Did you know about 75 percent of consumers in the U.S. go online to look for dentists and research dental treatments?
That’s right. Consumers aren't just
shopping on Amazon. They’re also relying on the web to get the best
professional services, including dentistry.
As a dental clinic owner, what are
you doing to place your business where your prospective customers are spending
their time? You need to invest in online marketing for dentists.
In this article, we’re fleshing out
digital marketing tips that will help you put your clinic where it needs to be:
online.
Let’s dig in.
1.
Build a Professional Dental Website
About 20
percent of small businesses in the U.S. don’t have a website in
2022, so it’s not unimaginable that there are dental clinics without a website.
If yours is among them, you’ve been leaving money on the table. Since a vast
majority of patients look up dentists online, your website-less clinic isn’t
likely to show up on their search engine results.
As such, your first step to taking
your dental clinic is to build a website. Professional dental websites
have specific standards they need to meet, including fast page load speed,
responsive design, detailed service pages, and social media links.
Do you have the skills to build such
a website for your clinic? We doubt it. Hire an experienced web developer to
put together a website that will give your practice an edge.
If you already have a website, it
doesn’t necessarily mean you have the base covered. Especially if you have
never given it a major design refresh, now is the best time to do it. A
professional will audit it, find mistakes, and make updates that will transform
it into a website that can compete.
2.
Start Blogging
Having a business website without an
active blog is like having a car with a faulty fuel pump. Blogging is the fuel
that drives a business up the search engine rankings. It sends over 50 percent more traffic and 94 percent more links
to the website, both of which are key for SEO.
Even without thinking about the SEO
benefits, blogging is good for enhancing your customers’ experience. Remember,
they’re researching dental treatments and other related topics online. When
your blog covers these topics, you’ll be giving them all the information
they’re looking for.
Like website development and design,
blogging isn’t a task you should be DIYing. It’s best to hire professional
content writers to create blog posts that are not only authoritative,
informative, and engaging, but also optimized for search.
3.
List Your Dental Clinic on GMB and Other Business Directories
For starters, GMB is short for
Google My Business. It’s a business directory maintained by Google, so
naturally, it’s the most consequential. When clients use Google to search for
your dental clinic, there’s a high chance they’ll find it in the top results if
it has a GMB profile.
However, it’s not just GMB that you
should focus on. There are several dental business directories, including:
- The Dentist Hub
- The American Dental Association
- Dentist Directory
- Smile Guide
While you don’t have to list your
clinic on as many directors as you can, it’s important to ensure you maintain a
consistent profile on the ones you list on. The business name, physical
address, website address, and other details should be the same across all the
directories.
Most business directories allow
users to leave online reviews of their listed businesses. This is crucial since
many consumers read the reviews before visiting a business. Besides indicating
the quality of services your clinic offers, these online reviews give your
clinic social proof.
4.
Make the Most of Social Media for Dentists
Every dental marketing strategy for
dental clinics must include a comprehensive social media plan. Although most
online experiences still begin with a search engine, social media comes in
handy when you want to expand your clinic’s digital presence and engage
directly with your customers.
By now, you probably already have a
page for your clinic on Facebook, which is the largest social media channel.
That’s a good start, but it doesn’t automatically mean Facebook is the right
social platform for your business.
Different social media networks attract
different audiences. While Facebook is popular among older generations,
millennials and the younger generations prefer Instagram, Snapchat, and
increasingly, TikTok. So, if you’re targeting younger audiences, you need to
focus on the social channels they love.
Content is the key to getting the
most out of social media. Your audience wants to see fresh, exciting content.
They also want you to engage with them via comments and likes.
YouTube is another social platform
you shouldn’t neglect. Video is now the most preferred content format, and
YouTube gives you the tools to create a thriving channel for your clinic.
There, you can post educational videos on various dental issues, as well as
patient testimonials, meet the team videos, and office tour videos.
5.
Use Paid Digital Advertising
Digital marketing is highly
cost-effective compared to traditional methods because you can run organic
campaigns. If you’re up to the task, you can run your website and create the
content. Even if you outsource to professionals, the cost is still friendly.
However, if you want quicker
results, you can go for paid digital advertising methods, such as search engine
advertising and social media advertising.
For example, PPC advertising on
Google gives you the ability to put your website on top of the search engine
results. When a user searches for a dental clinic in your area, your dental
website will show up as an ad right on top of page 1, as long as you’ve
optimized your campaign properly.
Put
These Digital Marketing Tips to Use
In a world where consumers are
shopping on the internet, dental clinics have no choice but to be online.
There’s a lot that you have to do to fully digitize your practice, but
implementing these digital marketing tips is a good place to start.
Keep tabs on our blog to learn more
about running a successful dental
practice.
