SEO For Dentists: 10 Best Practices To Rank On SERPs

A search engine’s main purpose is to deliver a set of relevant search results in the shortest amount of time possible. The more a search engine delivers what a consumer wants, the better their experience with the search engine, and the more likely they are to use it again.

You can rank at the top in Local Services or Google Ads if you’re a dental practice. You can rank in local map results, and you can rank in organic results below Google Maps. Dental SEO strategies help improve your rankings on Google Maps and organic results.

Optimizing local service ads and Google ads is also known as search engine marketing (SEM), a different type of digital marketing for dentists distinct from search engine optimization (SEO).

The ranking of your dental website on the SERP will improve or decrease based on the following factors:

10 SEO for Dentists Strategies to Improve Online Presence

• Improve Technical Errors

Technical SEO accounts for 30% to 40% of SERP (Search engine results page) rankings. It involves optimizing certain website features to make sure it’s fast and easy for search engine crawlers to find. A website should have good speed and be easily accessible to these crawlers to rank better.

Search engines strive to offer users with the best search results possible. If your site loads slowly and causes users to leave quickly (“bounce”), it is less likely to rank as a top result. A technically-optimized website should:

• Website speed
• Be easy to access to search engines
• Use robots.txt file
• Avoid dead links
• Avoid duplicate content
• Secure SSL/HTTPS
• Use structured data
• Use a site map
  

It is okay if you don’t know these aspects. If you are unfamiliar with them, you may want to seek expertise. Contact an affordable SEO company. They will perform a technical website audit using available online tools.

• Improve Page Speed Load Times

We’re going to piggyback on #1 because it’s so important. If your website’s load time surpasses 3 seconds, 40% of visitors will leave. Google knows that the user experience suffers when this happens, and your website rankings also suffer. If you haven’t checked your website’s load speed yet, you can do it with Google’s Page Speed Insight tool or run a test.

It’s important to keep your website updated. One of the latest requests from Google is to convert all your images to WebP format. WebP format allows you to display images of much better quality but at a much lower file size. This is much better than using PNG or JPEG files.

• Claim Your Google Business Profile

Your dental practice Google business profile is a free Google business listing that lets you manage how your dental practice information shows on Google Maps and Google Search. It’s the first step to increasing your visibility and ranking on Google’s map. Think of it like your own virtual storefront.

When potential patients are looking for a dentist in their area, they’ll often look at Google’s maps. Your Google business profile will show important details like your location, hours of operation, contact information, reviews, practice photos, etc.

Why is this important for ranking success?

• Viewability: Patients often search for nearby dental offices on Google Maps. An optimized Google business profile will ensure you appear in those local searches. 
• Trust: New patients are more likely to choose your dental practice if they see positive reviews and information that’s accurate and up-to-date. 
• Engagement and Insight: With GBP, you can post updates and photos about your practice, products, offers, or events. This will help you engage with both new and existing patients more effectively. 
• Analytics: GBP comes with built-in analytics that help you understand how patients

• Update Your Google Business Profile

Once you have claimed your profile, you can update your listing with helpful information that will help your listing rank higher.

The first step is to ensure your NAP (name, address, and phone) is correct. We use the USPS address for GBP listings. Check your USPS address HERE.

• Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Now that you’ve claimed and verified your NAP information, it’s time to improve your Google Business Profile (GBS). Here are some steps you’ll want to take as you get started:

First category: If you’re a dentist, don’t use “Dental Clinic” but “Dentist” instead.

Secondary category

Choose a secondary category where you offer the services, but don’t load up too many categories. We suggest 2-3 unless you’re a full-service practice.

• Add all your services in the services section
• Use up all 20 location slots
• Post at least 2 times a month
• Link to your website and add a scheduling link if you have one
• Update accepted insurance
• Add products if you offer them
• Add 50+ images and continue adding images just like you would on your social media accounts.

