Search Engine Optimization: What You Should Know As A Dental Practitioner

 

By: Will Koziey-Kronas   As a dental practitioner, any investigation into dental marketing has no doubt involved encounters with the term "SEO" - and for good reason. "SEO", short for "search engine optimization", is a crucial component of a practice's marketing presence. To understand why, we have to start from the beginning: how are prospective patients finding dental practices?

Alongside referrals, another predominant source of patient traffic to dental practices are search engines. Prospective patients will generally search for the service they desire along with their location, such as "dental veneers Mississauga". From there - at best - they may browse the first two or three pages of results before finding a suitable practice. At worst, they won't make it past the first page, or even the first few results.

Now consider that your geographical area is likely home to well over ten competing practices. Then consider that search engines only display about ten results per page. The challenge is apparent: if your site isn't appearing within the first page or two, you miss out on a vital source of traffic - and with more than 10 other practices vying for those limited spots, the competition is stiff.

The snapshot of results for a Google Maps search of "Dentist Mississauga" (each red icon marks a practice). With that much location-specific competition, you need SEO to stand out.

 
This is the role of SEO: deliberately tune your practice's site so that it appears in the first few pages for searches such as "dental service + your location". So where does SEO begin, and what does it look like?

Top 3 Digital Marketing Trends in 2017

By: Noha Abou-Hashima

The digital world moves fast. And it can be overwhelming to keep track of all that happens in this fast-paced environment. So to mark our passage into the second half of 2017, we summarize the top digital marketing techniques for the year, and add our own perspective on some of the latest developments.

Content Marketing and Data Collection

For the past few years, digital marketers focused on tailoring their content (advertisements, promotions, emails, social media posts, etc) to their consumer base with the help of data mining. According to data from Smart Insights, content marketing remains the number one digital marketing technique preferred by marketers.



Although personalized marketing is not new, marketers in 2017 have shifted their focus from creating static content to generating interactive content that engages their audience and provides them with a more meaningful experience online. Research by Content Marketing Institute shows that almost half (46%) of marketers used interactive content early in 2017. Used by 52% of marketers, infographics were the most popular type of interactive content in 2017. Infographics were mainly used for content marketing purposes, as a way to make large amounts of information more palpable and interesting. However, in terms of achieving content marketing objectives, contests were rated as being the most effective during the first stage of awareness/discovery.