Your Guide to Local SEO For Dentists

Your Guide to Local SEO For Dentists

Are you interested in improving your local SEO strategy, but feel that the current tactics you’re taking just aren’t giving you the results you deserve?

Would you like to learn more about SEO for dentists, but fear that you won’t be able to find the time to implement a solid digital marketing strategy in addition to running your practice?

Are you just tired of losing business to other, less qualified, dental professionals in your area?

If so, then you need to keep on reading this post.

We’ll take the guesswork out of local dentist SEO marketing — and tell you where you can find professional digital marketing services in the process.

1. Start a Blog

The first thing to do when you want to start local dentist SEO marketing for your practice?

It’s time to start a blog.

First of all, writing about the most common dental procedures, what to expect out of a teeth whitening session, or even offering up tips on how readers can improve their dental care will help to strengthen your authority as a dentist.

People will perceive you as an expert who is more knowledgeable than the competition, and even as someone who uses more up-to-date techniques than other practices do.

Additionally, blogging is a wonderful way to get to know your site visitors and readers on a deeper level. You can engage with them in the comments section and provide immediate answers to their questions — like how they can make an appointment with you.

It also lets you increase your Google rankings by directing more traffic back to your website. Whenever you comment — on your own posts or someone else’s — always include a link back to your own website in your comment signature.

Finally, blogs allow you to include more localized keywords in your content in a natural way (more on keywords and their role in SEO for dentists in a moment.) They also allow you to tell search engines that your website is updated often.

This means that you’ll have more indexed pages and rank higher than other dental practices that don’t have a blog.

2. Connect with Other Local Businesses

As a local dentist, we know that you already likely make it a priority to connect with your local community offline.

But you also need to make connections with local businesses digitally. This means that you should like and share their content, engage with them on social media, and yes, even ask them to link to your website on their own page.

This is, again, an incredible way to get in front of your local market — the people in your service area. You know these people support local businesses, and you can even offer them a discount if they make an appointment with you as a result of a referral from a local business.

3. Choose the Right Keywords

When you’re trying to master local dentist SEO marketing, you need to think about using location-based keywords in your static website content, your social media updates, and your blog posts.

This means that your keyword phrases should include the name of the state, city, or even the county where your practice is located. Not only will this help you to show up more quickly in the search engine results of those within your local area.

It will also help you to connect with the people who are already actively looking to make an appointment with a local dentist. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

Make sure that you include longtail location-based keywords and more complete questions like “Where can I find dental services in San Antonio?” This helps to better optimize your local content for voice search.

4. Get More Online Reviews

Another important local marketing tactic that dental businesses need to take into consideration?

What people are saying about them — and how many people are talking about them — in their online reviews.

Claim your Google My Business listing and fill out your profile on third-party review sites like Yelp. This way, you ensure that your competitors can’t claim them for you!

Never be ashamed to ask your patients (especially your most loyal ones) to write a review of your practice. You can even enter them into a drawing for a free teeth whitening service in exchange for a review.

And if those reviews are a little less positive than you would have hoped for?

Always walk away from the computer before you respond. Remember that close to 90% of people read online reviews about any business before they make an appointment with them. So, if you’re online getting defensive — or aggressive — towards patients, they’ll likely go somewhere else.

Thank both positive and negative reviewers, and let the latter know that you appreciate their input and are working on finding a solution. You should even contact them directly so you can improve the patient experience and understand what exactly went wrong.

Need More Help With SEO for Dentists?

From ensuring you have plenty of online reviews to taking the time to start a blog, we hope that this post has helped you to better understand what local SEO for dentists is all about.

Of course, the real improvements to your local SEO strategy will come when you connect with the digital marketing professionals who will help you to get the job done right.

That’s where we come in.

Spend some time on our website to check out our portfolio and learn more about the wide variety of local SEO and design services that we have to offer.

When you’re ready to take your dentist SEO marketing to the next level, and get more patients than ever before, get in touch with us to make a change for the better.

Local SEO: Best Practices for 2018

Local SEO: Best Practices for 2018

SEO Best Practices 2018

Whether you’re a designer, an attorney, or anything in between, local SEO affects your business. Read this guide to SEO best practices for 2018.
Do you remember the good old days when businesses could rely on word of mouth as their only means of marketing? Well, that no longer works effectively today, and it’s time to move on.
For better or worse, the evolving internet landscape has changed the way customers connect with local businesses. Nowadays, businesses can’t get by on good reputation or traditional marketing techniques.

