Overnight success is the stuff of legends. Today, instant gratification drives society, and the internet is no different. This current way of thinking can impact how dentists view digital marketing.
The myth of overnight success in digital marketing for dental offices is sold through various methods, and this myth stubbornly sticks around. Dentists are far more likely to fall prey to this myth when they do not understand some search engine basics.
Are You a Dentist Who Believes Any of These Digital Marketing Myths?
Take a look to see if any of these common myths apply to you or your dental practice:
There’s a “Top” of Google–And Your Dental Office Can Get There
Although a number one ranking position by Google for a specific search is a reality, there is no such thing as a“top” of Google.
Searching for basic keyword phrases like “Best Orthodontist California” will yield different results depending on several factors, some of which include: the browser being used, time of day, day of week, the device being used, and so many more.
Your dental office’s potential patients will have a very similar search experience.
However, many assume that when a prospective patient searches for simple keyword phrase, like the example we used above, they already know they need an orthodontist and search for exactly that term. This is rarely the way it actually works, and is a pretty huge assumption. It is more common for a potential patient to search for symptoms or problems. Although a search may contain some common words, typically they are distinct and unique, and will bring up a distinctive and unique set of search results.
They Will Get Your Site Ranking Well Very Quickly
A closely related myth is that a top-ranking position for a specific keyword can be achieved in a matter of days or weeks. (As stated earlier, potential patients do not typically search for popular dental keywords.) Numerous dentists are competing for just a few of these keywords as well, which drives the prices of those particular keywords through the roof. If your dental office has considered a “disposable” marketing method like PPC, you have probably experienced the competition of popular dental keywords and the astronomical prices it can lead to.
Learn about “Why SEO Takes So Long” here.
With such a huge amount of competition, it is very very difficult for a newly-opened practice to be able to rank organically for such pricey and competitive keywords. And, even if your dental office decides to compete in that costly PPC battle, you will be paying premium prices for clicks that may not even be qualified or interested patients for your practice. You will pay the same price for each click, regardless of whether the actually contact your office or not.
Certainly, there are some smaller dental offices that rank successfully for some of the most competitive dental keywords. Typically those smaller practices accomplish this by publishing a large amount of informational content relevant to those specific keywords. This content is throughly optimized, and focused around “long-tail” keywords and phrases.
A smaller dental practice will not be able to compete financially for terms like “Best Dentist California” when using PayPerClick(PPC), as an example, but the same, smaller office can certainly rank in searches on related topics if it can produce a remarkable amount of high-quality content to address searches like:
“My gums are very sore. What do I do?”
“What should I do if my jaw is clicking and popping and it hurts?”
“How to get teeth whitening done?”
The doorway to successful digital marketing for dentists can be opened with patience and informational, useful content. If a dental office produces and publishes such content consistently, it keeps search engines coming back to the dental office’s website to index the new content. The more content you offer to the search engines, the more the search engines will offer your web pages to your potential patients.
The More Pages You Create For Your Dental Office’s Website, The Better You’ll Do In Search Engine Rankings
This myth is not only untrue, but in practice, can damage your dental office’s digital existence and reputation.
A larger number of pages does not automatically translate to higher search engine rankings. Yes, there are massive dental practice websites ranking wonderfully on search engines. These dental office’s websites can have hundreds or even thousands of pages. What makes the difference is that each of those pages is full up with helpful and quality content for prospective patients, and they are consistent in producing and publishing high-quality content. The most successful content strategies include devoting enough time to each page to make sure they deliver the most relevant information in a way that is compelling and delightful to read.
In terms of Google rankings, the number of pages a website contains is irrelevant if those pages provide little relevance or usefulness to the user. Adding lots “thin” pages without enough quality content to support them can result in disaster, and decrease the value and authority of your entire website. Publishing page after page without value to potential patients, will make your practice’s website less likely to rank well with Google and the other search engines.
According to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines:
“One of the most important steps in improving your site’s ranking in Google search results is to ensure that it contains plenty of rich information that includes relevant keywords, used appropriately, that indicate the subject matter of your content.”
However, there are some out there who attempt to inflate their sites’ rankings and increase web traffic by publishing pages with numerous keywords, but little to no valuable content. Google will punish such domains that try to cheat by just publishing gibberish or other valueless pages that do not benefit the user at all.
Confused About What’s Fact and Fiction in Digital Marketing for Dentists?
At AdInfusion, we know that a successful digital marketing campaign for a dental office requires remarkable content. We can show dentists the way to enhance their practice and reach through content-based marketing while rescuing them from the costs of wasted resources–both time and money–on strategies that do not successfully translate into success.
There is no “top” of Google, but there is a great demand from potential patients for the services that your practice offers. When you reach out to those people, you will be offering them helpful information and compelling them to make an appointment with you.
There are no shortcuts or tricks that will boost your search engine rankings. “Overnight success” is only a myth. If you need to know what works–and what doesn’t work for dental marketing–let’s have a conversation on how to amplify your dental office’s reach. Reach out to us today! 916-798-5707.
