When it comes to orthodontist SEO, there are many factors we must take into account in order to have a successful marketing campaign.
But first, we need to understand if this type of marketing service is right for your practice.
So let’s discuss the benefits of search engine optimization services for orthodontists, how to properly implement and track these services, as well as what to look when hiring an SEO company.
We’ll also answer frequently asked questions about orthodontal SEO.
Why Invest In Local SEO For Orthodontists?
There are many different benefits to this type of SEO campaign.
Free Organic Traffic
Perhaps the most significant benefit to search engine optimization is the fact that every single click that is generated through SEO is free traffic to your website.
Meaning, if you show up high in organic search results, every single time a user clicks to go to your website, you don’t pay even a cent.
This is quite contrary to a PPC campaign, where you must pay for every single click that is generated from Google Adwords (or whichever PPC service you use).
Appear In Google Maps
Local SEO optimizes your Google My Business (GMB) profile to appear in Google Maps when a user searches a key term relevant to your business.
This is significant because clicks generate from Google Maps are extremely high-converting, as users searching in Google Maps are usually looking for driving directions to a service at that very moment.
Longterm Lead Generation Strategy
SEO is a marketing strategy in which your business can reap the benefits of years down the road.
Once you have a strong foundation and strong rankings, you will essentially be generating free leads to your business for months on end.
Never Have To Rely Solely On Referrals
The orthodontal industry can be very referral-heavy.
The problem that a lot of orthodontists have with this, however, is that there is a lot of competition from other medical professionals in their area.
From other orthodontists to dentists, to dental surgeons and specialists; your specific practice will have a lot of competition when it comes to word-of-mouth.
This is why SEO can be extremely lucrative for your business.
By providing another online marketing channel in which you can generate leads to your business, you are effectively able to diversify your lead generation strategy.
How To Do Orthodontist SEO
In order to generate as many free, organic leads a possible, you must implement your SEO strategy to best practices specific to your orthodontal business.
Orthodontic Keywords
Understanding what keywords are most critical to your business is a must.
If you target the wrong keywords, you will not be maximizing your potential to drive as much traffic to your website as possible.
Here are some high-value keywords that every orthodontist should research for their specific target service area.
Note that in the examples below, simply replace “city” with your specific service area:
“orthodontist + city”
“city + orthodontist”
“best orthodontist + city”
“city + braces”
“braces + city”
“city + affordable braces”
“city + cheap braces”
“city + invisalign”
“invisalign + city”
“invisalign cost + city”
“emergency dentist + city”
By focusing on high-intent, relevant keywords like these, you will have a high chance of generating a large amount of targeted traffic to your practice.
Local Listings
You must also ensure your business is included in as many local listings as possible.
This way, you will expand your online presence and show Google that you are relevant to your local area.
By doing so, you will show up higher in local search results.
Directory Listings
These include listings such as Yelp, Yellowpages, and any directory listing in which is local to your jurisdiction.
Establishing a connection between your business and your local service area as many times as possible is highly recommended.
Google My Business (GMB) Profile
Your Google My Business profile is the profile of your business on Google.
If you don’t have one, you should create one right away so that you can be included in the Google Maps section of any Google search.
Website Optimization
Search engine optimization is all about driving targeted traffic to your website.
In order to do so, you make sure your orthodontist website is as optimized as possible for relevant Google searches.
Onsite SEO
Onsite SEO is simply a term used to describe all of the optimizations you perform on your actual website.
This includes the targeting of your keywords, your service pages, local landing pages, and a whole host of other variables such as:
Title Tags
Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3, H4)
Image Optimization
Alt Text
URL Structure
Page Speed
And so on.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Along with onsite SEO comes conversion rate optimization (CRO).
Having traffic coming to your website is useless if you can’t get that traffic to convert.
This is where CRO comes in.
CRO is all about adding elements to your website that will your website visitors a high chance of converting from just a visitor to a lead, and then ultimately to a sale.
Elements of conversion rate optimization include:
Call-To-Actions
Offers
Discounts
Deals
User Experience
Social Proof
Customer Testimonials
And more.
The idea here is to provide as much incentive and value as possible to generate more from your orthodontist SEO campaign.
Offsite SEO
Offsite SEO is simply a term used to describe all of the optimizations you perform off of your actual website.
The important of offsite SEO is to establish relevance, trust, and authority with search engines.
Examples of offsite SEO you should implement for your orthodontic practice include:
Backlinks
Local Listings
Guest Posting
Citations
Social Media
Ensuring you have a solid offsite SEO strategy is essential for any SEO campaign.
