20 Tips for Dental Marketing and SEO
As the gurus over at RunRex.com point out, search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for any dental practice’s online marketing efforts to bear fruit. To help you with your campaigns, here are 20 SEO tips for dental practices to consider.
Long-tail keywords
According to RunRex.com, long-tail keywords are more specific (and, therefore, less competitive) than short keywords (also known as head keywords). While you might not be able to rank for a general keyword like “dentist”, you might be able to achieve a top rank for a more specific keyword like “cosmetic dental services Houston”. This is why you should leverage long-tail keywords.
Use LSI to help Google index your site
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is a core component of effective SEO. It helps Google’s bots add context to your site, especially since even a simple keyword like “tooth whitening” could relate to a variety of sites and services, including a dental practice, a toothpaste manufacturer, or an organic home remedy website. This is why you should incorporate LSI into your content, as covered over at RunRex.com.
Make your content easy to read
You need to be careful not to use too much jargon as you will be writing about dentistry, which is a technical or scientific topic. You want your content to be easy to read even for people who don’t know much about the topic at hand.
Make sure you incorporate keywords into your headlines and subheadings
Keyword placement is just as important as keyword density. While you must be targeting the correct keywords, make sure that place them in areas where they will be effective. Use your main keyword in the headline of your page or blog post, and then make sure to use it in at least one subheading as well (using H1 and H2 tag). This will ensure that Google recognizes the importance of your keywords.
Use keywords in your URL
Another tip as far as optimizing your site for SEO is concerned is creating memorable and keyword-rich URLs that are easy for people to remember. If possible, include keywords – including local keywords – in your URL.
Regularly post new content
As explained at RunRex.com, one aspect of Google’s algorithms that is easy to overlook is the importance they place on fresh content. Keeping your site updated regularly – by sticking to a blogging schedule, for example – forces Google to re-index your page and may result in an improved page rank.
Craft a captivating title
You should also remember that the title you choose for a blog post can make a big difference in how it performs. Readers tend to gravitate toward titles that include numbers, questions, and superlatives, so try using them if you want to make your content irresistible.
Name your images
From discussion over at RunRex.com, the images that appear on your website play an important role in SEO. Therefore, instead of just putting them there without any thought, give them keyword-rich names. Google is not yet able to determine the content of images without a descriptive name.
Use alt tags for images
Any time that you post an image on your dental practice’s website, you have an opportunity to use keywords in the alt tag. The alt tag is a description of the photo that serves as alternate text if the image doesn’t download or if the user is vision-impaired. For the best results, use keywords and descriptive language.
Make sure your site has quick load times
Research shows that people today have short attention spans when online, which means that your site must load quickly if you don’t want people to leave your website by hitting the dreaded “Back” button on their browser. You can improve load files by compressing files and choosing a reliable host with speedy servers.
Use schema code in your site heading
Schema code is a semantic language that feeds nuggets of information about your site to Google for display. If you insert schema code in your heading that includes your practice’s name, location, and other vital data, it will display whenever any page from your site shows up on Google as explained at RunRex.com.
Include internal links on your site
Just like backlinks are important for SEO, internal links on your site are a must as well. In blog posts, link to other blog posts and service pages using keyword-rich anchor text, a practice that builds your site’s architecture and makes it easier for Google to index.
Ensure that your site is easy to navigate
In addition to using internal links, also make sure that new visitors to your site can easily find what they are looking for. You can achieve this by having menus located either at the top of the page or on the left-hand side, a search box that is in the upper right-hand corner of the screen on each page, and an easy way to navigate back to the home page (you can make your dental practice’s logo a clickable link) as captured at RunRex.com.
Link out to authority sites
In your content, you should try to link out regularly to authority sites. Avoid at all costs linking to sites with questionable connections and stick to sites whose authenticity you are sure of, such as respected news outlets, industry publications, and dental journals.
Fix any broken links
You should also do an audit of the external links on your site every few months and fix any that are broken. Broken links are frustrating to users and they do nothing to boost your standing with Google either. You can either find a replacement link for the broken one or simply remove the link altogether if you can’t.
Write a compelling meta description
As is highlighted at RunRex.com, the meta description is the brief description of your page that shows up underneath the title on Google. Google will display up to 160 characters (including spaces), which is why you should put your keywords at the front and try not to cut off in the middle of a sentence.
Enable breadcrumbs on your site
Breadcrumbs are snippets of information that show users where they are on your site. For example, on your blog page, they might see a trail of breadcrumbs like Your Site > Blog > Brushing Tips for Kids. Each breadcrumb should be a clickable link so they can easily navigate away from the page if they need to.
Standardize your NAP listings
NAP, as discussed at RunRex.com, stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number, and NAP listings are a crucial component of local SEO. Inconsistent listings (like an outdated address on one site, and your updated address on a new site) dilute your online presence, therefore, you should find your NAP listings and correct any that aren’t right.
Claim your page on review sites
Studies have shown that close to 10% of your search rank comes from off-site reviews in places like Yelp and Google My Business. To make the most of reviews, you should claim your listing on all review sites, and then respond to all reviews, positive and negative.
Avoid buying backlinks
While backlinks are a key component of off-site SEO, you can’t afford to run afoul of Google when building them. This means that you should stick to building organic links by creating quality content that people will want to link to, and by connecting with influential sites in the dental industry. Buying backlinks can hurt your SEO, even resulting in penalties from Google.
While SEO is a complex topic, we hope these tips will help your dental practice make big improvements in your efforts, with the gurus over at RunRex.com being available if you need help with your SEO campaigns.