A critical aspect of an online marketing strategy is your dental website’s SEO. There are two types of SEO: On-page SEO refers to the efforts you make on your website to help you rank higher in the search engines, while off-page SEO includes all the things you implement off your website to help you rank higher.
Above all, quality content is king. While on-page SEO is vital to ranking competitively, if you’re not providing value and education to potential patients your efforts may be futile. All it takes is one click, and they're sailing on to the competing dentist down the street.
On the flip side, if you’re delivering quality content – while following sound on-page SEO principles – you’ll gain an unprecedented edge over your competitors who are catering to the same prospective new patient pool.
Following On-Page SEO Best Practices
Follow these simple best practices for on-page SEO when writing content for your dental website or blog:
1. Start off with the right keyword
This is what prospective patients type into their favorite search engine and how search engines organize their database. So the proper keyword strategy is critical to getting found online. Hone in on one main keyword, along with a few related keywords, to rank higher in Google while targeting your ideal patient persona. (i.e. a dentist located in Columbus, OH would want to use “Columbus teeth whitening” in their content as opposed to “Ohio teeth whitening” to procure quality traffic consisting of prospective patients in their area)
2. Be mindful of headings
Use headings and subheadings (H1, H2, etc.) wisely. These SEO-friendly tags make your content easier to read for the user and easier to scan for Google spiders.
3. Implement internal linking techniques
Linking to other pages on your website within each page escalates time-on-site while helping search engines to crawl the various pages of your site more easily.
4. Use occasional outbound links
Linking to websites within your niche other than your own is a relevancy signal to search engines that helps them better decipher the content on your page.
These are just a few dental SEO best practices you can follow when writing compelling website content. Word count, social sharing buttons, title tags…the list goes on, but it’s important to follow as many best practices as you can to avoid a significant loss of both traffic and revenue.
Online Dental Marketing – Done Right
As you already know, dentistry is quite competitive. Prospective patients have many options when it comes to maintaining and improving their oral health. So the drive to innovate and set your practice apart is imperative. And your website is an excellent place to begin.