The Dental Marketer

At the turn of the century, the early adopter dentists were creating websites for their practice.  In 2010, most dentists have at least a token presence on the web, and some of the practice websites are very sophisticated, with elaborate strategies for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Most dentists are somewhere in the middle.  They have a website, but they rarely look at their site and don’t think much about it.  They do, however, have this vague notion in the back of their minds, this nagging feeling that they should be paying more attention to their internet presence.  They know that their website could be better; they’ve heard that others are generating a considerable amount of new patients from the web; they have some sense that people are using search engines to find dental services – they just aren’t sure what to do about it.

Dental practices need a website that does two things.  First, it must look decent and offer good information.  Second, it must also attract new patients.  If your website only does the former, and not the latter, then the other dentists in the community are probably eating your lunch.

Here’s what to do:  First, take a good look at your website to see if it an attractive and useful source of information.  If not, you will either need overhaul it or hire someone to build a new one.  For a nice-looking semi-customizable website, you should expect to pay about $2000-$3000 upfront to a company who has experience with dental practice sites. 

Once you have a nice-looking site, with good information, you need to research how many patients you are currently generating from the web.  If you use call tracking numbers (which are cheap and simple to use – get them now!), look at how many calls are coming through your website phone line.  Your team should already be asking people  how they heard about the office.  Do people frequently mention the website? 

If your web host provides you with analytics, look at the data, and pay special attention to  how people are finding you.  Are you getting much business through search engines?  Perform searches of your own, as if you were a prospective patient.  Google “(my town)dentist”, and see how close to the top your listing is.  Google a couple of other terms that are important to you, along with your location.  Try cosmetic dentist or implant dentist.   Are you in the top five?  Are you on the front page?  Are you even a blip on the radar screen?

If you don’t seem to be generating much business from the web, you should be a bit concerned.  Contact your web host/provider to see what you are supposed to be getting in terms of SEO.  Make sure you are getting what you pay for, and also ask them what supplemental SEO services they offer. 

In very general terms, SEO is either paid or organic.  There are many positioning techniques for generating a high organic listing, using keywords, relevant activity, and inbound links, just to name a few.  Any website company worth its salt should at least be doing the basics.  For an additional monthly fee, many web companies will actively work on your SEO through a variety of techniques.  If your provider is unable or unwilling to offer much in this area, there are third party companies who will optimize your site even if they haven’t designed it and don’t host it.  Their techniques, prices and effectiveness widely vary.

SEO can also be directly bought through sponsored links and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.  You can do this directly through the search engines, like Google and Yahoo, or you can hire a third-party company to manage a sponsored link and/or PPC campaign for you.

A large segment of our population is increasingly relying on search engines to find the products and the services they need.   Make sure that you’re one of  the options they see when they are looking, and give them what they want once they get to your site. 

Remember that marketing success is all about efficiency, and internet marketing is about as efficient as it gets.