The future of SEO for dentists is social
Social media signals take on heightened relevance in Google’s new world of SEO
Hang on a moment? Surely social media is all about customer engagement, so what’s all this we are hearing about its use for SEO? Well, for sure the primary role of social media is engagement and the opportunity to promote your brand exponentially via word-of-mouth referrals. However, now its becoming increasingly evident that social media is starting to play a significant role in SEO. So what’s it all about and how do dentist’s benefit?
SEO – the old, defunct way
Up until quite recently, it was relatively simple to gain prominent Google rankings using a combination of a little hard work and a mixture of the following:
- article submission
- directory submission
- low quality one-way links
- blog commenting
- blog roll links
- etc
Quantity really could defeat quality and a few hundred “poor” links could get a site a high page one ranking. However, this type of link profile is actually starting to disadvantage sites following the recent Google ‘Panda’ and ‘Penguin’ updates and those old techniques have very limited value now; indeed some are dangerous. So where do we go from here?
Dental SEO – the new order
It’s still early days following the turbulence of Google’s game-changing updates but an off-site SEO profile based on the following elements and under-pinned by an active dental social media presence is starting to bear fruit:
- active blogging
- social network posting and engagement
- social book marking
- quality article posts on respected sites
- relevant, quality one-way links
- submission to local business directories and relevant, niche directories
- use of video and links from YouTube and other video platforms
There are of course lots of other ways to glean useful links but start with the sources mentioned above and you’ll be in decent shape. Keep a keen eye on quality, diversity and natural link structuring, keep your social channels active and you will stay ahead of the pack in the SEO race. If you persist with the old methods, not only will you fail to progress, but you could also be penalised.
Act now to avoid Google penalties and a ranking drop
It is now more important than ever to understand exactly what your dental SEO provider is delivering – ask for evidence of their work and act quickly if it looks like they are still behind the curve. If you need free advice or an independent audit, we will be pleased to perform this for you absolutely free-of-charge and with no obligation. Call us on 01332 672548 to get started.