With the right local SEO strategy in place, a dental website can rank higher in search engine results for keywords related to its location, making it more likely for potential patients to find it.

This article will explain why local SEO is so vital for dental websites and the steps that need to be taken to optimize a dental website for local search engine optimization (local SEO).

Here are a few key reasons why local SEO is so important for dental websites;

When it comes to finding a dental practice, potential patients will often search for terms such as “dentist near me” or “dentists in (their city).”

And, chances are they will view results on Google maps or other search engines, so your website must be optimized to appear in those results.

A website can use local SEO techniques to ensure that it appears at the top of these user searches.

This not only makes it easier for potential patients to find the dental practice, but it also makes them more likely to contact the practice as they have a greater degree of trust that the business is local and reliable.

Here are some other reasons why local SEO is important for dental websites:

Local search is becoming increasingly important.

With the rise of smartphones and voice assistants, more and more people are using local search to find businesses in their area.

According to a study by BrightLocal, 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase. By optimizing your dental website for local search, you can make it easier for potential patients to find you.

In other words, if you want to sell your dental services to local patients, you must ensure that your website is optimized for local search.

Local SEO helps to build trust.

When a dental website ranks highly in local search results, it helps to build trust with potential patients. By showing up at the top of search results, you indicate to potential patients that you are a reputable and trustworthy business.

Local SEO can improve your online visibility.

Optimizing your dental website for local SEO can also improve your online visibility in general. By appearing in local search results, you can attract more traffic to your website, leading to more inquiries and, ultimately, more new patients.

Now that you know why local SEO is essential for dentists, let’s discuss how you can optimize your dental website for local SEO.

How Search Engines Impact Local SEO for Dental Websites

Here’s how search engines can impact local SEO for dental websites:

Local search results are based on the location of the searcher.

Search engines use a complex algorithm to determine which websites should appear in local search results. This algorithm considers factors such as the location of the searcher, their search history, and previous searches related to dentistry.

Optimizing your website for local search can increase its chances of appearing in the top search results for keywords related to dentistry and your location.

And ranking higher in search engine results can result in more website visits, inquiries, and new patients.

Local SEO requires keyword research and optimization.

To optimize your dental website for local SEO, you must perform keyword research and optimize your content for relevant keywords.

For example, if you are a dentist in Los Angeles, your content should include keywords such as “dentist in Los Angeles” or “dentistry services in LA.” Including these local keywords in your content and meta tags can improve your website’s chances of appearing higher in local search results.

In other words, keyword-rich content and properly structured meta tags are essential for successful local SEO.

Dental SEO requires regular updates.

Finally, it’s important to remember that SEO requires regular updates and maintenance. You should regularly update your content with new keywords and optimize existing content for changes in search engine algorithms. This will help ensure that your website remains visible in local search results.

Following these steps can improve the chances of potential patients finding your dental practice. Local SEO is an essential part of any dental website’s marketing strategy, and by optimizing for local search, you can make sure your practice stands out from the competition.

Now let’s discuss how to optimize your dental website for local SEO.

To optimize your dental website for local SEO, here are a few things you can do:

Here are a few things you can do to optimize your dental website for local SEO;

Claim your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is critical to your local SEO strategy. Claiming and optimizing your GBP can improve your website’s visibility in local search results.

Use local keywords

Incorporating local keywords into your website’s content and metadata can help to improve its visibility in local search results.

For example, if your dental practice is located in New York City, you might use keywords like “dentist in New York City” or “NYC dental office” on your website.

Create a separate landing page for each location. 

Creating separate landing pages for each of them is essential if you have multiple locations. This will help search engines understand your location and make your website more easily discoverable in local searches.

For example, if you have a dental office in New York and New Jersey, you should create separate landing pages for each location.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

It’s important to ensure that your dental website is optimized for desktop and mobile devices. Mobile users account for most local searches, so it’s essential to ensure your website is easy to navigate on a smartphone or tablet.

Ensure your website is fast-loading.

If your website takes too long to load, potential patients will leave it before they can even see what you offer. Search engines like Google and other search engines prioritize websites with faster loading times, so it’s important to ensure your website is optimized for speed.

To ensure that your dental website loads quickly, consider investing in a reliable web hosting provider and optimizing your images for faster loading times.

Obtain local citations

Local citations (mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites) can improve your website’s visibility in local search results. 

You should obtain citations from reputable online directories and review sites like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.

Encourage patient reviews

Positive patient reviews can be critical to your local business’s search engine ranking. Think of it like this:

You’re looking for some new dental implants, and you decide to search “best dental implants in Los Angeles,” You’re presented with a list of 10 local dentists. If 8 have 5-star Google reviews and the other 2 have 3 stars, which one will you likely choose?

Your online reputation is essential, so encourage your patients to leave reviews on your website and other review sites. Some of the most critical review locations for dentist SEO are:

• Google My Business
• Facebook
• Yelp
• Healthgrades
• Vitals

If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of reviews for local businesses and ways to increase your online reputation, click the link in this sentence..

Ensure your Name – Address – Phone Number (NAP) are consistent

Your NAP should always be consistent across your website and directory listings. Inconsistent information can negatively impact your rankings in local search results.

