Attracting new patients is an important part of establishing and maintaining a successful dental practice. In order to develop quickly, solo dentists need 20 new patients each month (or more).

Traditional dental marketing strategies no longer work. Customers now go online to locate local services, such as dentists, rather than going door-to-door. The use of search engines like Google is by far the most popular method for locating a healthcare provider among consumers who book appointments (77 percent). Patients who booked appointments looked at the providers’ website before making their decision (74 percent).

The era of digital dentistry marketing is upon us, and consumers are in control.

Top Marketing Ideas for Dental Offices

We know that conventional dental marketing techniques no longer work, yet what does? We collaborate with all ranges of dentists and have had the chance to evaluate marketing approaches and optimization methods. What we’ve learned is a clear knowledge of how modern patient behavior works and what people want when they look for a new dentist.

We’d like to offer you a few effective dental marketing ideas now. The majority of these, although some require continued effort, may be put into action right immediately.

1. Update and Optimize Your Google My Business Page

Nothing beats Google My Business for leveraging a location-based marketing approach. This is usually the first step for any seasoned SEO. You must establish a Google My Business account if you do not already have one.

Google My Business is a free Google tool that helps dentists (and all company owners) manage their online presence across search engines. For dentists wanting to attract potential patients, Google My Business will have a big impact.

Google My Business listings are well-known. Even if the name doesn’t instantly ring a bell, you’ve likely heard of Google My Business listings. Local Search results (as shown in the image below), for example, will break out a list of dentists near you that include most of the information a new patient would want to know (location, hours of operation, website address, and so on).

Once you’ve submitted a Google My Business Listing, a Google Maps location is generated and syncs with Google Search. If you haven’t claimed it yet, now is the time to do so.

This statistic demonstrates how essential a well-optimized Google My Business listing is. According to Statista, around 90% of all searches take place on Google. This figure reflects the importance of having an optimal Google My Business listing.

To fully optimize your listing, completely fill out the following:

• Business category (above, you can see that these offices are each labeled as a “dentist” right next to the average review rating.
• Main phone number
• Business description (optimize this description for SEO)
• Business hours
• Google Reviews

2. Upgrade Your Website Design

Patients don’t want to visit a dental office that doesn’t appear appealing. So, good dental website design is no longer optional. It’s critical to make a good first impression, and if your site looks like it was created in 2002, you’ll lose new patients. Patients do not want to be treated in an unappealing clinic. As a result, having a beautiful dental website design is now required.

Dental patients will certainly browse your website after seeing you for the first time. As a result, how effectively your website works is an indicator of how well they think you’ll operate. If you have an ugly website with difficult-to-find information, that isn’t going to bode well for your connection.

Here are some suggestions for improving your website and adding new features to interest more patients.

• Online scheduling of appointments (Patients report that their choice of a dentist is significantly impacted by how easily they can book an appointment.)
• Online Payment
• Online prescription renewal
• Information profile of the dentist
• Instant messaging capabilities (Live Chat)
• Informational videos
• Content that helps, and informs your patients to keep their mouths healthy

When you incorporate these elements into your online design, you’ll have made a tremendous jump forward in terms of attracting new patients. However, features and abilities aren’t the only things you should consider. You’ll also need to focus on certain technical aspects of the website.

• Website speed – The average website visitor has no patience. If a website takes too long to load, visitors will abandon it and never return. An impression will have been made, but it won’t be a good one. Before they go for the back button, you have three seconds for a site to load.
• Website security – In the healthcare industry, security is a no-brainer. You’re putting your clinic in significant risk if your website isn’t secure.
• Mobile friendly web design – When searching for a new healthcare facility, over 80% of new patients consult their phones. A mobile search website is required. It instantly repels new consumers if they visit a site that wasn’t designed for mobile.
• Coded for properly for SEO – The greatest dentist websites are well-coded for SEO benefit. Because they have been built for SEO effectively, these sites are more readily discovered.

WordPress is a very popular CMS among dentists, but because it is open-source, we have discovered that it falls short in several technical areas. This is why we choose to utilize the HubSpot CMS rather than WordPress. For security, protection, and speed, there is no comparison between HubSpot CMS and other vendors. 

3. Start Blogging

Starting a blog will have a major impact on your Google presence. Patients are actively looking for answers to their inquiries on the internet. Patients have an infinite number of questions. Starting a blog for dentists is an excellent method to address patient queries.

Patients will inevitably discover your clinic if you have a well-written and SEO optimized blog. The volume of free information you provide them will establish a bond with them, and perhaps lead to a new patient for you.

Before you start rambling about anything, make sure you do thorough research and create a marketing plan. This might be an excellent time to connect with a dental marketing professional. An agency will have the skills and knowledge to allow for faster content production.

However, if you decide to go ahead, make sure the material you’re producing is consistent with Google’s search intent. You’ll want to provide solutions to inquiries that new customers have.