They need to take advantage of the web.

Whether you’re a designer, an attorney, or anything in between, local SEO affects your business. Local SEO is the science of ranking well in local search results. It helps connect businesses with the 93 percent of online experiences that start with a search engine.

There are a few strategies you can use to dominate search results and start making conversions online.

Here are the SEO best practices for 2018.

Mobile

Let’s face it: everybody uses smartphones.

It’s no secret that mobile search is overtaking desktop search. But it’s still important not to underestimate the value of this powerful type of search.

55 percent of purchase-related conversions occur within one hour of initial mobile search. These users aren’t only searching for local businesses on their phones. They’re doing so with the intent of making a purchase.

Mobile is also one of the SEO best practices for 2018 thanks to Google. Google’s recent algorithm update gives mobile-friendly websites a ranking advantage over non-mobile-friendly sites.

How can you take advantage? Make sure that your website is fast and easy to use on mobile.

Focus on mobile site speed when developing your site. You should also use large text that transitions well from platform to platform.

Of course, you’ll want to take advantage of your mobile traffic. Use call-to-actions on your site pages to encourage these purchase-hungry users to convert. It’s a digital marketing solution for any site.

Google My Business Listing

How do you search for a local business? If you’re like most users, you’ll search Google Search and Maps.

Let’s say you’re looking for a local Italian restaurant in Seattle. You might type in “best pizza in Seattle” to find relevant results.

You end up deciding between two local pizza joints. One search result comes with no information other than the business title and URL.

The other search result includes information like hours, address, and a phone number. Which listing are you most likely to choose?

Not all users will click through to websites to get basic business information. You can showcase your business info my verifying your Google My Business Listing. This free tool allows you to give local searchers your information on the organic Google search results and Google Maps.

The key is to keep your information relevant and up to date. You need to add or claim your business listing to start this process.

Review Sites

There’s no denying the influence of online review sites. It’s just as powerful (if not more powerful) than traditional word of mouth. In fact, 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Review sites are especially crucial to local SEO. Local searchers aren’t only going online to find and connect with local businesses. They also want to research and make sure that businesses have a solid reputation.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with handling your online reputation. There’s no shortage of review sites including from Yelp, Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, Angie’s List, and Urbanspoon.

How do you know which review site to use? Take a look at your competition.

Research what review sites competitors use in your niche. For example, an auto body shop might benefit from a Yelp presence. But it won’t get much of a boost from Urbanspoon.

Many of these websites have free tools for business owners to claim their listings. As you build and develop your profiles, make sure to keep your business information consistent.

This will not only benefit the user. It will make you look trustworthy and reliable in Google’s eyes as well.

Local Link Building

You’ve set up profiles on review sites and Google. But you’re still not showing up on the first page of local search results. Now what?

One of the best things you can do to build up your search rank participates in local link building. By getting local SEO backlinks, you’ll build authority and trust on Google.

Building local links is easier than it sounds. Reach out to other local businesses to see if you can get a mention on their site. You can also offer to write a guest post on a local blog in exchange for a link.

This tactic might require patient. But it’s a crucial SEO practice in 2018.

Your rankings won’t grow overnight. But by sticking to a consistent outreach schedule, you’ll be able to build up local SEO backlinks, and a solid rankings boost.

Images

Content may be king, but images are a close second.

Images are a valuable tool to build search engine rank. They make your site aesthetically pleasing, keep users on your site, and give you a rankings boost.

Adding images to your site encourages users to take action and stay on your site. One of the factors Google looks at to determine its rankings is site authority. Sites that retain visitors and get multiple site clicks per user as seen as authoritative.

Images also make sites more mobile-friendly. Aim to add images not only to your website but also to your Google My Business Listing. You can also add interactive media like videos to attract more people to your site.

Featured Snippets

You might have noticed that some Google search results look different than others.

One key contributor to this discrepancy is featured snippets. These are “snippets” that give extra information to searchers about a website.

How can you get a featured snippet for your website? There’s no exact science.

Focus on solid keyword research, question-answer sequences, and on-page SEO to give yourself the best chance of getting a snippet.

SEO Best Practices for 2018

SEO is constantly evolving. These tips will help you dominate local search and enhance your web presence. Stay up to date on SEO best practices for 2018, 2019, and beyond to continue to attract local searchers to your site.

Are you looking for the kind of sales and growth your business deserves? Contact us to improve your local SEO today.