These are just a few steps you can take to optimize your dental website for local SEO. Local SEO is an integral part of any digital marketing plan.

By implementing the right tactics, a dental website can increase its visibility in local search results, attract more potential patients, and build trust with them.

Hire a Professional

If you don’t feel comfortable optimizing your dental website for local SEO, consider hiring a professional to do it for you. A professional SEO specialist can help to ensure that your website is optimized correctly for local search and can help you get the best results possible.

And if you’re looking for a professional dental website design company to help you build a great website and optimize it for local SEO, look no further than BlakSheep Creative.

Our team of experienced web designers and SEO experts can help you create a dental website that’s optimized for local search, so you can attract more patients and stand out from the competition.

Get in touch with us today to get started!

Frequently Asked Questions about Dental Practice Local SEO

Here are some questions that we’ve received from dentists all around the US about local SEO:

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website for local search results. It involves using techniques such as claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile, incorporating local keywords into content and metadata, obtaining citations from reputable directories and review sites, encouraging patient reviews, and ensuring that your Name – Address – Phone number (NAP) are consistent.

Why is local SEO necessary for a dental practice?

Local SEO is essential for any business, but especially for a dental practice. Optimizing your website for local search results can help you to attract more potential patients, build trust with them, and stand out from your competition.

How do I optimize my dental website for local SEO?

To optimize your dental website for local SEO, you should claim and optimize your Google My Business profile, incorporate local keywords into content and metadata, obtain citations from reputable directories and review sites, encourage patient reviews, and ensure that your NAP is consistent. Additionally, consider hiring a professional SEO specialist to help you optimize your website correctly and get the best results possible.

What is the importance of local citations?

Local citations (mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites) can be critical in local search rankings. It’s important to obtain citations from reputable directories and review sites, such as Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.

What is the importance of patient reviews?

Positive patient reviews can also be critical in local search rankings. It’s important to encourage your patients to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile listing and other sites, as this will help build trust with potential patients and help your business stand out from the competition.

How do I know if my local SEO efforts are working?

To know if your local SEO efforts are working, you should monitor your website traffic and rankings in local search results. You can use a tool such as Google Analytics or Ahrefs to track this information. Additionally, you should pay attention to an increase in online reviews and mentions of your dental practice on other websites. These metrics can give you an indication of your local SEO efforts.

What is the importance of keyword research for search engine optimization?

Keyword research is an essential part of any successful dental SEO strategy. It helps to identify which keywords and phrases your target audience uses when searching for products or dental services related to your practice so that you can use those keywords in the content on your website and other online platforms.

How do I optimize my dental practice website for SEO?

Optimizing a website for SEO involves incorporating relevant keywords into content, meta tags, titles, etc., and ensuring that all pages have high-quality content that is easy to read and navigate. Additionally, optimizing images with alternate text (ALT tags) and setting up 301 redirects can help improve page load times and user experience. These things are known as technical SEO and should be done to ensure your website is optimized correctly for search engines.

How often should I update my dental website content?

You should strive to keep your website content fresh and up-to-date. This will help ensure your practice remains relevant and visible on search engine results pages. Generally speaking, updating your website content at least once a month or two is recommended. It’s also essential to engage with your website visitors by providing valuable and relevant content and engaging on social media platforms to attract new customers and increase brand visibility.

Is it worth hiring a professional to optimize my dental website for local SEO?

Yes, it’s definitely worth investing in professional help when it comes to optimizing your dental website for local SEO. A professional SEO specialist can ensure that your website is optimized correctly and can help you get the best results possible.

Does BlakSheep Creative offer local SEO services?

Yes, BlakSheep Creative offers local SEO services. Their team of experienced web designers and SEO experts can help you create a dental website that’s optimized for local search, so you can attract more patients and stand out from the competition.

What other tactics should I use to optimize my dental practice website for local SEO?

In addition to the tactics mentioned above, you should ensure your website is mobile-friendly, build quality backlinks from local sources, keep your content fresh and up-to-date, create local content, engage with your local community online, and utilize social media platforms.

What should I do if my dental office’s rankings drop?

If your ranking drops, you should first look at the changes in your website’s local SEO strategy. Check if some of your tactics are not optimized properly or if there are changes in Google’s algorithm. Additionally, check for any errors in your Name-Address-Phone number (NAP) listings and ensure consistent information across all your citations. Including strong local keywords in your content and metadata can also help improve your local SEO rankings.

Should I worry about other search engines like Bing or Yahoo?

While Google is the most popular search engine, it’s still important to ensure your dental website is optimized for other major search engines like Bing and Yahoo. Although they have a smaller market share than Google, they can still drive potential customers to your website. The same tactics used to optimize a website for Google can also be used to optimize for other search engines. Include relevant keywords, keep your content fresh and up-to-date, and ensure accurate business information across the web to boost rankings in all major search engines.

Good luck with optimizing your dental website for local SEO! If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, don’t hesitate to contact our team at BlakSheep Creative.

We’ve been providing local SEO to dentists and other dental industry professionals for years and would be happy to help you. From market research to local SEO for dentists to content creation and more, our team can get your dental website ranking on the first page of Google. Visit our dental marketing services page or reach out to us today by completing the form below for a FREE consultation!

