by AdminPosted on Posted in Advice

Develop your personal dental brand online.

branding-compilationWhilst the importance of a great practice website is well-established, there is also an upsurge in the number of dentists who are developing their own personal websites too.

So why is this, who are they and what are the benefits of building your own personal online presence and brand?

Who is doing this?

There are three main categories of dental professional who are establishing their own personal on-line presence:

  • prominent specialists, particularly those who are promoting referral businesses and teaching courses
  • young dentists who are aware of the power of internet marketing and wish to establish an early presence
  • dentists who practice in more than one location

Why are they doing this?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Don’t get duped. Your dental SEO may not be what you think….

Google search resultsA few months ago, one of our blog articles took a brief look at the characteristics of monthly “search engine optimisation” (SEO) packages being offered by some of the well-known UK dental marketing companies.

In it we explained how, in many cases, your website isn’t actually receiving any SEO and what you are actually paying out for is a glorified and expensive monthly website maintenance contract. Unfortunately this trend seems to be growing, with more and more web design companies attempting to get on the digital marketing bandwagon by advertising so-called SEO packages but actually delivering little or nothing at all.

The trick being used to dupe those who don’t know about SEO, is through failing to explain the two key components of it i.e. on-site and off-site factors. On-site SEO deals with how the actual structure and content of a website is optimised, whereas off-site SEO covers the external factors e.g. back-links, which are extremely important for website ranking.

Whilst you can get the on-site optimisation of a website done fairly easily as long as the initial platform is good quality, the off-site work is the ongoing monthly graft which really makes the difference. Particularly where there is a degree of competition from other dentists, as is the case in most locations these days, your website isn’t really going anywhere in the Google rankings without an off-site SEO campaign. So if your expensive monthly package doesn’t explicitly cover off-site SEO, then you need to ask some searching questions!

What should you check for?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in pay per click

Some insights into Google’s pay-per-click advertising for use in dental marketing.

AdWords benefitsThe use of AdWords is increasing both in dentistry and across business in general.

For those who are unfamiliar with the system there is plenty of information throughout this blog, but to recap briefly, AdWords allows businesses to choose a set of keywords, develop adverts in conjunction with those keywords and then bid to place the ads in a prominent position in the Google search index and other associated “display” networks. Although not quite as simple as this, the more you bid “per click” on your advert, the more prominent it will be on the page when a user searches for a particular service.

So why is AdWords becoming increasingly popular?

If you look at how page one of Google’s search results has evolved over time, you will see that the “real-estate” available for traditional organic (free) results has decreased significantly. This is even more pronounced in Google’s mobile search index. Additionally, it is now harder to gain a good ranking position on page one with Google actively penalising businesses which try to manipulate the search results. These two factors combined mean that it is harder than ever for businesses to get the traffic they once enjoyed from Google, particularly if they are solely reliant on the free listings.

Consequently we see more and more businesses, dentists included, paying out quite significant sums each month for paid search advertising campaigns –  i.e. AdWords.

Is AdWords any good? Can I expect returns?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

What is it and why does a large web footprint help Google ranking?

FootprintIf you are setting out on the journey to publish a new dental practice website or perhaps upgrading an existing one, then you may have come across the term “website footprint” during your research and discussions. This is important in that a website’s “footprint” can have a significant effect on how well it performs in search engines – simply put, larger websites i.e those with larger footprints, tend to perform better in Google searches. Whilst this is not always the case, for new websites in particular, it pays to publish as much useful information as you can from the outset and then build on this over time.

Why larger websites work better

When I say “work better”, for the purposes of this article I’m specifically referring to the performance in search engines. Other factors will come into play when measuring how well a website converts a user’s visit into an actual enquiry, but unless you can get users to the site in the first place, then no conversion potential exists anyway. It is also important to note that websites which do convert well also tend to rank better too. Where a website holds a user’s attention, perhaps ultimately resulting in a contact form submission, Google can measure this and will tend to promote such sites higher than ones which are dull and unengaging.

So we have to make sure both elements are right – the overall size of the website and the structure and quality of the information presented. Both elements are important; for search ranking and user experience too.