• Select the Correct Keywords

SEO for dentists begins with identifying the services you’d like to optimize. One strategy is to optimize for significant keywords. Here are the top 5 for dentists in your area:

• “Dentists in [Your area]”
• “Best Dentists in [Your Area”
• “Dentist near [Your Area]”
• “Emergency Dentist [Your Area]”

Long-tail keywords are more specific and often longer than frequently searched keywords. Long-tail keywords tend to get less traffic but are usually easier to optimize. An example of a long-tail keyword would be

• “dentists that accept medical insurance”
• “Dentist that provides dental implants for seniors”
• “Dentists that whiten teeth”
• “Dentist that whitens teeth”
• “All on all dent implants near me”
• “family dental offices near me”

For those who don’t know how to choose keywords, check out ahrefs’ keyword generator. You can use Google’s Keyword.

1. Blogs for SEO Benefit

The importance of blogs as an SEO strategy for dentists has never been greater. When your blog content is relevant and engaging, prospective patients will see your practice as a reliable source. Crawler will see this as a positive sign that you are creating helpful content, and your blog posts will rank higher in the SERPs. The top dental SEO company always uses blog posts. 

The first step is to add a blog to your site. Anyone in dental website design can do it in a matter of minutes. The second step is to create customized and original content as frequently as possible. Your dental blog posts should be at least 650 words in length. 

Patients searching for a dentist online use geo-locator and services in search phrases. When optimizing your site for keywords, you will want to use these geo-locators to provide Google with an easy way to link your website to the patient’s search phrase.

• Create High-Quality Content

One of the best ways to increase your dental practice’s online presence is to create informative, high-quality content that speaks to your audience. Here are some tips on how to create content that ranks higher on SERPs:

• Create educational blog posts that teach your audience about dental issues, treatments, and procedures. Write posts that address common dental concerns like cavity prevention or teeth whitening or the advantages of regular dental visits.

• If you’re not a big fan of written content, video content is a great way to get your message out there. You can create videos explaining different dental procedures or providing oral hygiene tips. You can also include your team and your practice in the videos. You can establish a more personal connection with your audience with video content.

• Post patient reviews and case studies of your practice on your website. These can help you build trust with prospective patients and increase their likelihood of choosing you as their dental practice.
• Create a FAQ section on your site to answer common questions and questions your patients have. This will not only provide valuable information for your audience, but it will also improve your website’s relevancy and authority in search engines.
  

To increase your dental practice’s online presence and get more patients to visit your website, you must create informative, high-quality content that meets your target audience’s needs and wants. If you’re looking for a professional dental SEO company to help you create content for your site, consider hiring one specializing in dental SEO.

• Create Local Inbound Links

Local inbound leads are one of the most important SEO for Dentists because they can significantly improve your website’s ranking. Here’s how to create local inbound leads to improve your dental practice’s online presence:

• Engage with local businesses and organizations in your community and look for ways to work together. For example, you could write guest blogs for them, attend their events, or even sponsor their community initiatives.
• Connect with dental professionals in your community. Attend local networking events such as seminars, conferences, and more. This will allow you to network with others in your area.
• Create Local Inbound Links from Reliable and Relevant Sources in Your Community
• Increase your website’s authority and relevancy in local searches.

• Have a Strong Internal Linking Strategy

Internal links lead from your website to other pages on your website. For example, a blog post about dental implants has links to your service page. Search engines need access to your crawlable link structure to find all the pages on your website. Crawlable links allow search engines to crawl a website’s architecture. The page is indexed when a new page is found via a crawlable link.

Most websites make the fatal error of burying or hiding their main link navigation in a way that search engines can’t see. This decreases their chances of being found in search engine indices.

Also, having a website means something other than Google knowing what kind of patients you’re trying to draw in. Internal links help solve this problem by organizing your links to show Google which services are most relevant to your practice.

Conclusion

These SEO best practices can help you increase your dental practice’s online presence, bring in more patients, and help your business grow. If you’re looking for an SEO services provider to help you implement an effective SEO plan, consider hiring one of these affordable SEO services providers.