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Digital marketing can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business, but it’s not always easy to know where to start.

That’s why we’ve put together this list of eight under-the-radar strategies for dentists who want to use digital marketing to its fullest potential.

Read on for tips that will help you get more patients through the door and boost your bottom line!

1. Get Started with Digital Marketing

Digital marketing can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business, but it’s not always easy to know where to start. That’s why it’s essential to get started with digital marketing as soon as possible.

With the help of a digital marketing firm, you can create a plan that will help you reach more patients and grow your business.

2. Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media can be an excellent resource for dentists who want to grow their businesses using digital marketing.

For example, you can use social media to share powerful case studies with your community and encourage people to give you reviews on sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp.

Find your audience where they are.

To effectively use social media, you need to understand how your audience uses social media. For example, if you want to reach millennials, it’s a good idea to focus on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Post when your audience is online.

When you post about your dental practice, do you know what day and time is best? If not, it’s a good idea to find out. You can use services like Followerwonk to find out when your audience is most active online so that you’re posting at the correct times.

Repurpose Your Content

One way to use digital marketing is to repurpose your content to reach a larger audience. For example, if you write a blog post (more on that later) or place an infographic on your website, you can then share it via social media and pin it to the top of your Pinterest page.

You can also turn a blog post into a video. If your blog post talks about dental nutrition, you can take that information and turn it into a short video where you share tips for healthy teeth.

3. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

One of the best ways to reach more patients with digital marketing is to optimize your website for search engines.

When you optimize your website, you make it easier for people to find you online. This can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business.

With the dental landscape so competitive, it’s vital that your practice rank higher than the other dental practices in your area.

On-Page SEO

The key to ranking higher in search engines is on-page SEO.

On-page SEO is like the backbone of your website’s visibility in search engines. It’s the technical finesse that ensures search engines not only find your site but also understand and favor it. On-Page SEO encompasses several key elements that you need to nail down:

Keywords: They are the compass that guides your SEO strategy. Your keywords should seamlessly integrate into your title tags, meta descriptions, headings, URLs, and content, painting a coherent picture of your site’s topic and relevance.

Title Tags: Think of your title tag as the bold headline of your digital ad in search results. It should be succinct, no more than 60 characters, and pack a punch with your primary keywords.

Meta Descriptions: These are your chance to hook your audience in the SERPs. Meta descriptions provide a brief summary of your page content and should be crafted to entice users to click through to your site.

URLs: Keep them neat, concise, and keyword-enriched. A clean URL structure not only aids in ranking but also enhances user experience.

Content: The king of SEO. Your content should be a treasure trove of uniqueness, freshness, and relevance. It’s not just about peppering your content with keywords; it’s about delivering value that keeps users engaged and satisfied.

While these elements are the pillars of On-Page SEO, the devil is in the details. Crafting each component with precision can transform your site from being just ‘another page’ in the SERPs to a standout contender for the top spot. For a deep dive into refining these elements and ensuring your website not only meets but exceeds modern SEO standards, explore our comprehensive guide, “Is Your Website Stuck in the Past? ‘Home’ in SERPs is No Laughing Matter.” Learn the nuances of On-Page SEO that can make a real difference in how search engines and users perceive your site.

Remember, On-Page SEO is not a one-time setup. It’s an ongoing commitment to excellence, relevance, and user satisfaction. Make it count.

Off-Page SEO

When it comes to ranking higher in search engines, off-page SEO is just as important as on-page SEO.

Off-Page SEO includes things like:

Backlinks. Backlinks help you get more exposure online. To get backlinks, you can reach out to other websites relevant to yours and ask them for a link.

Reviews. If patients enjoy using your services, ask them to leave reviews on sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. The more positive reviews you have, the higher you’ll rank in search engines.

Google Business Profile.

If you have a Google business profile, you can claim your local listing to show up higher in search engines.

But don’t just claim your listing and let it sit there!

Update it regularly and keep it active, so Google (and potential patients) knows you’re still there.

4. Produce Quality Content

When you produce quality content, you make it easier for people to find you online. This can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business.

Quality content is vital because it helps you stand out from the competition. When you produce high-quality content, you’re showing potential patients that you’re an authority in your field. This can help you attract more patients and grow your business.

Learn more about creating quality content in our recent blog post, “What is High-Quality Content, and How Do I Create It to Keep Google Happy?“

How to produce high-quality content that patients will love:

Plan Ahead

One of the best ways to produce high-quality content is to plan ahead. When you have a content plan in place, you’ll know what you’re going to write about and when you’re going to write it. This can help you stay on track and produce high-quality content regularly.

Research Your Topic Thoroughly

You’re the expert in your field, so this may not apply. However, if you’re going to write about a topic that you’re not an expert in, it’s important that you thoroughly research your topic. To produce high-quality content, make sure that what you’re writing is accurate and credible.

Write for Your Audience

When you write for your audience, you make it easier for them to understand what you’re saying. This can help you produce high-quality content that they appreciate.

There are two ways to write for your audience:

You can write for your customer personas (e.g., “caring about dental health”) instead of just writing for yourself. This will ensure that the information is valuable and relevant for everyone who reads it, including potential patients. You can use short, easy-to-understand sentences that don’t include industry jargon or acronyms.