Number of pages indexed by Google

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Why some links are advantageous and others dangerous.

linksIn the digital marketing training sessions we run for dentists, one topic we cover in some depth is SEO and the various factors which help dental websites rank better in Google. Where practices employ in-house marketing staff, we work with them for training but also to help coordinate their digital marketing efforts. So for example helping with latest insights into search engine updates and best practices to achieve success.

Anyone who has working knowledge of on-line marketing will know that one of the main success factors when it comes to improving a website’s search results, is the number and quality of the links which point back to it from other websites. A good link profile is excellent, but on the flip side, a bad profile will have you penalised by Google and potentially banished from the search results index.

So all links are definitely not equal and this is why we like to spend some time explaining the differences when we run dental marketing training sessions. A little knowledge can be very dangerous, so having an inexperienced in-house marketing guy who fires any old link they can find at your website, can prove disastrous.

Good links versus bad links

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by AdminPosted on Posted in Tools

7 proven strategies

design-toolsHere are the main marketing channels to build around when developing your marketing strategy for the year ahead. Implemented correctly and managed diligently, these initiatives will really help to boost new patient intake – and help retain existing ones.

Compelling off-line content

Too many commentators dismiss “traditional” marketing as either too expensive or simply outdated. However, whilst it might not be as important or yield as high return on investment as your website, techniques such as advertising in the local press can still be very effective. A half page advert in your local paper or entry in the free magazine which gets pushed through your door, can still help you reach many thousands of potential new patients; or ones who are looking for alternative services. So don’t discount this technique. Targeted leaflet-drops can also yield good results as well as being reasonably cost-effective.

A high quality, search optimised website and blog

This sounds like common sense but too few dentists realise what “high quality” actually means. Google ranks websites based on how useful they are to searchers and how “relevant” and “authoritative” they are. To establish these quality indicators and to rank well in search results, you can’t simply build a website and then allow it to stagnate for months and months. By making regular updates to build-up your web footprint over time, you will give yourself the best chance of beating the competition in Google. Add to a pratice blog regularly and revisit your website content periodically to ensure it remains fresh, relevant and high quality.

Pay-per-click (AdWords) campaigns

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Why they are best avoided.

Bad SEO results graphReaders of this blog will know that we usually recommend the benefits of bespoke design and digital marketing services over “one-size-fits” all packages.

These types of packages are popular amongst dental marketing suppliers and whilst they might seem convenient, they are usually very restrictive and often used to “up sell” clients to more expensive products over time. This applies to web design and SEO packages too, and it’s the latter we will take a closer look at in today’s blog.

Can a fixed price SEO package deliver?

The answer is “possibly” but if you consider the nuances of SEO and how the work required can vary dramatically from location to location, then it’s fairly easy to see that a fixed-price package will never be as successful as bespoke. You will usually either be paying too much or too little for the services your business actually requires.

Let’s take a closer look at a few examples….

If we consider a dentist who has very limited local competition, then a good quality website, Google local business page and a few business directory citations will usually be all that is needed to get a prominent place on page one of Google. There will be little reason to do much more as far as search ranking is concerned. So a fixed price package (usually not cheap!) would be overkill for this scenario.

However, if we consider a dentist in a small town with perhaps five or six practices competing nearby, the picture changes quite significantly and the Google competition ramps up accordingly. Here the practice may well need a fair bit more than just a good quality website – so likely some blogging activity, steady input to social media channels, good-quality link-building and citations in online business directories. This level of activity is usually sufficient to gain ranking prominence, but the extent of it can only be established following a close analysis of competitor ranking and digital marketing activity. So some campaigns will cost more, some less depending on exactly what is required.

Now if we consider a dentist who has recently opened a practice in or near a large city, then the level of competiton will naturally increase, with several dental websites already likely to be entrenched on page one and with well-established SEO campaigns. This level of competition will also be reflected across the whole digital marketing spectrum, for example, click-costs for AdWords campaigns will be significantly higher, particularly when you consider the extremely popular “implant” and “ortho” terms. For this scenario, you need to have a much larger marketing budget and a good degree of patience – it simply isn’t possible to launch an aggressive organic SEO campaign these days and expect Google to let you get away with it. Progress must be steady and natural to avoid having your website slapped with a Google ranking penalty.

