As marketing professionals, we understand the importance of having a strong online presence to attract and retain patients. Your ability to retain and gain new patients is the lifeline of your practice. Even still, we know that not every single patient who needs dentistry is the patient for you. Many of the dentists we work with are cosmetic, neuromuscular, and sleep dentists, so we understand how unique your patients are. It’s important for dentists to utilize the right online marketing tools (in the right way) to gain more quality patients.
In this post, we will share eight online marketing ideas specifically tailored for dentists like you, including optimizing your website for local SEO, creating the best dental website, updating your website with E-E-A-T content, having a consistent social media presence, investing in pay-per-click advertising, and encouraging online reviews. These strategies can help you gain more quality patients through effective online marketing for dentists.
Create the Best Dental Website
Okay, this may seem obvious! Of course, you need a website. But you can’t create any old website and expect it to convert people into patients for your practice. Your website needs to lead patients through a journey of discovery as they search for answers to their problems. Your website is the first impression potential patients will have of your dental practice. So make sure your website is:
- Easy to navigate.
- Visually appealing.
- Optimized for search engines (so patients can find you!)
- Highly functional with intuitive features.
- ADA compliant.
- Full of helpful and unique content.
- Showcasing the services you want to perform.
- Targeting your ideal patient through copywriting specifically tailored to their (dentistry-related) hopes and dreams.
- Targeting your ideal patient through photos that speak to them.
- Optimized for mobile use.
Optimize Your Website for Local SEO
Optimizing your website for local SEO will help you rank higher in local search results. This means adding location-specific keywords, such as “cosmetic dentist in [city name],” to your website’s content and meta descriptions.
Using the right keywords is just one aspect of local SEO. We have written numerous articles detailing exactly how to target local patients through search engine optimization. You can start with the article What’s Local SEO for Dentists? And then branch off to other articles that give actionable information on targeting local patients, like Want to Meet the Mark with Local SEO? Here’s the Type of Content You Should Post. We even have video content on SEO if that’s more appealing to you!
Update Your Website with E-E-A-T Content
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. These are four of the major factors Google looks at when determining what website to show when a patient makes an organic search, like “Should I get veneers or ortho?” Your website needs to be functional, intuitive, and optimized for mobile, at the very least, to meet these standards. But beyond that, your website content must emulate experience, expertise, authority, and trust. There are a few ways you can do this:
- Starting a blog is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field and attract more patients. Write about dental procedures, oral health, and any other topics that your patients might find interesting.
- Write Patient Education articles.
- Update your existing website pages and add more when applicable.
- Write a patient newsletter and post it to your website.
Ask yourself these things each time you plan to post content to your site. If you answer “no,” go back to the drawing board and really dig deep to make sure your content is great.
- Is it relevant to the kind of dentistry I want to perform?
- Does it target specific keywords that I researched and know my ideal patient is searching for?
- Is this piece of content complete? In other words, does it thoroughly explore the topic or link to another piece that does?
- Is this piece of writing coming from a unique angle?
- Does it include reasons to believe (RTB)? Like organizations that back up your expertise, reviews from other patients, or how many people you’ve helped with that specific problem.
Pro Tip: don’t overload your piece with RTBs! Only use one or two.
Have a Consistent Social Media Presence
Social media is an excellent way to connect with existing and potential patients to promote your dental practice. Share posts about your services, before-and-after photos of patients, and any community events you participate in.
Pro Tip: staying involved with the community creates a sense of belonging for your patients. Since you’re active in the community, patients feel like they matter to you, and you matter to them. Your involvement makes patients’ commitment to you stronger because you make them feel like they belong simply by going to your dental practice.
If we had to give one tip about winning on social media, remember that social media is social! Make sure you’re participating in your patient’s day by interacting with their posts and responding to their comments. Being social with your audience allows you to participate in the conversation rather than lecturing at the front of the room. Being social is the purpose of social media, so it’ll go a long way in helping you gain new followers, connections, clicks, and patients.
Invest in Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a highly effective way to drive traffic to your website and attract new patients. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, and you can target specific keywords and demographics. Read more about why PPC is important for dentists and what keywords you may want to target with your campaigns.
Encourage Online Reviews
Encouraging your patients to leave online reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook can help boost your online reputation and attract more patients. This online marketing for dentists idea is two-fold. You’ll need to encourage the reviews and respond to them. You can learn more about how to respond to reviews here.
Pro Tip: Ask for reviews but don’t pay for them! When a patient tells you how wonderful their experience has been, politely ask them to leave a review and give them an easy way to find your review platforms. Like through a QR code or timely text message after they leave the office.
Write a Patient Newsletter
Newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your current patients and remind them to schedule appointments or of other things (ex: the importance of good sleep hygiene.) It’s possible that your patients will forward the email to someone else who may need your services!
Get Online Marketing for Dentists
Implementing these online marketing strategies for dentists can help you attract more patients and grow your practice. If you need help getting started, Schedule A Strategy Call We’d love to help you take your online marketing to the next level!
