The Ultimate 5-Step Guide to Building Effective SEO for Dentists

You’re a dentist who owns their practice…

And I know what you’re thinking about:

How to attract new dental patients to your practice. 

People in your community need dental services, and you want to show them you’re their best fit. 

But let’s be honest…

Growing your practice, managing your schedule, fine-tuning your skills…

These things take your valuable time. 

Having an “SEO for dentists machine” set up for your dental practice will help you gain more patients while you sleep. 

Because when you have effective “SEO for dentists” methods in place for your practice…

Patients will come to you.

You want to get started today. 

And you can. 

We’ve put together a five-step guide to using impactful dental SEO strategies you can use right now. 

Let’s dive into it. 

SEO For Dentists Tip # 1 – Use Local Keyword Targeting

Because you are a local dental practice, you want to focus your website copy on local keywords. 

It’s important not to “keyword stuff” (meaning to stuff too many keywords unnaturally into a text). 

You want your website copy to sound human. Not like a robot. 

Because your patients are just that: humans. Caring for teeth, gums, and overall oral health is an intimate experience. 

You want your potential dental patients to feel… 

• Safe 
• Respected 
• Heard 

Your dental website copy should reflect that.

Next, when you’re looking for keywords to use for your website…

It’s important to remember to incorporate location-specific keywords. 

Here are a few dental SEO keyword examples: 

• “Dentist in D.C.” 
• “Dental office in NYC” 
• “Los Angeles dentist” 

Once you’ve decided which keywords to go after, you’ll need to dive deeper. 

Using keyword research tools will be extremely important. The proof’s in the pudding (data).

Analyze search volume, SEO difficulty, and other factors to decide which keywords are the best to include in your website copy. 

Here are a few keyword research tools to use for dental SEO marketing: 

• Google Keyword Planner
• Moz Keyword Explorer
• SEMrush 
• Ubersuggest

These websites will make it easier to decide which keywords will be best for your site. That way, you’re not blindingly placing keywords without any direction. 

Keyword research is truly the backbone of any successful dental SEO strategy. And while we build SEO for dentists, we always include this step.

SEO For Dentists Tip #2 – Optimize Your Dental Website

Your website will likely be the first point of contact between you and your dental patients. 

It’s crucial to ensure your dental website is…

• Easy-to-navigate
• Mobile-friendly
• Optimized for search engines

Also, keep in mind that the visual aspects of your website matter.

A lot. 

Research shows that 90% of website users judge a business based on website design. 

If your website doesn’t look appealing, that won’t help you. No matter how well you’ve done keyword research. 

So, design your dental website with the patient journey in mind. 

Make it attractive, clean, and easy to use. 

We never skip this step while we build SEO for dentists!

Here are a few key dental SEO marketing elements you’ll want to include: 

• A captivating home page that reflects your practice’s identity and values. 
• Cohesive, seamless design making it easy to view your site across various devices. 
• Clear and concise calls-to-action (CTAs) 
• High-quality visuals
• A user-friendly online booking system for appointment scheduling 
• Social proof to build trust
• Communicate features such as online chat 

As you build your website brick by brick, integrate your chosen keywords naturally into your website copy. This will help build out your dental SEO strategy.

Plant your dental SEO keywords naturally, including them in…

• Title tags
• Meta descriptions 
• Headers
• Body Content 

Pay close attention to optimizing key pages such as…

• Homepage 
• Services
• Pricing 
• Service areas
• Contact
• About sections 

Cultivating an SEO-optimized dental website truly is a balancing act! But your hard work will pay off. 

SEO For Dentists Tip #3 – Have a Dental Blog

You need to ask yourself this question: 

Is your dental content valuable? 

Because having a blog is more than just writing words.

Make it a part of your dental SEO strategy. Throwing out content simply to check a box won’t get your practice where it needs to be. 

Potential patients want to know you are trusted, capable, and knowledgeable. 

Your blog content can reflect this if you do it correctly. 

A rushed 500-word blog post won’t cut it anymore! You might be thinking that people don’t read blogs anymore.

It’s really not true.