You can also write for other members of your industry.

People in your industry are always looking for fresh, informative content that they haven’t seen before. So, it’s important to be an expert in your field by producing high-quality content regularly.

Pro Tip: One of the best ways to raise your E-A-T with Google is by writing good content. Learn more about how to demonstrate Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.

Plus, do you remember those backlinks we discussed earlier? These posts geared towards other dental professionals can help you get more backlinks, which will help you rank higher in search engines.

Include Images and Videos

When it comes to producing quality content, visuals are key! When you add visuals to your posts, people are more likely to share them on social media. This helps increase the reach of your content, which in turn helps you produce more high-quality content.

Let’s say you want to write about how water can impact dental health. You could include an image of someone brushing their teeth above running water to grab a reader’s attention.

You could also produce a video to help give your post even more visibility. For example, you could shoot an informational video about how water impacts dental health and upload it to YouTube. Then, link the YouTube video back to your website in the text of your blog post.

This can be beneficial because when dental patients search Google for “how water impacts dental health,” they’re more likely to find your blog post because it shows up in the image and video results.

Incorporate a Call-to-Action

When you include a call-to-action in a blog post, you give people a reason to contact you or answer their questions. This can help you generate more leads, so it’s important to include a call to action when publishing a blog post.

For example, if your answer to “how water impacts dental health” is that it helps make the mouth and gums healthy and strong, use this information to create a call-to-action like, “find out how to make your mouth and gums healthy and strong.” This will encourage people to contact you for more information.

Make it Easy for Readers to Share Your Content.

When you include share buttons or social media icons at the top or bottom of your blog posts, readers are more likely to share them on their social media accounts.

This can help you reach a broader audience and generate more high-quality leads. Plus, it will make it easier for people to find your blog posts in search engines like Google and Bing (since they’ll be shared).

Write Compelling Title and Headlines

When writing compelling titles and headlines, there’s one rule: Make them as descriptive as possible. This will ensure that people know what they’re clicking on before clicking on your blog post.

For example, if you write a blog post about “how water impacts dental health,” the title could be something like “A Guide to How Water Effects Oral Health.” This makes it clear what people can expect to learn after reading your blog post.

Make sure to use keywords in titles and headlines, but don’t go overboard since this can make your posts look spammy.

Include Internal Links

Including internal links in your blog posts can help improve their SEO by sending more traffic back to the pages where the links are located. For example, if you write a blog post about how water impacts oral health, you could link to previous blog posts or other pages on your website.

Include an Author Bio

When you include a bio at the bottom of each blog post, it tells readers more about who you are and what you do. This can help establish your credibility as a dental professional and shows that you’re an expert in the field.

Your bio should be between 100-200 words and include a professional photo of yourself.

Keep it Short and Sweet.

Studies have shown that people prefer content under 500 words when they’re on mobile devices. If you want to produce high-quality content, make sure it’s easy to read and digest quickly.

Don’t fall for the myth that longer content is better.

Don’t believe us?

Here’s what Google’s own John Mueller has to say about blog post length:

and

In a Reddit thread, when asked about content length as a ranking factor, Mueller said,

“Word count is not a ranking factor. Save yourself the trouble.”

Instead, focus on creating high-quality, informative blog posts that don’t feel like a chore to read.

Since you’re not trying to game the system, it’s okay if your posts are shorter or don’t follow typical “rules” about blog post length.

Give People What They’re Looking For

Lastly, if you want to write blog posts that people actually read, make sure they address their questions or concerns. This means answering the question of “how water impacts dental health” with information about what it does for oral health in general.

Writing blog posts isn’t about tricking people into clicking on your website. It’s about providing people with valuable resources and information that they actually want and need.

Now that you know how to write blog posts that people read let’s talk about how you can spend that dentist money!

5. Expand Your Marketing Budget

When you want to grow your business with digital marketing, it’s important to expand your marketing budget.

It might seem challenging at first, but there are many ways to cut costs and still generate new leads for your practice. For example, you can use free social media tools or create content in-house. Read our recent blog post to learn what you can do to craft your in-house team for marketing success.

How much should a dentist spend on marketing?

It all depends on your practice’s size, your target audience, and what you want to accomplish.

We surveyed 100 dental offices throughout the United States and found the results in the graphic above.

Dental offices we surveyed allocated anywhere between zero to $5000+ per month, with the majority allocating $500 – 1000 per month.

According to a rule-of-thumb, dental clinics should aim to keep their overall expenses below 60 percent of their total budget. Payroll is generally the most expensive element of any budget, and marketing is typically at the bottom of cost control.

Dental marketing expenditures by dental offices average between 4 and 7% of their yearly income. Industry research typically shows a lower average, around 4%, while marketing firms’ studies usually show a higher average of about 7%.

The recommended average for a de novo firm is approximately 20% of projected year one revenue.

These are the averages presented in many studies, but the amount you dedicate to your marketing budget will be determined by many things, including your own development objectives!

In short, your dental marketing budget should be between 4-7% of your overall practice revenue. But how much you spend will depend on what type of marketing activities you want to do and the size of your business.

Don’t Fall for Digital Marketing Hype.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that certain digital marketing activities are essential for growing dental practice.

