Top 6 Tips For Local Dentist SEO
Great SEO for dentists should begin with optimization of your Google My Business account. If you’ve not heard of Google My Business then this is going to be an extremely helpful article. We’ll discuss exactly what your GMB account is and why it’s so important for local dentist SEO.
I spoke with a dentist the other day, and she asked, “I don’t understand the difference between SEO and Local SEO.” That’s was a good question. The word ‘local’ simply means that the SEO tactics focus on the local geographical area of the practice. So, don’t get confused when a marketing expert says, ‘You need to focus on SEO., ‘ and another marketing expert says, ‘You need to focus on local SEO.’ They are essentially the same thing. Especially when it comes to dental SEO.
Let’s get started on the top 6 ideas for local dental SEO!
1.) Claim Your Google My Business Listing
Google My Business (GMB) is your dental practice’s business listing in the Google business database. Think of it like Google’s business directory. You’re listing had better be there, and you should claim it. Claiming means that you can control, update, edit, and optimize the listing.
It is critically important to SEO for dental practices to claim, verify and update their GMB listing. The information in your practice GMB account displays on the Google map. You’ll want to ensure that it’s correct and updated.
In this informative video training one of our dental marketing experts shows you the first steps to optimizing your GMB account.
SEO Instructions On How To Claim Your GMB Listing
2.) Update Your Dental Practice Primary Categories
Once you’ve claimed your listing and you get access to the account, you can start updating, editing, and adding information to your Google My Business account. Local dentist SEO begins with updating this information.
The first thing you want to do is check all of the information on the info tab and make sure that it’s all correct. Next, towards the top of the page, on the info tab, you’ll notice that you have a section titled ‘primary categories.’ Near that section is an edit button that allows you to update those categories.
When selecting your primary categories, we recommend that less is more. As we’ve been working on this for the past couple of years, our optimization tactics have shown that the more primary categories you list, the less likely you’ll be able to rank. As a general rule, try to stick to no more than three. For example, pediatric dentist SEO would get more specific to pediatric services. However, this rule can be disregarded if you have a multi-disciplinary practice.
Below is the list of Google My Business dental categories:
- Dentist
- Orthodontist
- Cosmetic dentist
- Pediatric dentist
- Endodontist
- Prosthodontist
- Periodontist
- Oral Surgeon
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeon
- Emergency dental service
- Dental hygienist
- Dental implants provider
- Dental implants periodontist
- Dental Clinic
- Dental insurance agency
- Dental lab
- Dental school
- Dental radiology
- Dental supply store
- Teeth whitening service
3.) Update Your Dental Services to Enhance SEO for Dentists
Now that your categories are updated, you can move onto adding your practice services. Your Google My Business account will place your services as a sub-category to your primary categories. Google does not predetermine the dental services like they do with your primary categories, and there is no limit to the number of services you can list. My recommendation is to list as many dental services as you can think of.
When a client asks us to do their dental SEO we regularly list upwards of 100 different services in their GMB accounts to help their local dentist SEO rankings. This will take some time but the benefit is Google recognizing your GMB account’s services in relation to search phrases of potential patients.
Here is a screen shot of the first few services that we listed for a practice. Notice that we’re creating service categories for specific services, not general categories. In some situations we’ll also add geo-location words to the service titles. For example, ‘Full Dentures in Miami-Dade Florida.’
4.) Add Location Pages To Your Website For Big Local SEO Benefits
Search engines crawl your website, trying to find the most relevant match for the search phrase. A location page is designed to help you rank higher in the SERP’s by being highly relevant to the search phrase. It allows you to have information on the page related to the area and it not sound like you’re keywrod stuffing.
Think about location pages like this; your potential patients will often use a geo-location modifier in their search phrase, for example, ‘cosmetic dentist in Henderson NV.’ If that is the case then why not create a page on your website that talks about offering cosmetic dentistry in Henderson, NV?
Check out this cosmetic dentist location page we recently created.
How To Write A Location Page For The Best SEO Optimization
First, you’ll want the page to be at least 500-600 words. It needs to be relevant and exciting content, sounds well written, and it needs to be custom. You can’t copy from someone else’s website and add it to your site. You’ll want new, custom content for the best website SEO results.
Second, you want to include one or two outbound links to local websites. Sending signals to Google that you’re supporting local businesses is a great way to help you rank in that area. A good example would be a link to the local business directory or your favorite restaurant. Just make sure that you link to a physically located website in the area the location page is describing.
Third, you’ll want to include at least one or two links to services pages for which you want to rank better. Suppose you want to rank for the keyword ‘cosmetic dentist in Henderson, NV’. In that case, you want to talk about offering cosmetic dentistry in Henderson and link internally (within your website) to your cosmetic dentistry page.
Lastly, you want to embed a Google map from the location to the practice address. Here is an excellent location page for a pediatric dentist. Check out the embed map at the bottom of the page with walking directions from the nature preserve to the dental practice!
5.) Post Content To Your GMB Account
Not many dentists know that you can post to your Google My Business account. It’s just like posting blog articles to your website. The posts show up in the knowledge graph and map search results.
The image is an example of how the posts can show up when clicked on them from the SERP.
Not only do the posts add additional imagery and content to your knowledge graph, but you also can link from the post to your website, your GMB website, directory listings, and other online assets. Posts help Google to see the relevance between your website and your GMB listing. A part of effective local search for dental practices is optimizing your GMB page.
One suggestion to strengthen the relevance of your GMB account so that it ranks higher in local SEO would be to post your location pages in your GMB account. Here is an example of a location page assigned to the doctor’s Google My Business account.
6.) Update Your Google My Business Photos
Google wants the map results to provide as much information about your practice as possible. They want the potential patients to find relevant and helpful results. Photos play a big part in building trustworthiness with people searching online.
If you have not updated your photos, not only does the person searching wonder why your photography is old and out of date, but Google will not give you any search love if you don’t update them.
You do not have to hire a professional photographer for a photoshoot. Most camera phones have excellent resolution and will work, but you want to take the right photos. I’ve included a GMB Photo Checklist that you can download. It has with specific instructions on which shots to take, how many, and where to upload them.
BTW! We Have A Dental SEO Service That Can Help
I’ve tried to make this dentist SEO guide easy to get started. Hopefully it’s not been too confusing.
Dentist SEO is straightforward but it requires hundreds of hours of work. There are many dentist SEO strategies which help dental practices rank higher in search. The dental marketing strategies that I’ve listed above are focused on the most likely place a new patient would find your practice, which is on Google maps.
Optimization for Google maps should be part of any local dentist SEO campaign. When hiring a dental marketing company, make sure that you check to see if the tips above will be part of the marketing plan before hiring them.
If you have more questions about dentist SEO or if you get stuck trying to optimize your account, please reach out to us. We would love to help you out.
There are many dental SEO companies out there that offer online marketing and dentist SEO strategies. Still, no one achieves results like My Social Practice when it comes to enhancing and optimizing your dental practice online presence.
About the Author: Adrian Lefler is an expert dental marketer and a key member of the dental marketing team at My Social Practice. My Social Practice is a dental marketing company located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian is passionate about helping dental practices grow. If you’d like to book one of the members of My Social Practice’s speaking team, you can do that HERE. Interested in learning more about the benefits of SEO for dental practices or our dental websites service, please give us a call. Also please read our Google My Business reviews.
