continues to shift with marketers now having to consider customer search intent too.
Improving local SEO for dentists means that more prospective leads begin seeing and learning about your services. This is targeted brand awareness and can result in increased conversion.
How to Improve Local SEO for Dentists
Here’s a list of five tips to help your dental practice rank top of local search results:
1. Optimizing Content for Local Keywords
Any successful SEO campaign for dentists begins with keyword research. It is as simple as typing popular search phrases in your industry on a search engine bar and starting with the available suggestions.
There are also other more sophisticated third-party services that you can use to compile a list of keywords for your practice.
Remember to identify your competitor’s keywords that are ranking highly. Also, use a combination of short and long-tail keywords to ensure that all types of searches are seeing your practice.
For local SEO, begin by identifying keywords associated with “near me” searches. Next, incorporate location keywords such as “pediatrics dentists in Ohio” several times in your website content.
2. Claim Your Google My Business Page
In 2014, Google introduced Google My Business (GMB) as a service for businesses to increase their local visibility.
Claiming your GMB page starts by filling out your name, business address, and phone number, commonly known as NAP. Other details required for full local SEO optimization on GMB include business category, hours of operation, website URL, and a brief description of your practice.
3. Encouraging Local Client Reviews
Happy clients are more open and likely to provide feedback than disgruntled patients. If you are offering quality dental services as advertised on your website and social media, then customers will have nothing but good words to say about you.
Encourage clients in your locality to rate or review your practice on your website, Google Maps, and socials.
4. Claiming Listings on Online Directories
An online directory is basically a website with information on different types of businesses. Their concept and functionality are akin to GMB, but most internet directories are specific to a single type of business.
Research the most popular and reputable online directories for dentists, then fill out matching business information including the NAP, services, and social profiles.
5. Having Accurate Information Across Directories
Google and other search engines reward businesses whose information is accurate and matches across various listings.
Some directories will pull your business details from other sources even before a listing has been claimed. For this reason, ensure that you have cross-checked the information appearing on each one of them.
Should I Hire a Local SEO Company?
When it comes to digital marketing for dentists, creating a website and updating social media might be initially manageable without help. However, for measurable and effective strategies like local SEO, it is best to hire a team of experts.
As opposed to individual contractors and freelancers, dental SEO companies will assign a dedicated expert to work with you. This means that at any given time, they are fully committed to your project only.
