by AdminPosted on Posted in Advice

With a plethora of practice marketing ideas available, where should you start?

basics for a dental web marketing planThe world of dental web marketing has become an increasingly crowded space, particularly so in the last 2 – 3 years as new companies try to enter. Alongside this, the number of marketing channels and applications have also increased – but are they all really worthwhile and where exactly should they sit on your priority list?

I recently wrote about two dentists who contacted us to enquire about apps for their practices – and yet, on closer inspection I found that their websites were horribly outdated. Whilst apps certainly have a place, I don’t think anyone would place them above a modern, mobile-optimised website in terms of priority.

What I’m trying to illustrate is that it is extremely important to make sure that you understand which dental web marketing tools will deliver the best return on your investment and which service providers have the experience and track-record to make a real difference.

Building the basic web marketing infrastructure

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

The basics of localised and personalised search

Regular readers of this blog will know that we write articles which try to answer basic questions about internet marketing in a straightforward and accessible way. The ideas for the articles are often generated out of conversations with dental clients where it has becomes clear that basic principles of how the web works, are misunderstood.

Today’s blog is in the same vein and results from a recent conversation with a new SEO client where SEO strategy was being discussed, in particular how to optimise a dental website for regional searches in Google.

During the discussions it became clear that the dentist did not understand how Google presents different information to searchers dependent on various factors, for example where they are physically located and their historical search pattern i.e. localised and personalised search. This is extremely important to understand for dentists who are developing a search marketing strategy, whether in-house or in association with their web marketing partner. So let’s make a very quick overview of local and personalised search and how it affects your web promotion campaigns.

Localised search

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by AdminPosted on Posted in social

Recent Facebook changes to be aware of

Facebook logoFacebook regularly changes how their social media platform functions, often rather badly if user feedback is anything to go by.

However, a couple of recent updates are actually quite positive and worth noting for use in your Facebook dental marketing campaigns.

Improved Ad. targeting

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Search engine optimisation – not dead at all, just harder

seo is not deadI recently read an article by a guy who is active in dental marketing which suggested that SEO is dead and that pay-per-click is the only viable way forward. Reading the article you might have thought that the guy actually worked for Google and was quietly promoting their AdWords system, but I prefer to think that he was just a long way off with his claims.

In reality, whilst organic (free) ranking positions exist in the search engines, SEO will also exist as website owners work out the best ways to get their sites into prominent positions. Unless Google randomises the process (they won’t) or fills page one of the search results completely with paid adverts, we can expect SEO to thrive and evolve.

Why SEO is a lot harder than it used to be

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by AdminPosted on Posted in pay per click

Remarketing – the less well known method of Google advertising

Many dentists know and use Google AdWords for their pay-per-click advertising but very few actually know about or use the other main method of advertising on Google – the system known as Remarketing.

This is a technique whereby you present targeted adverts to users after they visit your website and continue on to surf the web. So whilst they may not have engaged with you first time around, subtle reminders about your services are presented to them as they continue their web journey. Whilst this may sound a little sneaky, it’s actually in wide use across the web – have you ever wondered how or why those same adverts keep appearing on websites you visit? Whilst some may find this annoying, it is a proven and cost-effective marketing method.

How does it work?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in Advice

Offering incentives to encourage reviews – is this sensible?

Google review illustrationGetting good Google reviews is important for two main reasons:

  • great reviews catch the eye in search results and serve as a recommendation of your services – sensible, obvious stuff.
  • reviews are strongly considered to be a key factor for ranking within the local results which appear on page 1 of Google – in the web marketing world still often known as the 7-pack ranking (although that number can vary)

So most business owners, including dentists, are very well aware of the value of reviews. The hard part however, is getting them! This is primarily down to a couple of key factors, 1) folks can just be too busy to go and review you even if they have the best intentions and 2) Google doesn’t make it easy by insisting that you need an account to make a review.

So we all know the value of reviews but we all get frustrated with the process. This is why lots of creative methods have been devised for helping to build your businesses review count, from gentle persuasion right through to paying companies to do it for you. The former is fine but the latter very bad!

Can I offer incentives to my patients to give me a good review?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Can you recover from a ranking penalty?

We are currently helping several dentists with website recovery after their sites were hit by Google penalties, “awarded” for over-zealous SEO undertaken by their former dental marketing partners.

In all cases, the clients had previously held prominent positions on the coveted page one of Google and profited handsomely from this. However, Google changed it’s quality criteria significantly and hit lots of websites, including those of dentists, very hard indeed. One of the new clients we are helping reports that over 60% of his business has gone since the demotion and that he is now struggling. This is unsurprising given that the web is a primary source of new patient enquiries.

Why do websites lose ranking overnight?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in Mobile

Poorly configured mobile websites are being relegated by Google

This is one of those important topics which most website owners will be unaware of simply because it’s quite technical. Dental web marketing companies should understand its significance but may keep it low key because it means significant re-work of dentist’s websites. So what is the issue exactly?

faulty mobile redirects diagram

This simple diagram shows the problem – i.e. where all pages of the desk-top version of your website are re-directed to the home page and not the corresponding page in the mobile version. The effect of this on your search positions is significant and needs to be addressed….

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by AdminPosted on Posted in seo

Resting on your laurels with an old website may be bad planning Google confirms

Updating your website every few years is a sound investment as we’ve covered elsewhere in this blog. Keeping your site fresh, highly-functional and professional will not only keep you ahead of the local competition but, according to the latest advice from Google, will also preserve and even enhance your search rankings. The same official announcement also suggests that failure to update will likely see your website slipping away in search results.

Here is the official video release from Matt Cutts of Google:

 So what’s going on here?

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by AdminPosted on Posted in Advice

What is on-line reputation management (ORM) and how does this apply to dentists?

In this highly connected, web enabled world, bad news about a business can travel fast and wreak lots of damage very quickly. It’s very easy, perhaps too easy, for a disgruntled client or disenchanted staff member to leave a poor web review and give your reputation a severe kick.

What’s more, those bad reviews can linger around for quite some time, visible in the search engines and continuing to damage your business for months to come. Not a good situation for any business.

This is all too true for dental professionals – you will possibly have looked in Google and seen those one star reviews against a dental practice which stick out like a sore thumb and provide an instant turn-off? This is a nightmare scenario for all business owners and one which needs to be managed closely.

How can I check what people are saying about my dental practice on the web? (phase 1 – monitoring)

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