Jon Dobbertin
Before I got my start designing marketing and SEO strategies for enterprise companies, I ran a small digital marketing agency that helped small businesses grow their online traffic. Many of these small businesses happened to be dental practices looking to improve their website rank on Google. Over the years, a lot has changed in the world of SEO but a lot has also stayed the same. Best practices are still king. Quality content, web design, and good on-page technical SEO like title tags, headings, and meta descriptions still matter.
When I look at large complex SEO projects that I work on today, the SEO tactics aren’t much of a difference in the steps that need to be taken between those and smaller SEO projects like SEO for dental practices. In this article, I will walk you through some of the tools that I use as well as some of the best practices I use when designing an SEO strategy. Applying these strategies to your dental practice can help you increase your online visibility and drive more patients each month.
So let’s dive into the 7 tools that I would use when developing an SEO strategy for a dental practice.
If you ignore or skim through any part of this post, I would highly recommend not skipping over this first section. At the core of any good SEO strategy is on-page optimization, specifically site structure. The hierarchy of your site, menu structure, internal linking, url nesting, and topical graphing can all drastically affect how your site is indexed. Your dental website structure is going to be just as important as traditional on-page best practices like content quality, sitemaps, redirects, and canonicals.
When designing my initial sitemap and managing my long term internal linking strategy, there are two tools I swear by. The best part is, both these products have a free version that should be more than enough for most small to mid sized dental practices.
Miro : A Reflection of Your Dental Practice’s Digital Structure
Best for: Site design, layout, site mapping, and hierarchy
First up is Mirror, a tool that goes beyond mere aesthetics to focus on the skeletal framework of your site. It’s perfect for visualizing your practice’s site design, layout, and hierarchy. With Mirror, crafting a sitemap becomes as straightforward as a routine dental check-up. You can lay out pages and sections of your site with drag-and-drop ease, ensuring that everything from your “About Us” to your “Services” page is structured logically. This clarity isn’t just for your potential patients; it’s a signal to search engines that your site is well-organized, which is critical for indexing. Even better, Mirror’s free version often suffices for many dental practices, making it an excellent starting point for those new to SEO or with limited resources.
Smartsheet : The Strategist Behind Your Content
Best for: content planning, internal linking structure.
Next, we have Smartsheet, which excels in content planning and management—two areas pivotal for any SEO strategy. For a dental practice, this means having a clear plan for how each piece of content connects and leads patients through your website. Smartsheet allows you to keep track of what content goes where, how it interlinks, and ensures that your site’s navigation is seamless. From articles on dental hygiene tips to detailed service descriptions, Smartsheet helps you map out a path for site visitors that is both intuitive and SEO-friendly. It’s a tool that mirrors the meticulous planning behind successful dental procedures, applied to the digital world. And yes, the free version has plenty of capabilities to get your dental practice’s content strategy off the ground.
In this next part, we will review 5 additional SEO tools you can add to your dental practice SEO strategy that will help you with things like tracking KW rankings, build competitive analysis, and help you with building a solid content strategy.
Let’s Explore These 5 SEO Tools for Your Dental SEO Marketing Strategy
SEMrush: Your Dental Marketing SEO Diagnostic Expert
SEMrush steps in as your all-in-one SEO diagnostic tool, much like comprehensive x-rays for a patient’s first visit. It provides a panoramic view of your practice’s online health, allowing you to identify gaps in your keyword strategy and scan the competitive landscape with precision. With SEMrush, you delve into the nitty-gritty of search data, uncovering the keywords that patients use when looking for dental services. You’ll see where you stand in the search rankings, understand the strength of your backlinks, and, most importantly, you’ll have the insights to improve. It’s about making informed decisions that align with your practice’s growth goals, ensuring that when potential patients are searching, your practice comes out on top.
ProRankTracker: Your SEO Progress Tracker
In the world of dentistry, tracking progress is key to patient satisfaction— and it’s no different with your website’s SEO. ProRankTracker serves as your progress tracker, providing precise and up-to-date ranking information. This tool helps you to see the impact of your SEO efforts, adjusting your strategy much like you would a patient’s treatment plan. It’s about precision; knowing exactly where your keywords rank in the search engine results pages can be the difference between being found, or not. With ProRankTracker, you’re not just guessing where you stand; you’re equipped with knowledge to climb the rankings ladder, one step at a time.
AccuRanker: Sharpening Your SEO Focus
Think of AccuRanker as the high-precision dental tool in your SEO kit—designed for specific, targeted adjustments. It hones in on your search rankings with surgical accuracy, allowing you to track keyword performance with speed and efficiency. This isn’t about a broad sweep; it’s about focusing on what matters most for your dental practice. With its ability to filter by location, device, and search engine, AccuRanker helps ensure that when a potential patient is searching for dental services in your area, your practice isn’t just visible—it’s front and center. The granularity of data at your fingertips means you can refine your SEO practices with the same attention to detail you apply to crafting the perfect smile.