This is especially true when you read the latest blog posts claiming that SEO, social media, or content marketing are “must-haves” for dental offices.

You don’t have to bring in some dental marketing “guru” who will say anything to get you to sign up.

Are you using a digital marketing company? Make sure they aren’t promising you the world and giving you nothing in return!

Instead, seek out resources that provide helpful guidance.

Many of these resources are free or inexpensive, so there’s no reason not to take advantage of them!

Don’t feel like you need to do everything. Just focus on one or two strategies that fit into your budget and goals and build from there.

But if you really want to spend your money:

6. Invest in Social Media Marketing

When you want to grow your business with digital marketing, it’s important to invest in social media marketing.

Social media can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business. In fact, social media is one of the most effective ways to get potential patients.

That’s why investing in social media marketing is important if you want to reach more patients and grow your business.

Again, there is no need to hire a self-professed “expert” to come in and tell you that all of your problems will be solved if you pay them thousands of dollars to run your Facebook and Instagram accounts.

It’s all smoke and no fire.

Instead, save money and learn how to use social media to grow your dental practice!

You don’t need a fancy college degree or some certification

Many free resources are available online, like this blog, which can help you with everything from Facebook ads to connecting on Twitter! You should do some research and see what’s out there to

7. Connect with Local Customers Online

You can use social media, online forums, and other websites to do this. It’s a great way to connect with potential patients and grow your dental business.

8. Track Results and Optimize

Digital marketing can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your business.

But you need to use actual data to see if it is working. That’s why you should track results and optimize what you are doing based on the data.

For example, if you see that your website isn’t generating leads for your practice, you might need to update it. On the other hand, if you see that social media is working well for your business, you can invest more in it and try to reach even more patients.

Key Takeaway

The key takeaway from this article is that digital marketing can be a great way to reach more patients and grow your dental practice.

But you need to know what you’re doing, track your results, and optimize what you are doing based on the data – no matter how much or little money you spend. The seven strategies we’ve outlined in this post should help you understand where to start when it comes time to optimize your online marketing strategy!

Looking for help with your dental marketing? Fill out the form below today for a free consultation! We can help you reach more patients and grow your business!

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Visit our dental marketing services page to see how we can help your practice!

About BlakSheep Creative

BlakSheep Creative is a premier dental marketing company that provides strategies to help grow dental practices.

As a leader in the industry, BlakSheep Creative houses expertise in website design & development, online reputation management, digital marketing strategies, SEO, PPC, and social media marketing.

With over two decades of experience in dental marketing, BlakSheep Creative has worked with scores of clients throughout the United States – including dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, family & cosmetic dentists, and more.

Contact us to learn what we can do to help your practice grow today!

That’s why the 51 dental marketing tools below are worth checking out if you’re looking to grow your practice!

Looking to Grow Your Practice?

Get a free consultation with one of our dental marketing experts to see how we can help you succeed online.

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Tools to Grow Your Practice

Social media is often the first thing people think of when it comes to marketing for dentists. But there are many other channels worth your attention if you’re looking for a fresh approach.

Social Media Marketing  Tools

There are plenty of social media tools out there. And if you’re looking for a comprehensive solution, then something like Hootsuite is likely your best bet. But each platform also offers its own native analytics and monitoring tools that will help give you an idea of what’s working (and not) when it comes to your marketing.

Lead Generation Tools

Lead generation tools allow you to capture contact information, a potential patient’s email address, and phone number directly from your content (including promotional events like trade shows). This allows you to nurture potential patients via automated emails, build customer profiles, and track campaign results in real time.

OptinMonster

OptinMonster is an all-in-one marketing tool that’s designed to help you track, optimize, and automate your dental practice’s email marketing campaigns. And it even has a prebuilt opt-in form builder for WordPress websites!

RafflePress

RafflePress is a simple WordPress lead generation plugin designed to help you build an email list of qualified people interested in your dental practice. The key here: You can create a giveaway with one click, and the winner will be selected automatically.

LeadPages

Much like OptinMonster, LeadPages is an all-in-one tool that lets you build landing pages, run email campaigns, and increase conversions on your website.

Pro Tip:  If your office serves different cities, create separate landing pages for each one to help your practice grow.

Pablo by Buffer

Need a quick way to post eye-catching images across all of your social media channels? Pablo by Buffer is an easy-to-use app that lets you create all kinds of visual content and share it directly on your social media profiles.

Tailwind

If you’re using Pinterest as part of your dental marketing plan (and I hope you are!), Tailwind is an excellent way to schedule your pins in advance. It also helps you analyze engagement, uncovers exciting trends, and optimize your efforts for the best results.

Audiense

With this Audiense, you can track the performance of your marketing efforts across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. The audience also comes with a content management system designed to help you create media-friendly blog posts faster.

Sumo

If you want to grow your email list quickly (without too much churn), Sumo will help you build a welcome mat that captures email addresses as people come to your website. You can then use these leads to run locally targeted marketing campaigns over time.

ImageOptim

If you’re posting images on social media, be sure to optimize them first so that they don’t slow down your website! And while there are plenty of free tools out there for this—like pixlr and TinyPNG—ImageOptim is the easiest to use.

Learn how to size your WordPress Images perfectly in our recent post.

