This is a “top three” question which warrants a book full of answers but in this article I’ll try to give a quick overview of the key aspects to consider when embarking on web marketing for a dental practice<\/a>. I will also provide guidelines on establishment costs e.g. for a website and ongoing costs for aspects like search engine optimisation (SEO).<\/p>\n This is a simple one and its been covered numerous times elsewhere but to reiterate, the web provides more new dental patient enquiries than any other marketing channel. So you need to be there and be there with a professional and effective web presence. The web is also surprisingly cost-effective when compared to other marketing methods.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The dental website<\/strong><\/p>\n The first guidance here would be to avoid trying to do it yourself. This may sound like a scare tactic to create business but if you are in doubt, please take a look at some of the DIY dental websites that are out there and then decide if you think they are professional. Then compare them to the better, professionally built versions and decide which one you’d use.<\/p>\n So the cornerstone of any dental web marketing framework is the website. I won’t cover all of the key requirements here; suffice to say it needs to look professional, be clear, easy to use and designed to encourage your potential new patients to get in touch. It should also feature responsive design, or as a minimum, be complemented by a supporting mobile optimised site. Please take a look at our dental websites page<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n For non-competitive environments, a website may be all that you need. However, where competition is greater, additional channels will be needed to help drive traffic to the website and also push you higher up Google.<\/p>\n The dental blog<\/strong><\/p>\n With Google rewarding fresh content and patients looking for new and current information, a blog is becoming an essential component in the overall web marketing strategy. It’s also exceptional for SEO and in fact, my tool of choice for helping to establish a web foot-print quickly and effectively. Your dental blog is a hub for broadcasting content to other channels on the internet e.g. social media.<\/p>\n Social media<\/strong><\/p>\n Many dentists still grimace when we mention social media and how it is now playing a key role. More recently, social media has become more than just an “engagement” tool and is now considered to be increasingly important for improving search ranking. “Likes”, “Shares”, “Retweets”, “+1’s” etc are indicators of your web authority and certainly on Google’s radar. So a carefully planned social media presence is becoming increasingly important.<\/p>\n Dental video<\/strong><\/p>\n Video has come to the fore as a marketing tool over the last couple of years but its popularity is expected to forge ahead in 2013. Video is extremely effective and versatile – it is exceptional for promoting referrals via patient testimonials as well as providing excellent SEO benefits.<\/p>\n E-newsletter marketing\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It is surprising how few dentists market to their existing clients – often the only contact is a 6 monthly check-up reminder. A targeted monthly e-mail shot is a simple and effective way to keep your practice prominent in the minds of your patients, particularly now that the web offers ample opportunities for them to shop around.<\/p>\n Search engine optimisation – SEO for Google page 1 rankings<\/strong><\/p>\nWhy the web?<\/h3>\n
How do I get started?<\/h3>\n
Complementary dental marketing channels<\/h3>\n