What To Look For In An Orthodontist SEO Company
Now that we know the benefits of SEO for orthodontists as well as the general gist of how to implement such a campaign, the next factor you should focus on is what to look for when hiring an SEO company.
Keep in mind that you could always just implement an SEO campaign yourself.
But in the orthodontist industry, businesses usually have enough capital to hire the best SEO company to do it for them.
So if you were to do it yourself, it would be extremely difficult to beat out the other orthodontists who are actually paying the experts to implement their SEO for them.
So, let’s discuss how to choose the correct SEO company.
Large Digital Marketing Agency Vs. Specialized SEO Agency
Large digital marketing agencies usually offer just about every digital marketing service you can imagine.
The problem with this, though, is that they are not specialized in any single category.
Large Digital Marketing Agencies
Offer pay-per-click (PPC) services, social media (SMM) services, website design and more.
Some are, at best, mediocre at implementing a comprehensive marketing plan, and most are inadequate when servicing just search engine optimization for their clients.
This is because when their competition are SEO specialists, they do not have the deep knowledge or expertise to outrank them.
Specialized SEO Agencies
If you’re looking for strictly SEO services, a specialized SEO agency is the way to go.
These are the companies that perform SEO all day every day and are masters of their craft.
If you want the absolute best bang for your buck, you should choose the experts over the generalists.
Reporting And Tracking
Report on campaign performs and tracking key performance indicators are a crucial part of any orthodontic digital marketing campaign.
Ensuring your hired agency has accurate reporting standards is critical to your success.
Transparency
Transparency in your monthly reporting is beyond important.
You want to make sure your SEO agency is showing you everything – the good and the bad.
This way, everyone can understand what needs to improve and develop a plan to do so over the following months.
The Correct Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
You do not want a digital marketing agency to be tracking arbitrary KPIs.
You want to know that what you are paying for is indeed making a difference in your business.
This is why you want a company to report on increases in organic traffic through Google analytics, not just all traffic which can mask your SEO efforts by diluting it with positive social media results, PPC results, etc.
Tracking the daily progress of your target keywords is also a deliverable in which you ensure is included in your campaign.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Improvement
If you’re paying for an SEO company to improve your orthodontist website rankings, you want to ensure they provide proof of doing so.
This is where the keyword rankings come into play.
As mentioned above, delivering proof of keyword rankings improvement on a consistent basis is a key component to a digital marketing campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO For Orthodontists
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about search engine optimization campaigns for orthodontists.
How Long Before We Start Seeing Results?
This depends on whether you have a new website or an old website, and how optimised your website already is in terms of SEO.
The time horizon can vary immensely depending on these factors, but the rule of thumb for SEO is about 6-12 months to see quality SERP rankings.
What Is A Good Return On Investment (ROI) For My Orthodontic Digital Marketing Campaign?
The great thing about SEO is that your ROI should increase month over month as you begin to see rankings.
SEO is an investment.
Within the first few months of your campaign, your ROI is expected to be negative, as it will take some time before the SEO starts kicking in and you see first page rankings.
However, once you do see these first page rankings, and your website continues to move up the first page results, you will notice your ROI increase over time.
And since SEO is a longterm strategy, your ROI will continue to increase into the foreseeable future.
This is the beauty of SEO and why most companies tend to keep the service on a monthly basis for years to come – because it continues to pay high dividends once it kicks in.
What Other Online Marketing Channels Are Effective For Orthodontists?
The reason why SEO for orthodontists is so effective is that the traffic is essentially free.
With PPC services, the cost-per-click for the orthodontist industry is extremely high.
It can even reach as high as $40-$50 per click.
Other digital advertising channels you can research for your practice include social media marketing, Facebook advertising, and retargeting campaigns.
How Important Are Google, Facebook, And Yelp Reviews To An SEO Campaign?
Reviews indirectly affect your SEO performance.
They are an element of CRO, where the better reviews you have, the more calls, clicks, and sales you will be able to generate.
It is always recommended to implement a review strategy with your current, satisfied customers.
Watch this video to learn more about reviews and how they affect search engine rankings:
Choosing Active Business Growth As Your Digital Marketing Partner
We here at Active Business Growth have worked with and achieved success with many orthodontists and dentists in the past.
With our experience, we believe we can help any orthodontist practice generate more online leads by improving their SEO.
Call us today to discuss your SEO needs and discover how we can help implement a longterm lead generation strategy for your practice.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Note that we also offer SEO services for roofers, search engine optimization for lawn care companies, and HVAC SEO.