Sitechecker: Your SEO Quality Assurance
In dentistry, patient care doesn’t end after the procedure—you follow up, you check in, you ensure everything is healing as it should. Sitechecker plays a similar role for your SEO. It continuously scans your website, identifying any issues that might hold you back from achieving top SERP positions. Broken links? Meta tags in need of a polish? Sitechecker spots these often-overlooked details that can detract from your site’s user experience and, by extension, its search engine rankings. It’s about maintaining an online presence that’s as spotless and welcoming as your practice’s waiting room. Sitechecker ensures your website remains in top form. It delivers a user experience that both patients and search engines will appreciate.
Clearscope: Sharpening Content Strategy with Data-Driven Insights & Keyword Research
Clearscope is one of my favorite tools in my SEO arsenal. Writing content can be a long cumbersome process. Adjusting that content to rank can be even more of a daunting task. Clearscope takes the guesswork out of what it takes to rank in the top of your target SERPs. With Clearscope, we’re not just guessing what will work; we’re using precise insights to shape content that stands out. It’s straightforward, reliable, and indispensable for making sure your online presence is as strong and authoritative as the dental services you provide. For me, Clearscope is a must have when designing and deploying SEO content.
What is SEO and Why is it Important for Your Dental Practice?
In the digital age, the first impression your dental practice makes is often online. Before a patient ever steps through your door, they’re likely to have performed a local search on Google. Dental Search Engine Optimization plays a pivotal role in how your prospective patients find you. SEO is a decades old practice of enhancing your website to improve its visibility when people are searching for a dental office on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. In addition to having a great website design, the better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing patients to your practice.
Staying on Top of Dental SEO Services & Strategy When it Comes to Your Dental Practice
SEO is not just about being found. It’s about being found by the right people at the right time. For dental practices, this means appearing in search results when potential patients are searching for dental services, advice on dental healthcare, or looking for a new dentist. Your Dental practice is like any other local business. With a robust dental SEO strategy, your practice can achieve higher rankings in search results, leading to more clicks and, ultimately, more appointments.
Here’s why SEO is indispensable for your dental practice:
- Increased Visibility: By optimizing your site, you ensure that your practice appears in relevant searches, making it easier for patients to find you. Keeping your Google profile up to date with things like pricing, services, and phone number create a better user experience for your patients.
- Targeted Traffic: SEO allows you to target users who are actively searching for the dental care your practice offers in the geographic area you offer them.
- Competitive Advantage: Many dental practices have yet to harness the full potential of SEO. By investing in a strong SEO strategy, you can reduce your cost per acquisition and better maximize other strategies like PPC with Google Ads.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to traditional advertising, SEO is more cost-effective in the long run. In my opinion, it is the best use of your marketing efforts in that it can help you reach a targeted audience without the need for continuous spending.
- Building Trust and Credibility: A well-optimized website conveys professionalism and reliability, helping to build trust with potential patients. High rankings are often associated with authority and expertise in the field.
The Impact on Patient Acquisition and Retention
Effective SEO strategies lead to more than just increased traffic or ranking for desired search terms. SEO can influence the journey of your website visitors by providing them with relevant, easily accessible information and a seamless experience. This not only helps when it comes to conversion metrics, but also plays a significant role in retaining existing patients. By continually optimizing your online presence, you ensure your practice remains at the forefront of both potential and existing patients’ minds, nurturing loyalty and encouraging repeat visits.
Local SEO Strategies for Your Dental Practice: The Power of Reviews
Almost every Dental SEO company and Dental SEO expert will agree that local SEO is a crucial component of your dental practice’s online marketing strategy. Even if you own multiple locations, your overall SEO strategy should be location and geographically based. Your prospective patients are almost always searching for your term plus a geographical trigger such as “best dentist near me” or “orthodontist + city” When I worked with local dental practices in the past, my goal was always to maximize their local presence above everything else. Back then, there was a lot of focus on Google Map listings. Today, reviews are like link building when it comes to local SEO. I would say that they are probably one of the top ranking factors when it comes to first page, local SEO placement on a Google search. Reviews not only stand out for their ability to significantly impact your practice’s reputation but also greatly affect your local search engine rankings.
Why Local SEO Matters
- Local Visibility: Most dental service searches are local. Patients look for dental practices near them. Optimizing for local SEO ensures you appear in these critical searches.
- Google My Business: A well-optimized Google My Business (GMB) profile can increase your practice’s chances of showing up in Google’s Local Pack, Maps, and organic rankings. This includes accurate business information, operating hours, and services offered.