7 Ways To Improve Your Law Firm’s SEO Ranking

7 Ways To Improve Your Law Firm’s SEO Ranking

Do you want to attract potential clients to your law firm’s webpage? Read here for 7 ways to improve your law firm’s SEO ranking to see immediate results.

Did you know that there are almost 48,000 law firms in the United States? If you want to compete against this group you’ll have to focus on your law firm SEO strategies.

SEO helps your business get noticed by new clients. When your clients have a problem, one of the first things they are going to do is search for an answer online.

The better your site ranks, the more customers you’ll attract. The best way to improve your ranking is through SEO and digital marketing.

For tips on improving your digital marketing check out our guide on the 10 best digital marketing strategies for your business.

Here are 7 ways to improve your law firm SEO.

1. Create Killer Content

The first step to improving your SEO ranking is creating great content. One of the ways search engines determine whether your site is credible or not is how much time they spend on it.

Interesting and engaging content keeps customers on your site longer. As a result, search engines will see you as a more credible site and rank you higher. Higher rankings improve customer acquisition.

Therefore, incorporating engaging content to your marketing strategy is a great way to improve your bottom line. One way to improve your content is through blogging.

While your website pages are static and unchanging, your blog is a great place to add relevant and new content.

Find the common questions your customers are asking and answer them through a blog post. Create video tutorials and infographics. All of these strategies will help you to seem more credible to potential customers and to search engines as well.

2. Speed Up Your Site

Another thing that will help your search engine ranking is improving the speed of your site. If your site takes more than 4 seconds to load, you’ll end up losing at least 25% of your viewers.

There are many ways to improve your site speed. One way to do this is with specialized plugins. Another way is making sure that your images are the right size.

Not only will your customers appreciate the faster loading time, but search engines such as Google rank sites higher that are able to load better. It’s a win-win solution.

3. Geotarget Your Content

If you only work in a certain area or state, you’ll want to geotarget your content. This will ensure that when people search things such as “Baltimore accident lawyer” your name is the first one that comes up.

Geotagging is a simple practice that many businesses do to get their name on the map. Much like keywords, you’ll need to include the city and state in your copy and one of your headers.

4. Encourage Positive Reviews

The fourth step is to encourage positive reviews. The more reviews you get the better you rank. The better the ratings the more new customers you will receive.

The best way to get positive reviews is simple-just ask for them! However, there are certain moments when it’s better to ask for reviews.

Find when your customers are going to be at their happiest state in regards to your company. This will typically be after advantageous settlements. Ask them for reviews at this moment.

5. Utilize Headers

The next step is to utilize your headers. Headers on websites are classified differently by search engines than the content below. In order to get the most out of your copy, include the words you want to rank for in the headers.

A flaw of a lot of website content marketers is that they focus too much on one keyword. In one post you rank for multiple keywords at the same time.

However, it’s important to make sure that your content is easy to read and engaging. Adding in a bunch of words that don’t make sense to the narrative can actually be detrimental to your SEO strategy.

Instead, add the words when they relevant and make sense. You should plan out the keywords that you want to rank for before you begin writing the piece. This will help you keep the right words in your mind.

6. Change Up Your Keywords

Speaking of keywords, another strategy is to change them up. As we wrote previously different keywords are valuable. It’s also valuable to have key phrases that you want to rank for.

People often ask long-form questions on search engines. The best way to show up when people search these questions is to write about them. It’s much easier to compete for long-form keywords than some of the more common words.

Diversifying your keyword strategy so it includes both short and long phrases is a smart tactic.

7. Fix Your Links

The last tip is focused on your website. Everything on your website plays a role in your SEO. First, make sure you have a good design. Second, check all of your links.

Linking to credible sites also helps your credibility and ranking. However, broken links and linking to poor sites do the opposite.

If you think that you have a problem with linking, there are a couple options. First, you could go through your entire website and check each link individually. While effective, this strategy takes a lot of time that could be better spent on other tactics.

Another option is to install a plugin that will check your site for you. We recommend doing this. Even if a link is good when you originally put it in, over time that other website you linked to may go down. And as a result, it will pull your ranking down as well.

Routinely check to make sure all of your links are quality.

Improve Your Law Firm SEO Today

Improving your law firm SEO won’t happen in a day. However, the longer you spend creating unique content and improving your website, the better your firm will do.

Don’t give up after a month or two. Instead, keep working at it. We know you’ll be able to do it.

Have questions about improving your website and SEO strategies? Contact us! We’d love to answer all of your questions.