Did you know that 47% of people need to read 3 to 5 pieces of content before engaging with a sale? (of any product or service)

You should be aiming for in-depth content that speaks directly to your target audience. 

Blogs should be long-form content, ranging from 1,500 to over 2,000 words. 

The more quality content you have, the more pages Google’s crawler can index…

Leading to increased traffic to your dental website, and improving your SEO. 

As a dentist, your topics should cover a wide range of subjects about dental care, dental concerns, and routine check-ups. 

Engage your audience with conversational language, visually appealing images, and infographics. 

Here are a few SEO for dentists guidelines to make your dental blog stand out: 

• Originality is key
• Answer common patient questions and calm fears
• Conduct keyword research for each blog 
• Optimize for voice search by incorporating natural language 

Remember…

Be a human, first and foremost. It’s the easiest way to connect with your potential patients. 

SEO For Dentists Tip #4 – Land More Dental Reviews

Social proof is fire. 

So, you’re going to need it to grow your dental practice. It will shift potential patients into current patients, guaranteed. 

So, how do you get social proof? 

It’s simple. Ask your current patients for reviews! 

You can ask for dental reviews in a variety of ways: 

• Review links on your website
• Via text message 
• Emails

The key here is to make it as simple as possible for your patients to navigate it. The fewer the steps, the better. 

There are also many dental review platforms you can connect to your website. 

Here are a few dental review platforms: 

• Google
• Facebook 
• Healthgrades
• ZocDoc
• Vitals
• 1-800 Dentist
• Dentistry.com
• CareDash

Whichever you choose, positive reviews will improve your practice’s reputation and credibility. So, don’t skip this step! 

It is literally pure gold. 

When we’re building SEO for dentists, we always keep this in mind.

SEO for Dentists Tip #5 – Get Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are like digital word-of-mouth referrals. 

Let me explain…

Backlinks are links from external websites leading back to your site. Acquiring backlinks is an important step on the journey to SEO success. 

Especially SEO for dentists.  

When established, respected websites link to your content, it shows your practice is more legitimate. It also increases your website’s authority. This helps you rank higher on search engines. 

Higher ranking = increased visibility

More visibility leads to naturally growing your practice. 

Here are a few ways to build backlinks: 

• Submit informative articles to respected article directories
• Contribute guest posts on relevant healthcare blogs or websites
• Engage in online discussions and provide expert advice
• Leave thoughtful, insightful comments on related blogs 
• Reach out to other websites within your niche and request a backlink

Remember: The seeds of your dental SEO strategy will not bear fruit overnight. And neither do backlinks. So, it will take dedication and consistency. 

SEO For Dentists: 10 Common FAQs

Here are a few frequently asked questions about SEO for dentists. 

Why is SEO for dentists important? 

Here’s why:

You need the right people to find you. 

An effective dental SEO marketing strategy will allow you to become more visible on Google and increase your authority.

Building this will increase the likelihood you will appear on page 1 for important keywords. 

Why does my website need dental SEO? 

Your dental website needs SEO because…

Your website will likely be the first point of contact for many of your potential patients. So, first off, you have to make sure they find you. 

If you’re on page 5 and not page 1, it’s not likely for many patients to find you. Many people won’t spend the time to scroll through all those pages to find you. It’s much more likely they’ll find someone else and go with them. 

So, it’s really about awareness. 

It all starts with an effective dental SEO strategy…

The strategy should include keyword research. Analyze “SEO for dentist” keywords and strategically place keywords throughout your website copy. 

Your website copy should be honest and compelling.

Because, when the right patients find you…

You’ll want to establish a relationship with an authentic voice communicated through your website copy. So, it all starts with your website! 

Don’t skip it. 

Why do I need dental SEO for my blog? 

Well, having a dental blog is an important piece of your dental SEO marketing strategy. 

Why? 

Writing a consistent, valuable dental blog will allow you to keep using dental SEO keywords that allow you to rank higher in Google. The more dental blogs you write, the more keywords you’ll be able to include in your website. 

Then, as the cherry on top, your dental patients will benefit from your valuable information. 