Grammarly

It’s hard to stand out from your competition when you’re making spelling mistakes on social media! That’s why Grammarly is a must-have marketing tool for anyone who manages a dental practice on Facebook, Twitter, or other networks. It has an easy-to-use interface that will help you catch these mistakes and reduce errors everywhere online.

Avoid looking like a fool to your audience and losing SEO traction with spelling mistakes. Use Grammarly.

HelpScout

If you have any kind of customer support or email marketing happening in your practice, then HelpScout can help. This platform lets you track every message sent to get a clear picture of how people get in touch. You can also use it to quickly create new lead magnets (based on your customer data) and segment your emails for better results.

Crowdfire

If you’re just starting with Instagram marketing, then CrowdFire lets you easily schedule posts and messages across all of your channels—including Facebook and Twitter!

SocialDog

SocialDog is a great way to “clean up” your Twitter followers (so they’re only people interested in what you have to say). It also helps you get more accounts following you and optimize your account for total engagement.

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Buyer Persona Tools

As you begin to build your dental marketing strategy, you must get a clear picture of who your target audience is. And that means creating buyer personas.

To create these profiles, start with the demographics.

• Who are they?
• How old are they?
• What kind of education do they have?
• What do they do for a living?

Next, consider the motivations that drive them:

• What are their pain points or frustrations?
• What goals do they have in mind?
• And what’s driving them to seek solutions to these challenges?

Here are some of the most common buyer persona tools used by dental practices.

Vero

Vero helps you plan your dental marketing strategy by helping you identify which buyer personas are most and least likely to respond to specific marketing tactics. It also suggests some marketing tactics that would appeal the most to them.

Socialbakers

As you consider how best to reach your target audience, don’t forget to look at basic demographics. Socialbakers allows you to see how much each social media platform is being used by people in your target audience.

Audience Analyzer

Audience Analyzer helps a dentist assess the impact of various marketing tactics by measuring which tactics got them the best return on investment. It also offers suggestions for improvements that could help get better results for your dental marketing efforts in the future.

Crowdfire

We know we mentioned it earlier, but it bears repeating — Crowdfire is legit! For more advanced social media optimization, CrowdFire will help you optimize your profiles for better engagement and results. Plus, the in-app chat option will help you better connect with your leads to get more out of your marketing and advertising spend.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another tool that fits into two categories. If you want to track your efforts over time, then Sprout Social is a great way to do it! This platform will help you follow your results on Facebook and Twitter in Google Analytics—and identify the best marketing strategies for your dental practice’s goals and needs.

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Security Tools

As you build relationships with potential patients, it’s vital to guard against any security threats. That means using tools that will keep them safe—as well as protect your practice:

Sucuri

Sucuri provides a suite of software solutions for keeping your website and business secure. The Website Application Firewall helps prevent anyone from accessing your website without permission, and the Malware Scanner tracks any changes in your site’s files. There are also tools for detecting SEO attacks and monitoring how effective your efforts are!

Cloudflare

This platform helps you guard against DDoS attacks by redirecting traffic from potential threats to a secure server—Cloudflare also improves the performance of your website.

Cofense (formerly PhishMe)

This toolset helps you fight phishing attacks, one of the most prominent digital security threats out there. Cofense’s Phishing Detection and Response platform does more than just stop phishing attacks that the standard security software can’t.

ZeroFOX

The ZeroFOX platform helps you research and identify the most relevant audiences for your dental marketing efforts. It also offers tools that will help you improve your security in various ways, including monitoring to see if any suspicious activity is going on.

LastPass

Online security is paramount at all times, so don’t forget to use a password manager like LastPass. This platform securely stores your usernames and passwords for you—and sends them to you with one touch, so everything’s always easy and convenient!

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Analytical Tools

When it comes time to evaluate how effective your dental marketing efforts are, there’s no better way than by using analytical tools. These will help you track and report on the results of even your most essential marketing tactics.

Google Analytics

If you want to see how much traffic is coming from which sources—or if you want to learn more about who’s visiting your website—then Google Analytics is worth looking into. With this platform, you can track where your dental marketing efforts are working (and which ones aren’t). You’ll also be able to see how much revenue you’re generating as a result of them!

Followerwonk

If you want to get deep into your Twitter marketing efforts, Followerwonk can be a great place to start. The platform will help you identify the best times to post to maximize your impact, and it will show you which kinds of tweets resonate with your followers—so that you can tailor more effective dental marketing campaigns in the future

BrandMentions

N.ot sure how much traction your dental marketing efforts are getting? BrandMentions is an excellent tool for tracking social media posts across the web. It’s also got lots of valuable features to help improve your dental marketing!

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Agorpulse

Agorapulse is great for learning the impacts of your marketing strategies and efforts. The platform will help you figure out how well your dental practice is doing—by analyzing your data, then putting it all into one easy-to-read report!

SEMrush

The most important thing about any marketing campaign is whether it’s effective or not. If it isn’t, then you’ll have to try something new—and that means a lot of time and energy wasted in dental marketing efforts you can’t measure. That’s why SEMrush is such a great dental marketing tool! It helps you track your dental marketing activities so that you’re always getting the most out of your budget.

