Launched a new website? Now what?

Essential internet tools to help promote your new practice website

The days of launching a website and expecting it to do well as a stand-alone entity are long gone.

Even for non-competitive environments, it makes sense to establish a few free internet properties which will give your website an initial boost in the search rankings and also help to circulate the word about your new launch.

Let Google know you’ve launched

Whilst Google should eventually get around to finding your new site, you can accelerate the process significantly by producing a site-map and submitting this directly to Google. This is simply a file which details the web address (URL) for all of your site pages which acts as a sign-post for Google to go and index them. You will need a Google Webmaster Tools account to submit your site-map.

Google Webmaster Tools (GWMT)

We looked at GWMT in more detail in this blog but as a quick recap, it is a suite of tools which provides information about your website performance which allow progressive optimisation. If your site is set-up incorrectly, GWMT will help to highlight this so that you can intervene. You will also be able to see some website traffic statistics and be able to submit the site-map mentioned above.

Google Analytics

Using a small piece of code provided by Google, you can record all of the visits to your new dental website, display trend information and much more. Analytics is an essential free tool which will help you to monitor how your website is performing over time so that you can plan enhancements accordingly.

A local business listing – Places for Business on Google

This is a “portal” which allows you to list your business across all of the various Google services, maps, Google+, search and more. You enter information about your business including opening hours, a description, photographs etc which can then be viewed by potential clients on-line. You will be asked to verify your business as part of the set-up process but this is not an onerous task and well-worth the time to complete correctly. You will also be given the facility to start using Google+, a great tool for business promotion.

Tell the people!

As well as some of the obvious non-internet initiatives such as announcements in the reception area and publishing your web address prominently on practice literature, it makes sense to consider e-shots and social media to broadcast word of your new investment. All of the main social channels are relatively straightforward to set up but they will need some time set aside for updates and management.

E-newsletters are also a great, easy way to stay in touch with your existing patients so don’t forget to let them know about your new website in a carefully crafted update. Grab some screen shots and include them to lift the whole thing and make it interesting. Also, don’t forget to tell any referring dentists and suppliers where appropriate.

Gain traction in the search results

Links to your website from other sites will signal to Google and help you climb up the search results. However, these days, links need to be of a decent quality else they will be counter-productive, so please be cautious with your link-building. One accepted way of gaining some decent links without harming your site is to submit to the various good quality business directories, particularly for your local area.

Encourage your patients to leave reviews

One of the best ways to start making an appearance in the local search results is by gaining client reviews on your Google local business listing. As part of the awareness campaign to introduce the new practice website, why not ask your patients to leave you a positive review on Google too?

Summary

is a very important marketing tool but please don’t expect it to deliver too much just standing alone.

The initiatives noted above are all relatively straightforward to implement and will really give your new website the boost it needs.

Need any help with the above? Please call the Dental Media team on 01332 672548 and we’ll be pleased to offer guidance.