If you read articles about search engine optimisation (SEO), then you will regularly see references to Google’s “algorithm” and it’s role in how the search engine works.
But what exactly is this and why is it so important?
Everyone knows about Google and how important it is for businesses who are seeking new enquiries. Of course, it’s no different for dentists who also need to get their websites prominent on page one.
But whilst most people have an idea about how Google works, surprisingly few know that the index of results is split into a number of different sections, paid results, local results, map results etc. We covered this in detail in an earlier blog post here.
One of the most important sections of the results is the local/map area – this shows on page one, typically as seven results which sit just below the top two or three. Associated with these results is the Google map listing for the business concerned. So why are these results so important?
It is generally recognised that a high performance, professional website is essential for any business and dentistry is no exception. However, like any purchase, it is important to understand the likely return from your investment and also how to measure it.
You may have seen some website companies making a big play of “ROI” in their own marketing materials with comments such as “we target 5 to 7 fold return” – however, they don’t actually say how they intend to achieve this or how it’s measured.
What ratios are they actually talking about and over what period is it measured? Increased revenue figures are often quoted but top-line numbers are way too superficial when it comes to evaluating an investment.
Considering that some of these providers want you to spend over £8k on a website, another £300 -> £500 per month to promote it in Google and a monthly maintenance fee on top, then it’s sensible to do some sums. As a minimum you need to be comparing the total cost of ownership of the assets with the clear profit they are generating – “wooly” marketing speak about revenue generation is just one small part of the equation.
Of course you don’t need to spend anything like those sums on your dental practice website but I’m using those numbers as an example of how you can be caught out if you don’t look deeply into the figures.
It appears that lots of dentists are attending Twitter courses, setting up accounts and embarking on a new phase of their social media journey.
However, taking a closer look at new accounts a few weeks down the track, it appear that lots of practices are getting it wrong and in doing so, wasting time without gaining any rewards. Here are a few of the basic mistakes I see regularly:
Twitter is a social media channel – emphasis on “social”. One of it’s main purposes is to provide a vehicle to promote engagement with interested parties. This doesn’t mean pushing out loads of self-promotional snippets and broadcasts about the services you offer which, frankly, folks will tend to ignore. Worse they will simply “unfollow” you.
A much better tactic is to engage on a more personal/social level, still being completely professional, but providing updates that people will find interesting and worthy of their attention. Once you’ve established a level of trust, then you can introduce a subtle, low-level of promotional information.
Dental practices contact us regularly to ask for help with developing their brand. Of course, for the majority, what is actually being requested is help with developing or revamping their brand identity as opposed to actually developing their brand per se.
In this blog article we will take a look at brand identity and brand development and why it is important to understand the difference between the two.
We recently started two projects for dentists who own and operate several practices in different locations. Two of the key considerations for these projects were as follows:
I’ll take these two questions in order.
In this blog I’ll take the opportunity to address two questions we are regularly asked about our web marketing campaigns for dentists – how long does SEO take to work and how long will the project run?
Given that the days of cheap SEO are well and truly over and effective marketing is not cheap, it’s understandable why a practice owner needs to understand what needs to be budgeted and when a suitable return on investment can be expected.
For some time, there has been a concerted effort by companies in the dental marketing industry to push their clients into monthly support contracts, often with substantial associated costs. But do you really need a support contract or is it simply a means of “easy money” for your supplier?
It’s worth a quick review of what such support contracts actually offer, if they actually represent good value for money and, importantly, what are the alternatives.
With changes pending for the provision of NHS dentistry, an increasing number of practices are reviewing their businesses and increasing the levels of private care they offer.
This trend looks set to gather in pace as dental business owners look forward and consider options to grow their businesses profitably in conjunction with providing excellent standards of care.
There are lots of nice looking dental websites these days (alongside plenty of shockers!) but how often do you see one that really makes you want to stop, look further and actually engage with the services on offer? I suspect that it’s actually not too many.
One of the main reasons why people are indifferent about websites and chose not to engage is down to the type of images that the site uses. A fancy modern website is all well and good but do you ever feel that you’ve seen the same thing before but perhaps presented in a slightly different way? The same type of “smiley face” stock images rolled out over and over again, all looking somewhat artificial and unattainably beautiful? After a while it can all start to get a little bit samey and unrealistic.
