Instead of spending a ton to reach out to your patients, you could put yourself in a position that local patients are reaching out to you whenever they need dental services.
Introduction of computer networks did nothing to change the most basic fact about the way dental professionals make a living – majority of patients come from the neighborhood. That’s the nature of the job and that will probably never change, so dentists are well justified to keep a local focus. However, new technologies can be just effective in building connections with people a few blocks away as they are for intercontinental communications and ignoring the possibilities of internet marketing is simply not an option.
Internet searches are the predominant way people look for dental services these days and most of them will just type their location and the required kind of service into a search engine to get information. For example, if you’re living in Colorado Springs, you’re going to search “Colorado Springs Dentist”. Dentists appearing near the top of the search results page are usually the ones who get the most business, so search engine optimization (SEO) for local inquiries becomes a difference maker. Effective website optimization is the necessary step designed to get people on the site, where they can be persuaded to purchase services with evidence of professionalism and good financial offers.
Of course, it’s not easy pushing the website all the way to the top of the results page, not with every competitor trying the exact same thing as we speak. Even if promotional efforts are directed at a very small geographical area, this must be a continual concern as formulas for calculating results are getting more sophisticated by the month and take more details than ever into account. Gone are the days when you could simply place optimized contents with all the right keywords onto your homepage and watch your traffic skyrocket – it takes a lot of activity to obtain and maintain high ranking now.
In other words, the name of your dental office needs to be mentioned as frequently as possible in the cyberspace (only in a positive context, of course). Search engines put a lot of weight on references from well-regarded sources, so getting good reviews in local media and industry publications is a great way to boost page ranking. Ideally, a whole network of links should be leading back to the website, creating an organic body of evidence about relevance of the content. In addition to SEO advantages they bring, positive reviews on the internet can also be helpful to earn the trust of more skeptical patients who are ready to invest some time and conduct in-depth research.
One of the easiest ways to make a visible footprint on the internet is to be active on various social networks. This method requires very little investment or technical knowledge, but can be extremely effective both in terms of communication with potential customers and in terms of strengthening the SEO profile of the website. Of course, for truly significant results it is necessary to proactively engage local users with fresh updates and interactive promotions, but once the dentist gets well connected on the social media platforms, it isn’t unusual to receive contact requests from unknown people in the neighborhood based on personal recommendations. While Facebook is the most obvious social network for executing such an approach, Google+ could be an even better choice since it is completely integrated with Google’s search algorithm that most people rely on to find dentists.
Finally, SEO is a content-neutral technique that can create opportunities, but it is not a magical solution that will create business out of thin air. Getting a high page ranking on Google and other search engines won’t mean a whole lot unless the website is kept functional and up to date at all times. The patient wants accurate information, reliable dental services and good financial conditions and the website needs to demonstrate these qualities in a straightforward way to win him over. If the potential customer doesn’t find what he is looking for or doesn’t receive timely response to his questions, he will extend his search to other dentists who might have been initially ranked lower.
That’s why it may be time to learn a bit more about SEO marketing in the dental services industry and think about all the little things you could do to push your website higher on local searches for dental services. There are plenty of good sources to get you up to speed and you can always hire professional help if you decide to start a full SEO campaign.