Wednesday, March 26, 2014
You may have noticed the buzz in the last few years about locally focused website optimization for businesses online (AKA local SEO), but what exactly does that mean, and how can you best utilize local SEO tactics to grow the patient base of your dental practice?
In simple terms, local SEO focuses on the location of your practice and the immediate surrounding communities you serve. There are many ways you can use digital marketing and online resources to help grow your local community awareness.
Here are four of the most important resources:
Google+ and Google Places for Business
Setting up a Google+ profile for yourself and claiming your Google Local business page may be the biggest things you can do to improve your local presence online. Major search terms such as “Denver Dentist” or “Cosmetic Dentistry in Chicago” for example, will return a group of highly relevant Google local business pages on the first page of search results.
Having a fully optimized and claimed page with photos, business hours, your address, phone number, and other vital information about your dental office will not only improve your chances of being listed in these first page results, it also will vastly enhance the searchers' experience when visiting your listing. Provide a thorough description of your practice and how your office stands out from the rest of the competition. Photos are an “introduction” to the office and staff, or the beautiful before and after shots of previous happy patients. Think of this as a chance to make a good first impression.
Additionally, having a Google+ profile can help you expand your first page listings. Having a robust G+ presence with a lot of people in your circles can enhance the changes of your practice showing up in search results. If you are active on G+ and a follower in one of your circles searches for a dental related term while signed into their Google account, your content has a greater chance of showing up in those search results because of your Google+ connection. Be active on G+ and continually work on sharing good content and growing those circles. It will pay off in the long run.
Online Reviews
Online reviews are often listed based on location or in conjunction with a local directory listing. The power of good reviews cannot be overstated. According to Raven Tools Blog, 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people that they know, and 70% also trust the opinions of e-reviewers they have never met.
Bottom line: If you have more positive reviews than the competition, you will likely win the trust of a potential new patient. It is important to spread the placement of your online reviews across several platforms. Sites such as Google Local, Yelp, Angie’s List, Healthgrades, etc., can boost that trust factor with online searchers who may not be familiar with your brand. Constantly ask for reviews from happy patients; it is one of the best forms of advertisement you can get.
Local Directory Registrations
Having citations in several relevant local business directories on the web is one asset a dental practice might often overlook. But the importance of having a strong online presence of your business name, address and phone number (otherwise known as NAP) cannot be overstated. Local data aggregators such as Infogroup, Acxiom, Localeze and CityGrid feed your NAP info to various directory and hyper-local databases across the internet. It is easy for your NAP info to get messy, so diligent focus on top level directory listings is incredibly important. Start by making sure your business information is accurate in local directories, such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, MapQuest, Foursquare, and Facebook. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of databases that may have your business listing—and may not have it entirely correct—so keeping tabs of your presence in at least the top level directories such as Google Local also is very important. These directory results may be served when someone searches for a term such as dentist in ‘your town,’ and you would never want them to get a wrong address location or an incorrect phone number for your business.
Social Media
Social Media is huge in helping dental offices get face time with potential new patients. If you interact with current patients via a social platform, you will not only be seen by the people you are interacting with but you will be seen by all their followers too! You never know who your message might reach through the vast interconnections of social media groups.
Remember to publicly thank anyone who leaves you a review on your social sites, reply to comments on your profile page, encourage interaction by posting relevant industry news, local news, or special office happenings. All these things can help people get a feel for who you are.
Are you running a monthly special? Tell your social community and ask them to share with friends. Be active, be friendly, and provide sharable valuable information—these are things online social media users are looking for! A little self-promotion never hurts, but don’t always focus on your practice. Remember, the key to good social media is providing valuable information to a community. Be community-minded and share things that people want to share with others!
In the long run, being active in these four areas online will help add a personal connection with your dental practice, boost your trust factor, and reach new patients you didn’t have access to before.