In the past, people in need of a new dentist simply asked their friends for a recommendation or flipped through the phone book until they found someone. That’s no longer the way most people find new providers and hasn’t been for a long time. Now, the vast majority of people search online for information and reviews about dental practitioners before they even consider making an appointment. Therefore, a good website is imperative for the continued growth and success of any dental practice.
6 Best Dental Industry Trends in California
1. Maintain a Custom Website
It’s important for dental practices to have custom-built websites. Generic sites that simply provide addresses, phone numbers, and names aren’t good enough. Potential patients expect dental and other medical websites to explain what’s special about the practice, clarify how it applies current dental industry trends, highlight the services provided, and describe what to expect during an appointment. Consider including pictures of the staff; pictures build confidence and help establish trust. Don’t miss how to promote your website.
It’s vital to regularly publish unique, engaging content on your site. Good content not only attracts visitors and keeps them on your site long enough to learn about your practice, but it also helps you maintain authority in search engine results. Search engine results are important because they’re how many people find your website. If you don’t rank in the search engines, people won’t find your website and may not even realize your practice exists.
If you need help with this, consult a website and/or digital marketing group like Solution21 in Irvine, California. Companies like this keep up with the trends in social media and the internet so that they can help you stay on top of your game and the top of Google. Many of the web groups specialize and has a dental/medical specialization so they know exactly what your needs are here in California.
2. Optimize Your Site for Local Searches
Once you have a custom site, it’s important to keep it optimized for local searches. This is necessary because a most online activity is related to local searches, and the success of your practice is dependent upon the people that live in your local area. Without local business, you wouldn’t have a practice. You may also like How to optimize your website freely
If your site is optimized for local searches, it should appear in the search results when someone searches for dentists in your area. For instance, if your practice is located in Atlanta, when someone searches for “dentists in Atlanta” you want your practice to appear at the top of the search results. If it doesn’t you’re losing potential patients.
Once you’ve had your site optimized for local search results, check it periodically to make sure all the information that results from a search is correct. Consistent, accurate listings will boost your online visibility and help your practice grow.
3. Take Advantage of Social Media
Use your practice’s social media accounts to engage patients and boost online visibility. Active social media accounts will help your website rank higher since search engines view social media activity as important to your site and industry. Also, read how to use Pinterest for lead generation.
Some social media platforms to consider using are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Snapchat, and YouTube. It’s important to align the social media platforms you use with the platforms your potential patients use. For instance, if you know your target market utilizes Facebook, post daily on Facebook. If your target market watches videos, put a few on YouTube. Furthermore, when people comment on a social media post, respond to it. You’ll boost engagement and grow your audience.
4. Maintain a Responsive Website
It’s vital that your site looks good on all devices. People search for dentists on their phones, tablets, and computers, and your website needs to be easy to read on all of them. Also, read how to make your blog mobile friendly.
A responsive website changes shape when browsing on a mobile device so that no information is lost or distorted, and browsing is easy. Not only will a responsive site make your site easier to search, but it will also help it rank better in web searches since search engines look at responsive sites more positively than they look at non-responsive sites.
5. Select Relevant Keywords
One of the most important decisions you have to make when building your website is to choose the right keywords. Keywords tell search engines what your site is about. To figure out what keywords your site should focus on, make a list of words that you think are important to your patients. For instance, if you’re a pediatric dentist, try to figure out what parents are looking for in a dentist for their kids.
They might search for “best dentist for kids” or some what like “best kids’ dentist”. Once you’ve figured out what keywords to focus on, build your site around them. If you need help, hire a search engine specialist.
6. Takeaway
As you build a new site or improve an existing one, keep in mind that doing so takes time and money. It doesn’t happen overnight, and you’ll probably need professional help and advice. Although it’s not an easy task to undertake, it’s a worthwhile one that’ll help you gain patients and grow your practice.
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