But be warned, SEMrush is costly and does have a learning curve.  Thankfully, they offer training via the SEMRush academy if you have the time to put into it.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool

If you want to really dive into dental marketing efforts, then the SEO spider tool by Screaming Frog is a great place to start. It helps you crawl through any website—and find opportunities that are easy to miss with the naked eye.

Here at BlakSheep Creative, we literally use Screaming Frog once per hour to find technical SEO issues on our clients’ websites, as well as their competitor’s sites, so that we can capitalize on their mistakes.

As a matter of fact, do you see all of the images in this post?  We got them using Screaming Frog.

Kiss Metrics (Formerly known as Piwik)

Marketing efforts are only worthwhile if they actually work. If your dental marketing tactics don’t produce the results you’re looking for, then it’s time to try something new—and KissMetrics will help you figure out what’s going wrong.

This platform will even show you how to fix problems so that your advertising and marketing budget will not waste!

Twitter Analytics

As far as dental marketing efforts go, Twitter is one of the best—and after using Twitter Analytics, you’ll be able to find out why! It’s an excellent tool for tracking your dental marketing activities across all platforms and seeing how they’re impacting your bottom line.

The good news, Twitter Analytics costs nothing!

Analisa.io

Are you willing to invest a little bit of money in your marketing efforts? If so, Analisa.io is definitely something worth exploring and investing in! It’s an advanced analytics tool that gives you detailed information about how many people find your website via which searches and at what rates they interact with it once there. The good news is that the basic package is free (although you’ll have to upgrade for more features), so it won’t cost you anything to determine what sort of impact this can have on your business!

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Content Creation Tools

Did you know that 70% of consumers find content created by brands more beneficial than other types of content? If you’re interested in learning how to create effective dental marketing content that resonates with your audience, take a look at the selection of tools below—and do some research into what makes great content!

Tailwind

Tailwind is another excellent tool for creating clickable images to find potential patients on the web.  With an account on this platform, you can find out who’s already following your account—and download their followers into your own network, allowing you to grow organically!

Pixlee

If you’ve ever seen a dental marketing infographic and thought, “Wow, I wish I could find good content like that!” you might find Pixlee useful. It’s an easy-to-use tool for creating infographics in just five minutes—and finding potential patients along the way!

Buffer

As noted above, one of the most important things when marketing your practice is posting regularly and on the right days. Buffer makes it easy to find out when your audience will most likely be online by telling you when to post to find new patients.

BuzzSumo

If you want to attract new patients, it’s essential to find out which posts resonate on social media—and find out how you can improve! BuzzSumo is an excellent tool for doing so. It helps find the most popular content and decide what works (or doesn’t work) to get people to find you organically online.

Tagboard

Tagboard is similar to Tailwind in that it allows you to find out who’s already liking and sharing your content. It also allows you to find new audiences for your dental practice, find influencers—and find patients online!

Graphics Tools

If you find it challenging to find the time for good graphics creation, consider using tools like Canva and Adobe Spark. They’re easy-to-use templates that offer a lot of flexibility regarding what they can do—use these graphics to find new patients!

Visage

Visage is a simplified version of Photoshop and is a more user-friendly perfect way for a dentist to create high-quality images and graphics.  If you find yourself wishing you could find good graphic creation tools that work for exactly what you need—this one’s for you!

Canva

If you want to create awesome graphics and videos, but don’t have a graphical designer on staff, then Canva is a good option for you. It lets you find great templates for different marketing needs, and the free version has plenty of great options (and it’s easy on your computer, too!).

Protip: Use Canva to create personalized graphics and send them with your appointment reminders to ease the worry most people have about visiting the dentist.

Animoto

If you find yourself wishing you could find more videos for your website and social media profiles, Animoto is a good option.   Create high-definition videos and animations easily and use them in all of your business advertising collateral.

Visme

When making graphics, sometimes you need just a bit more flexibility than what other programs offer. If that’s the case, Visme may be a good option for you. It lets you find animated videos and infographics to find new patients across the web.

Do you need custom graphics for your dental office?

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Monitoring and Sharing Tools

As dental marketing experts, we often have to monitor multiple social media platforms—and share content between them. That’s why tools like Hootsuite and Buffer are so helpful—they let you find new patients online by organizing your digital marketing efforts across all of the social media platforms that matter to you!

These monitoring and sharing tools are like the analytics tools we mentioned above, but different—and that makes them excellent tools for dentists too!

LinkedIn Pulse

If you haven’t yet started using LinkedIn for dental marketing, now’s the time to start! LinkedIn Pulse is an excellent place to share dental marketing content, as well as commentary on industry news. Create your own posts, or provide commentary on others’ to give your brand a little boost.

Sprout Social

If you’re looking for something similar to Buffer and Hootsuite, then Sprout Social is an excellent dental marketing tool to try. It allows you to organize your dental posts across multiple social media platforms and find new patients online!

Brand24

Brand24 is another tool that’s similar to Hootsuite and Buffer. It allows dental marketers to schedule updates and target specific social media influencers that can help you spread your message.

Content Curation Tools

Content curation tools like Scoop.it and Post Planner are dental marketing gems. Instead of making posts from scratch, digital marketers—can find content that’s already been created.  Instead of thinking up your own dental marketing ideas for your business, you can find blog posts written by other oral health experts and make your own content from that!

MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is a tool for blog posts: It finds blogs and then puts them on a schedule so that your dental posts are always up-to-date.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite allows dentists to find social media influencers and schedule dental blog posts for the dental patients who need them most.

IFTTT

Dentists can use IFTTT to schedule posts for Facebook, Twitter, and Google My Business.   This tool can also help your marketing manager find posts that already exist.

Scoop.it

Like Post Planner, Scoop.it helps dentists find blogs and posts related to their niche.   They can then use these posts to spark creativity in their own office and one-up the competition.

News Filtering Tools

News filtering dental marketing “tools” (for lack of a better word) like Feedly and Google Alerts dental marketing tool allows dental offices to find news that they can share with their patients for free.

Feedly

When it comes to news filtering tools, don’t sleep on Feedly. Feedly allows you to track insights across the web without having to read everything.

Google Alerts

Tools like Google Alerts allow dental offices to keep up with local dental news as it happens. It also enables dental marketers to keep an eye out for people talking about your dental practice on the internet and what they’re saying about you!

Just add the words you want to track, and Google Alerts will alert you when online publications publish new content about it. This is definitely one of the dental marketing tools that every marketer needs!

Other Tools

Other online tools that can help your office get more patients are:

Bitly

Bitly allows you to shorten links and add custom tracking codes. This means that marketers can track what posts produce the best results —and keep in touch with those publications!

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a competitive intelligence and keyword research tool provider that helps dental practices to analyze competition, backlinks, search engine positioning (SERP), and find dental keywords with high traffic potential for organic and PPC campaigns. 

It also allows users to track their own website’s performance with SEO audit tools such as backlink checker, social media report, and rank tracker.

It has more than three million users worldwide, including dental offices from all 50 US states and 200 other countries.

Much like SEMrush, this tool is an SEO powerhouse, and it’s rather pricey, but it’s worth it once you learn how to use it.

Ok, that’s it for the online tools. Now, let’s discuss some other strategies and methods that you can use to grow your practice.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another dental marketing tool that marketers should have in their toolkit, and for a good reason: 98 percent of people read email! And if you’re looking to capture new patients online, email is the place to do it. It can also be a way to remind your existing patients about upcoming appointments or check-ups online.

Online marketing tip:  Send existing patients links to sites like Yelp, Facebook, and your Google My Business (GMB) profiles to leave you online reviews. You’ll increase trust, and search engines will rank your website higher!

Also, ask current patients to leave reviews.  Keep that link handy and give it to any new patient before they leave.

These reviews are a sure-fire way to rank higher in local search results.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

In online marketing, paying for better search results is called pay-per-click advertising (PPC). PPC isn’t really a dental marketing tool: It’s more of a method. However, it can definitely be one of the best ways to get more patients!

Using this method, you pay search engines —like Google and Bing —each time a person clicks on your ad.

PPC and Facebook ads are an excellent way to get traffic to your website!

Website Design and SEO Services

Your website is the online starting point for patients to find out about your dental practice. It’s the key to helping them discover more information about your services, and it’s where you have the opportunity to make the most significant first impression of all!

Online Marketing Tip: Make sure your website is mobile responsive, fast, and SEO-friendly.  A well-designed website will help you convert website visitors into patients.

Unfortunately, the best-built website won’t do you any good unless people can find it. That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps.

SEO is a process that ensures websites are found, ranked, and displayed at the top of search results in Google Searches.

In dental SEO, dental keywords and search terms are strategically placed on your website to help search engines display you at the top of Google’s first page.

Does your dental office new a website? We can help you with that. Check out our special dentist website design and development solutions.

Content Marketing Strategy

Your content marketing strategy can incorporate anything related to your dental practice and services. It can include articles like the one we discussed above, image collections, video tutorials, infographics, ebooks, or whitepapers (created according to dental niche-specific requirements). Your content should be posted on a regular schedule and offer value to your audience.

Don’t just barrage them with sales pitches; instead, give your viewers and visitors valuable and engaging content that they will appreciate. The value of your dental office will increase with time, as more visitors will trust you and look up to you for dental care advice.

Strategies for Increasing Patient Engagement 

In dental marketing, patient engagement is one of the essential aspects you need to focus on. After all, engagements are what will drive patients towards your dental practice. There are multiple ways to do so:

Dental Practice Blogs, Posts, and Pages

Blogs and pages are some of the best ways to reach out to your patients, other dental professionals, prospects, and experts in the dental industry.

Dental Practice Articles – Use Different Media Formats

Infographics, articles and dental niche-specific content should be professionally created with an attractive design to get dental industry visitors’ attraction.

You can also use standard SEO techniques to optimize your articles for maximum reach!

Are you looking for a dental marketing agency to help grow your dental practice?

The internet is a powerful tool that can be used to promote dental practices. It’s important to know what strategies work and which ones don’t to get the best results. Luckily, our experts understand what it takes to keep your waiting room full.

Contact us today to get a free consultation. We’ll look at your current marketing strategies, suggest changes you should make, audit your website and digital footprint, and tell you how to boost your marketing efforts.

Complete the form below to get started today.

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