Is SEO even worthwhile in a highly competitive environment?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in pay per click

Why that might not be your best option….

mistake signThose of us who have tried to contact Google in the past, perhaps to query an anomaly on their map service or to correct the details on a local business listing, may have found the experience quite frustrating. Although Google are getting better at responding to questions, they are still considered by many not to be “customer facing”, at least when it comes to issues related to their free search index.

On the other hand, when it comes to getting in touch with them about paid advertising, things are quite different and there is usually someone online who can respond straight away. With over 95% of Google’s revenues coming from paid services i.e. pay-per-click of some variety, it’s easy to see why they might prioritise customer interaction on that side of their business.

Assistance from Google AdWords specialists

If you are familiar with AdWords, the system where you bid to have your business advert placed in the search results, you will know that Google are quite proactive about offering assistance with setting up you account. AdWords is quite a complicated environment and getting the configuration wrong can lead to lots of wasted money. Consequently it probably comes as some relief for new users when they find a Google specialist on hand to help. But is this always your best option? Evidence suggests that the results can be very variable – get a good guy and you could be OK, but get a less careful guy and you could be struggling. Consistency does seem to be an issue, together with a tendency to move campaigns onto too broad a basis, rather than to seek out clicks which have more chance of converting to meaningful enquiries. I don’t think the issue is skill based; more about the ability to assess *exactly* what the client needs, rather than just applying some boiler-plate parameters.

We have seen this in a couple of cases recently, where a Google employee stepped in to help the dentist configure their account. Each time, the dentist had elected to pursue a ‘DIY’ approach as they were on a limited budget and felt they could not justify monthly management charges – this subsequently turned out to be a poor move as we will see.

Where the recommendations failed….

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by AdminPosted on Posted in Website

Tweak-up your dental practice website for optimum performance.

optimising website designWith the Christmas holiday firmly behind us and the New Year and new challenges and opportunities ahead, it makes sense to spend a little bit of time reviewing your dental practice website and marketing to ensure that it delivers on expectations.

Too many practices launch a website, breathe a sigh of relief but then neglect to nurture it to realise its full potential for delivering new patient enquiries. With that in mind, here is a quick check list you can use to make sure you are set up properly for the year ahead. With dentistry evermore competitive, a little time spent now will make sure that your main online marketing asset is fit to perform.

Are you fully mobile friendly?

We still receive enquiries where dentists try to reduce the price of a website by requesting that the mobile-friendly aspect is removed. Put bluntly, this is very short-sighted as not only will you detract from the user-experience but Google won’t like you too much either. Well over 40% of website visits now come from mobile devices and Google has formally introduced systems to favour mobile-friendly sites in the mobile search listings. So if your website is not mobile friendly or if you are using an old-fashioned independent mobile version, you are already well behind the curve. “Mobile-friendly” remains a top priority for 2016.

Is your content up-to-date?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

What should you expect from your dental SEO campaign?

rising Google positionsOne of the most frequently asked questions of my team at Dental Media is “how quickly can you get my website to number 1 in Google?” Whilst this is a fair and perfectly understandable question, there is no definite answer. In this blog we’ll take a look at the question of “time to rank” and why many different factors can affect it.

Realistic expectations and transparency

Many digital marketing (“SEO”) companies still proclaim that they can get your website to the number one position in double-quick time; but the reality is that they can’t. It’s now fairly apparent to most business owners who know how Google works, that there are no “magic” schemes for gaining top ranking results and pushing too hard can get your website penalised irretrievably. The link schemes pushed so heavily by a couple of dental marketing companies a few years back are now defunct and have left many website owners stuck with Google penalties.

Google’s key objective is to present users with the websites which provide the best answers to their search queries – so you need to work hard to ensure that your site meets the quality criteria to achieve this. Undoubtedly this means hard work to build a great website in the first instance and then ongoing efforts to maintain it with new information and to build up its overall authority and relevance for Google. Genuinely there are no quick wins, but the huge rewards that a prominently ranked website can deliver, do make the efforts worthwhile.

So which factors come into play?

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