- Localized Content: Creating content that speaks to local the community can improve your relevance in local search queries.
The Impact of Reviews on Local SEO
Reviews are a key factor in local SEO for several reasons:
- Trust and Credibility: Positive reviews build trust with potential patients. People are more likely to choose a dental practice with numerous positive reviews, as they reflect the experiences of others.
- Search Engine Rankings: Search engines, particularly Google, consider the quantity, quality, and recency of reviews when determining rankings. A steady stream of positive reviews can improve your visibility in search results. As stated before, I personally believe that reviews are one of the biggest algorithm drivers for local search.
- Feedback Loop: Reviews provide valuable feedback for your practice, offering insights into what patients appreciate and areas where you could improve.
How to Encourage and Manage Reviews for Your Google Business Profile
- Ask for Reviews: Encourage satisfied patients to leave reviews by asking them at the end of their appointment, through follow-up emails, or via text messages. Make the process easy by providing direct links to your Google My Business profile. Services like Podium or Birdseye are great when it comes to building your reviews.
- Respond to Reviews: Engage with those who leave reviews, whether they are positive or negative. Thanking patients for positive reviews shows appreciation and engagement. Responding professionally to negative reviews demonstrates your commitment to patient satisfaction and can often turn a negative experience into a positive one.
- Incorporate Reviews on Your Website: Displaying reviews and testimonials on your website not only enhances trust but also contributes to your site’s content, potentially improving SEO.
- Leverage Social Proof: Share positive reviews on your social media channels to engage with your community and attract new patients.
- Monitor Your Online Reputation: Regularly check your reviews across platforms like Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades to understand your patients’ perceptions and identify areas for improvement.
By prioritizing local SEO and effectively managing your online reviews, your dental practice can enhance its online visibility, attract more local patients, and build a reputation as a trusted and preferred provider in your community.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How can my dental practice rank higher on Google?
To improve your dental practice’s ranking on Google, focus on optimizing your website for SEO, which includes using relevant keywords, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, and improving site speed. Create high-quality, informative content that addresses your patients’ questions and concerns. Additionally, claim and optimize your Google My Business listing, actively manage and respond to online reviews, and build local citations for better local SEO performance.
Why are online reviews important for my dental practice?
Online reviews are crucial for your dental practice because they directly influence your reputation, patient trust, and decision-making. Reviews also impact your search engine rankings, especially in local search results. Positive reviews can attract more patients, while actively managing all reviews demonstrates your commitment to patient satisfaction.
What is local SEO, and why is it important for my dental practice?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. It’s important for dental practices because most of your potential patients are looking for services within their geographic location. By optimizing for local SEO, you increase your visibility in local search results, making it easier for patients to find and choose your practice.
How often should I update my website’s content for SEO?
Regularly updating your website’s content is vital for maintaining and improving your SEO rankings. Aim to add new content at least once a month, but more frequently if possible. Updating existing pages with current information, adding new blog posts, or creating pages for new services can all help keep your website fresh and engaging for both visitors and search engines.
What is Google My Business, and how can it help my dental practice?
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. For dental practices, a well-optimized GMB profile can improve your visibility in local search results, provide potential patients with essential information like your location, hours, and services, and offer a platform for patient reviews. It’s a critical component of local SEO strategy.
How can I make my dental practice’s website more mobile-friendly?
To make your website more mobile-friendly, ensure it has a responsive design that adjusts seamlessly to various screen sizes. Optimize images and content for fast loading times, and simplify navigation to improve usability on mobile devices. Regularly test your website on different devices and browsers to ensure a smooth user experience.
Final Thoughts:
As we wrap up, I want you to remember one key thing: SEO transcends numbers and rankings. It’s fundamentally about forging connections with the right people, those who genuinely need what your practice offers. The suite of tools we’ve talked about, from Mirror to Clearscope, are more than just software. They’re part of a bigger picture, a strategy that breathes life into your website and makes sure those who are looking for your services can find you.
I’ve always believed that a clear, straightforward approach works best. Whether it’s in explaining a treatment plan to a patient or demystifying SEO, simplicity and clarity win. The tools I’ve outlined for you are the ones that cut through the noise, giving you clean, actionable steps to put your practice on the map.
In your efforts to grow your practice’s online presence, remember that it’s the steady hand and the consistent work that builds trust and rankings. Keep your content sharp, your strategy smarter, and your focus on the people you’re here to serve. That guiding principle has always directed my work, and it will transform your SEO efforts into tangible results.
Remember, it’s not just about being seen; it’s about being sought after. Keep your digital doors as welcoming and as expert as your real ones, and the traffic will follow.