Here are some dental blog topic ideas to get your brain moving:

• Create healthy habits – Healthy living is a career, which is why it’s an “in” thing right now. Take advantage of the current trend and write about healthy practices that support dental health. But don’t stop there; consider the entire body’s holistic health as well.
• Answer patient questions – People are looking for answers on the internet. Accept their challenges and provide a well-researched response from an acknowledged expert. If one person is seeking for it, there’s a good chance that many others are as well. Adding video to this sort of blog is ideal!
• Be trendy – There are always discussions about which technology is best. Investigate the newest dental innovations and offer your opinions.

Facebook Ads

Your blog’s material will be an excellent resource for future Facebook Advertisements. In fact, one of the most cost-effective methods to reach a huge audience of potential new patients is to run Facebook Ads for dentists. You are demonstrating your industry expertise as well as your capacity to build a holistic, healthy partnership with patients when you advertise your blog content as an ad.

4. Optimize Your Blog and Website Pages for SEO

SEO can appear to be voodoo if you haven’t spent much time working on the backend of a website. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of altering your website’s code and content in order for search engines to better understand it. An SEO-optimized website will rank higher in search results and produce far more new patient leads than one that isn’t.

Because the Google algorithm is complicated, SEO is tough. They’re excellent at reading websites and generating search listings because of this complicated algorithm.

How does Google read your website?

Google employs spiders to crawl your website’s data. They examine your pages, paying close attention to significance indicators. Keywords and keyword emphasis are important for Google, but there are many more. The precise recipe employed by Google is a closely guarded secret; it has never been revealed before.

There are a few things we do know about it though, and how to optimize for it.

• Your website needs to be fast. Under three seconds fast.
• Your website needs to be mobile friendly.
• Your website needs to be secure. You must use HTTPS and not HTTP.
• Your website images must have alt-text tags
• You should use schema on every website page
• Your website must be expansive with hundreds of pages of quality content
• You must be present on social media
• Your website must get backlinks from authoritative websites

6. Go All-In on Video Marketing

One thing above all others that you need to know to encourage patients is video reigns supreme. Consumers can’t get enough video on the internet. Every day, thousands of hours of dentists telling their tale are viewed by people around the world, and if you aren’t producing videos, you’re losing out on an opportunity.

Here are some ways you can leverage video for your dental office:

• Welcome to the website videos: Create a video for a new visitor to your website that welcomes them. You may introduce the facility and staff, as well as begin to develop a connection right away. Use the film to show them your human side.
• Physician profile videos: Patients will have more confidence in the dental practice after seeing a video of their profile. Patients will grow trust in the staff and the dentist’s abilities, and the film will provide assurance.
• Patient review videos: Give your patients the option to leave a video review when they depart. Video reviews are easy to understand, and they provide a more nuanced perspective on the business than a simple written assessment.
• Procedure and treatment videos: Show visitors what a real treatment entails. What is the layout of the room like? Who are they? What happens during the procedure. Explain your expertise to them.
• Educational videos: Take your blog articles and transform them into videos. Educational video clips perform particularly well in search and will be thankful for the thorough information.

7. Ask Your Patients for Reviews

The foundation of every local SEO campaign is reviews. Reviews are critical. You must obtain reviews on a regular basis and consistently. When looking for a new doctor, 72 percent of patients will consult online reviews first. Many individuals would choose to seek dental care outside their network if they had excellent feedback.

The most essential location to obtain evaluations is Google. There’s never been a better time to have more Google reviews. I wouldn’t advocate obtaining them anyplace else until you’ve got at least 20 small-office Google reviews or 100+ for a larger organization.

Dentists that don’t gather consumer reviews in Google and keep them in their patient management software portal are making one of the worst blunders imaginable. The level of feedback you’ll get when you compile evaluations in Google will not be anywhere near as strong.

Start working on Facebook reviews after you’ve gathered a sufficient quantity of Google feedback.

Tips for getting patient reviews

• 1. Get them to record a quick video testimonial at the end of their appointment.
• 2. Ask them to leave you a Google review (send them the link).
• 3. Email them and ask them.
• 4. Ask them on Facebook (Instant Messenger).

8. Connect With Patients Using Email Marketing

The majority of us begin our mornings by checking email. You may utilize email marketing for a variety of things:

• Appointment reminders
• Motivational tips
• Teeth tips to stay healthy
• Community news
• Ask them for a review
• Team and staff updates
• Updates on your practice

Putting Dental Marketing Ideas Into Action

It’s critical to know how to attract patients in order to build a successful dental practice. It’s not easy to put into action a digital marketing plan. It necessitates expertise, timing, luck, and dedication. Many dentists give up after attempting it for a month because they don’t get the desired outcomes.

The most common blunder is failing to comprehend the amount of time and expertise needed to perform at a top level in digital marketing.

If you don’t have a lot of time to spend on your marketing, you’ll need to set aside some time for it or hire a professional dental marketing firm.

The greatest dental marketing firms will be able to relieve the stress off of a dental marketing strategy while still keeping it enjoyable for the whole team. After all, they didn’t teach digital marketing in dental school.