Is your dental practice getting the online attention that it deserves?
Do you feel like, in spite of your best efforts to find the top digital marketing solutions, you’re still not connecting with your local market?
Are you concerned that your lack of knowledge and experience with SEO is costing your dental practice business — and strengthening your competitor’s instead?
If so, then you need to read this post.
In it, we’re sharing some of the most effective digital marketing strategies for your dental practice, so that you can make your website and overall online presence shine as brightly as your patients’ teeth.
1. Start a Dental Blog
What if there was a way to strengthen your dental practices digital marketing solutions and strategies while also spending less of your day answering the same five questions that all of your patients seem to ask you?
Great news: there is, and it’s called starting a dental blog.
First of all, blogging is an awesome way to get closer to the first page of Google search engine results.
Why?
Because those frequent blog posts tell Google and other search engines that you take the time to update your website more often than most people do. This means you’ll likely have more up-to-date and relevant information for users, so your site gets pushed to the front of the line.
Also, blogging will help you to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. You’ll be able to answer common questions, give brushing advice, and even write about how patients can calm their nerves before visiting the dentist.
Blogging is truly a marketing solution that benefits everyone.
2. Get on Instagram
Let’s face it, people are visual creatures – especially in today’s world.
You might not think that getting an Instagram account is an important part of a dentist office’s digital marketing solutions.
Think again.
First of all, there’s a good chance that your competitors already have one. Secondly, Instagram is a wonderful way to connect with your local market and tap into the kinds of marketing and messages they respond to.
One popular post you can try?
A before and after picture of porcelain veneers or even a less invasive whitening procedure. Fill it with plenty of relevant hashtags, like #smile, #teethwhitening, or another option on this list of popular dental hashtags.
Always make sure that you tag your office in your location, and include your website in your bio so your Instagram followers know exactly where to go to get those pearly whites.
3. Focus on Patient Testimonials
When you want to try out a new product or service, chances are you don’t buy it or make an appointment without first reading what other people have to say about it.
Neither will your potential patients – which is why you need to make online testimonials a part of your digital marketing solutions.
Ask some of your most loyal patients to write online reviews about your practice, including the specific dentist they work with, the insurance they have accepted, and even what keeps them coming back.
If you get a negative review?
Don’t panic, it happens to everyone.
Instead, write a calm, measured response that proves you’re taking the complaints seriously. Potential and current patients will respect the fact that you’re able to respond to feedback, and see that you value patient satisfaction.
4. Don’t Neglect Your Website Speed
This is an easy one.
If your website takes several seconds (we’re talking more than two seconds) visitors will leave your page. This means that not only are they more likely to end up on a competitor’s website, but also that your website will fall in Google’s search engine rankings.
So, site speed and overall responsiveness are small details that can have a serious impact on your bottom line.
Start by using this free speed checker tool to evaluate how quickly your current site loads.
To speed up your site speed, remove large images, autoplay videos, and those pesky pop-up ads.
Learn more and by example about the kinds of images that belong on the homepage of a dental website, but won’t slow down your loading time, by visiting Ideal Dentistry’s website to pick up a few tricks.
5. Don’t Forget Location-Based Keywords
Lots of dental practices spend a few hours every month researching the most popular keywords, or the search terms that people type into Google when they’re looking for a dentist.
Peppering your content (in a natural way, of course) with as many of these keywords as possible is important.
However, in the quest for the perfect keyword, many dental practices make the mistake of ignoring location-based keywords.
These are long-tail phrases that make a reference to your practice’s location. For example, instead of just “best dental practice,” a location-based keyword would be something like, “best dental practice San Diego CA.”
Let’s face it, most people aren’t driving three states over in order to get to the dentist. By getting on the first page of your target market’s – the local market’s – search engine results, you’ll directly connect with the people most likely to actually patronize your practice.
Need More Help with Digital Marketing Solutions?
Thanks to this post, you now have a much better comprehension of the tools and strategies that you need to give your dental practice’s digital marketing solutions a boost for the new year.
However, we know that it can feel overwhelming to run your practice, worry about SEO, update your blog, and somehow deliver the bad news to the patient in exam room three that they need a root canal.
We’ve got you covered.
Check out our website and SEO blog to learn more tips and tricks about digital marketing.
Then, take advantage of our free web tools to help you increase your conversions in half the time.
Make this the year that you grow your practice, make stronger connections with patients, and become a strong presence in the dental industry on both a local and national level.