Attracting more new patients every month is most likely a fundamental goal for your dental office. Generally, when individuals look for a new dentist, they will reach out to family or friends for a recommendation. If this recommendation does not pan out, the next place they will look a majority of the time is Google… plain and simple.
Think about it like this – Your prospective patients are already out there searching for your services, so it’s about making sure your dental practice is found through lead generation and SEO strategies.
It’s easy to understand why having a sharp Google-focused strategy is crucial for potential patients to find you online. In this blog, we’re going to dive deeper into the three main factors you need to consider when bringing more leads into your dental practice is your primary goal.
Google Ads
Google ads are the first few searches you see when you look up a keyword or phrase. Google Ads are very fast and easy to turn on and off. They also can provide your dental practice with leads right away, as long as you have well-written copy and the ad entices patients to click on it.
Essentially, your practice bids on specific keywords to make sure you appear on the top page in the first few search results. There are only three spots for Google ads per keyword, so as long as you are outbidding your competitors, your business will show up first.
Organic SEO
While ads usually take up the first few places on a Google search, you also want your dental practice to appear organically. Showing up on the first page of Google organically usually means you are obtaining leads without paying Google for them.
Research shows that 68% of all clicks land on the first five search results, so while appearing on the first page of Google is a great start, to begin seeing more leads, your practice will need to appear in the first five organic search results.
There are two main factors you can implement right now to make sure your dental practice can organically achieve one of the top ranks on Google:
- Make sure the content on your website matches your prospective patients’ intent and what they are searching for. For example, if people are searching for dental implants, you want to make sure you have content on your website about this topic, and it’s written in the way your patients would be searching. Writing your content this way increases the chances of your page showing up when someone searches for that topic.
- Ensure your website is optimized for mobile – more searches now come from mobile devices than desktop. Not only does a mobile-friendly website lead to increased user experience, but they are also highly favoured by Google.
ENSURE YOUR WEBSITE IS BUILT TO CONVERT
If you do not build your website with conversion in mind, it will not generate leads for your practice. Going back to our first blog in this series: websites are the foundation for all of your marketing and lead generation. At the end of the day, all of the lead generation factors we have discussed so far are about directing people back to your website.
Ensure your website has appropriate landing content so that when prospective patients first land on one of your website pages, such as the homepage, they have clear directions and calls to action to help them book an appointment or contact your business. Make sure you also have clear location information and a map so clients can easily find you.
You also want to ensure you have a page on your website for each key topic you would like to appear on Google. For example, if you want potential patients to find your business when they Google “dental exam” or “Dental Implants,” you need to make sure you have pages dedicated to these topics that will appear as search results.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Make it easy for your prospective patients to find you online, and once they have found you, ensure your website is developed to convert them into long-lasting patients.
From the moment you begin developing and writing content for your website, SEO should be top of mind, as this will pay dividends later on and save you money on Google Ads long term.
The more topics and keywords your business can rank for, the more visibility you will have on Google, which will lead to more website visitors, and in turn, more leads.
At SmileShop, we can help your practice with SEO and Lead Generation. Reach out to us to learn more.
Check out the video below to watch Dan Pisek and Alex Paisley from SmileShop, explain the way we help you achieve more leads for your dental practice.
