Whilst most dentists have a good idea that good search positions are beneficial, you might be surprised to know that it is relatively few who really know the true worth. This probably explains why less than 15% of all dentists\u2019 websites have active SEO in place. Less than a third of these have what I would rate as effective SEO, but more of that later.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s blog we\u2019ll take a closer look at one of the most popular questions I\u2019m asked as an SEO specialist \u201cdoes my website need SEO?\u201d \u2013 the answer is \u201cvery probably yes\u201d as you\u2019ll see when you read on. Let\u2019s start with some basics\u2026.<\/p>\n
SEO is a process whereby the position of a web page is improved progressively in search engines. For the sake of this discussion, we\u2019ll refer to Google as this is the engine where over 80% of all search queries are directed in the UK. So it makes sense that our activities to boost dental website rankings<\/a> are primarily focused on Google.<\/p>\n Some people get confused and think it is a website that is actually ranked by Google, but it\u2019s actually a page within that website. So you can have a situation where, for example, the implants page ranks very well but the Invisalign page not so well. In this case the dentist may request a specific SEO campaign to improve searches around the word Invisalign to promote that particular page or pages. More generally though, a good SEO campaign will target a wide range of search terms to promote a range of website pages.<\/p>\n This is a huge topic in itself but as an overview, optimisation is in two main parts as follows:<\/p>\n An optimisation team will employ all of the techniques mentioned above to progressively improve the prominence of a website in the free listings Google. Although we don\u2019t tend to refer to other engines much in the UK, if a website does well in Google, it will often do well in other engines such as Bing too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is all about getting the right sort of traffic and in the right quantities to your website. After word-of-mouth referrals, organic searches in Google still deliver more enquiries than any other mechanism or channel, beating paid ads and typically much more cost-effectively too.<\/p>\n The top 3 positions in Google are crucial; along with prominence in the map\/local results that also appear on page one of searches. Indeed recent data suggest that nearly 76% of all clicks through to websites go via the top 3 search positions. It makes sense then that getting your website pages into the top 3 places for a variety of key searches has to be a priority. Thereafter, competition is typically quite significant and reaching the ultimate objective of position 1, can take a long time to achieve.<\/p>\n However, what is clear is that patients are shopping around for more expensive treatments and so if you are in the top 3 places, then you are \u201cin the mix\u201d and well placed to receive an enquiry.<\/p>\n It can take several months to gain momentum with website optimisation, particularly where competition is significant. Getting to the top positions can take a year or more and so patience is required \u2013 remember that it\u2019s not just you carrying out SEO as you ascend page 1 of the search results, those around you are too.<\/p>\n Typical SEO campaigns cost anything from around \u00a3300 to \u00a3800 but in areas of very strong competition this can easily extend above \u00a31k. The payback however is excellent and as a rule of thumb, using the \u201clifetime value of a patient\u201d model, a spend of \u00a3400 per month is easily covered by 4 or 5 new patient bookings. Where the treatments booked are more lucrative e.g. ortho or implants, then that payback is even better.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog dentists in the UK often look at the spend without scrutinising the returns on that spend. They then decide not to proceed unfortunately, and in doing so, quickly start to lose out in the race to rank well in Google. The longer the procrastination, the more catch-up has to be done.<\/p>\nHow is SEO carried out?<\/h3>\n
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Why is dental website SEO so important?<\/h3>\n
What payback can I expect from SEO and how long does it take?<\/h3>\n
Why does SEO have a poor reputation?<\/h3>\n