Using the Best Methods of Local SEO to Power Your Dental Practices’ Online Visibility

The internet is flooded with branded, high-quality, blog content that is targeted towards consumers and dental patients alike.

Major brands and dental franchises are using online blogging as a way to dominate the search engine results page, making it much harder to compete for online visibility. In order to stand out in such a saturated market – you’ll need to follow SEO methods and best practices to drive local traffic to your website.

What Is Local SEO and How Has Google Influenced It?

Local search engine optimization is a digital marketing method that businesses can use to increase their online visibility without needing to create a ton of content.

The main focus of local SEO is to claim business listings on Google and Bing, manage online reviews and ratings to use as social proof, and appear with accurate business information when a user performs a local search.

Over the years, Google has changed up its algorithms, partly due to bad SEO practices and partly due to the increased amount of content that has been generated online. Between 2008 and 2014, Google indexed 1-30 trillion pages of content [1], forcing Google to change up its layout.

There are two main things to remember when considering how Google displays search results:

Organic listings do not appear directly at the top of the page and start about half-way down
Google ads look extremely similar to organic listings – so much so, that if you aren’t looking out for the “ad” disclaimer, it is easy to miss-click on a paid advertisement.

When searching via Google, potential patients are incredibly unlikely to scroll past the first page of search results. This makes it that much more important to guarantee that your dental practice shows up on that first page.

In order to drive patients to your dental practice, you need to take advantage of how Google operates. Google prioritizes web pages that show maps, videos, and images to those searching as it gives more valuable information, quickly – so be sure to include those on your site.

Why Google Maps, Local Citations, & NAPs Are Powerhouses at Driving Traffic to Your Dental Practice

If your dental practice has a little-to-no social presence, potential patients are going to be skeptical.

This is because consumers want to see that you have a positive reputation in your community, that you have a trustworthy online presence, and that you are worth their time.

Here’s why Google Maps, local citations, and NAPs are your best friend when it comes to driving traffic – and yes, even more, powerful than blogs and articles.

What Google Maps Offers Your Dental Practice

1. Listing in the top 3 spots on Google Maps is going to significantly attract new patients via phone calls, appointments, and website clicks because the majority of individuals performing local searches via Google are looking for a business with the intention of buying.
2. Potential patients who are completing “near me” search queries will only see the first 3 listings on Google Maps before they have to click “see more results.”  About 50% of those who click on search engine result pages, click 1 of the 3 top results.
3. The top 3 results provide major business exposure and a competitive advantage over your rivals. This is because the top 3 results are perceived as more credible and relevant to their search.
4. 70% of those who look up your practice directly from Google Maps are likely to use the “click-to-call” feature.

Rather than reading through a website or scrolling over to the contact page, potential patients can get all of your business information in one 1-click when using Google Maps.

What Do Local Citations Offer?

A local citation is any linked or unlinked listing of your practice that includes information like your business address, contact information, and a website link.

Local citations are found in business directories, on social media pages and groups, and on review-focused websites. They’re much better for driving traffic than blogs are, and here’s why:

1. Local citations help search engine crawlers verify and legitimize your business via your business information. This, in turn, has a massive impact on your local search optimization efforts. The more your information appears online and appears online correctly, the more authority and visibility you will have.
2. As your local search engine rank improves, so does your visibility in local search results.
3. Local citations help you establish trust with potential patients. The more authoritative and trustworthy websites report your information accurately, the likelier you are to achieve high-quality traffic.

Why NAPs Are Fantastic for Driving Traffic

Google and Bing algorithms love consistency because they want to present accurate information to those searching. Having your business’ name, address, and phone number correctly listed will give you a surge in online traffic. Why? They have a direct impact on local SEO results because Google scans all listings of your practice online and stores the data to determine your search engine ranking. Incorrect information gets flagged because it creates confusion among customers.

While having an authoritative blog and relevant content is important, dental practices that use local SEO methods like Google Map listings, NAPs, and local citations, will see an immediate improvement in both traffic and rankings.