The most important thing is it builds a relationship with your current patients and potential patients. All the while you’re also ranking higher in Google. 

What’s an important goal to improve SEO for dentists?

Start with 2 to 3 keywords you want to rank for. 

Then, as you build your website and write your blog…

You will keep these dental SEO keywords in mind and place them in strategic places. 

Over time, track the rankings for your dental SEO keywords. 

You can use a variety of SEO tracking software to do this. 

Here they are: 

• Semrush 
• Google Keyword Planner 
• Ubersuggest 
• Moz 
• Ahrefs

As you track your dental SEO keywords, be patient. Growth will happen over time, not overnight. 

What is the difference between organic (SEO) and paid advertising (PPC), and how does that affect my dental SEO marketing? 

Growing your organic rankings will take some time. It’s not an overnight fix. So, growing your organic ranking can be extremely cost-effective, but will take time. 

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC), will result in fast results, but it will cost you. 

Depending on which dental SEO keywords you want to rank for, the cost-per-click will be lower or higher. So, you will need to track this to ensure your ROAS (return on ad spend) is high enough. 

Either way, you’ll need to be tracking data. 

When we are building SEO for dentists, it’s important to build one thing at a time. Many dental practices will build organic rankings first, and then use extra funds to pay for PPC advertising as they grow.

How long will I have to work at dental SEO marketing before I appear on page 1? 

It’s hard to say. 

There isn’t an exact timeline for appearing on page 1 for your targeting SEO for dentists. 

So…here’s the simple answer. 

You have to be patient and consistent. 

Without these two elements, you likely won’t appear on page 1. So, keep this in mind as you create your dental SEO marketing plan. 

What is a meta description and how does it affect SEO for dentists? 

A meta description is a short summary of what your page will be about. It’s usually below your title tag. 

This is an important description that will impact your SEO. It’s important for this to be short, punchy, and include at least one important keyword you want to rank for. 

How can I track my dental SEO marketing strategies? 

There are a variety of ways to track SEO for dentists. 

Here’s one great way to do this: 

Create a Google Analytics account and connect your website to it. 

You’ll be able to track organic traffic, direct searches, user demographics, and so much more. Using this tool will inform you to adjust your dental SEO marketing strategy as needed. 

What are important Google ranking factors that will impact my dental SEO marketing? 

Here are the top three things that impact your Google ranking: 

• Usability. How usable is your site? Is it easy to navigate? Does it take too long to load? The answers to these questions will impact your dental SEO greatly. If your dental website isn’t user-friendly, users will not stick around. 
• Relevance. Is the information provided on your site relevant? What you offer on your dental website should reflect what they searched for. So, make sure you are targeting relevant keywords. 
• Quality. Are you producing quality content? Google prioritizes helpful content that will be most useful to the user. So, make sure you are producing quality content with good backlinks.

Will social media impact my dental SEO marketing strategy? 

Indirectly, yes. 

Let me explain…

Building a social media following will not directly impact SEO. Google doesn’t pay attention to how many followers, shares, or engagements you have on social media. 

However, having a following on social media will increase your visibility. If people know you on social media, it’s more likely they may search for you on Google. 

Social media algorithms are also more unpredictable than Google. So, if you don’t have a social media account for your dental practice, don’t worry. 

It will not make or break you. But it could potentially help. 

Low On Time? Consider Hiring an Agency Specializing in SEO for Dentists

Does all of this sound like a lot of work? 

I know you’re likely low on time. 

Running your practice, managing your schedule, seeing patients, honing your skills…

These things take valuable time. 

So, you’re probably overwhelmed with the thought of taking on dental SEO marketing as well. 

That’s where we come in! Social Market Way can help you. 

Here’s how we create effective SEO for dentists: 

• A proven track record of getting results for clients
• Tailor-made service plan personalized just for your practice 
• Transparent pricing that aligns with your budget and goals 
• A team with extensive experience and dedication to your mission and vision

Our skilled SEO professionals will keep your practice at the forefront of competition. 

If you want a hassle-free, effective approach specifically curating SEO for dentists.

We’d be happy to show you that we live up to the hype!