Getting to the top of Google requires a lot of time and effort, especially without the use of Google Ads
It won’t just happen overnight.
Getting to the first few pages of Google search results is a fundamental requirement for businesses. Getting on there is a challenge because there aren’t many spots.
Search engine optimisation (dental SEO) is the key to ranking highly on Google.
It takes time to perfect your dental website’s dental SEO. Taking you anywhere from a few weeks to months on end to climb to the top of the Google ranking system. Even then, you need to maintain that spot.
Ranking high regionally is not as much of a challenge as trying to rank nationally. This is because there aren’t as many options to choose from.
Especially if you are targeting a particular city, town, or postcode, as there is less competition to get to the area’s top ranks, if you’re part of a niche industry with few competitors, then you can rank higher much faster, even in a matter of a few weeks.
However, ranking highly nationally is always going to be a challenge.
Where should you start?
Keyword research is possibly the most vital task when it comes to dental SEO. You need to find out what keywords people are using to search for the products and services you offer.
A good idea when starting is to research what other dental websites in your sector are ranking for. This can be done by searching for the keywords that your field uses. I’m searching for a specific phrase to see if any relevant sites appear.
Although ranking highly for a keyword can feel nice and you start to think you’re getting somewhere, if this keyword doesn’t bring you high-quality leads or conversions, then it’s pointless.
There is a wide array of dental websites that can be used to help you when researching keywords. For example, dental websites like Stackline, SEMrush, and Google’s keyword planning tool can all be helpful.
The keywords you focus on should be the ones that will equate to sales and new dentists. Not just people searching for information, as this could be anything, from students researching to competitors, as well as keyword searching.
You need good information, not just keywords
A few years ago, it was sufficient to include keywords in your page copy to achieve high rankings. But now that search engines like Google are more sophisticated, it doesn’t work like that anymore.
To reach the higher ranks of Google search engine results pages now, your information has to be tight and to the point; from Google’s point of view, they are looking for straightforward and relevant information to take back to the user.
Google rewards dental websites that answer questions and target answers to the questions they believe the user wants to know.
Google and other search engines on the internet love to see information and crawl through the hierarchy of information. This means having a straightforward menu, categories, and links to corresponding pages with relevant copy.
On-site dental SEO
On-site dental SEO provides a positive experience for both the end-user and Google, where searches are answered with the right content.
You achieve this by making it as easy as possible with clear and concise copy.
To achieve this, you will need:
- A URL that is clear, concise, and arranged in an order that follows a sensible pattern
- Meta descriptions that contain more details about the page make it more interesting and persuasive to the user, and typically include 1-2 keywords.
- A title tag which includes what the page is about and the search term
- Alt tags on images contain what the picture is showing and a keyword
- Content on the pages which has enough relevant information and contains quality wording, but is concise and to the point
As you add new information to the dental website or blog posts, including when new pages are created, the new content should be submitted to Google using your Search Console and XML sitemap.
Google’s algorithm often uses the click-through rate to determine how relevant your page is to search queries.
Therefore, it is essential to share information and content regularly to help generate leads and clicks for your dental website.
The more clicks you have, the higher your website will rank, as Google will determine that this content is popular and valuable.
For Google to determine the value of your content, there needs to be a large volume of content, especially on new dental websites. This is why you mustn’t expect your page to rank naturally if you only have a simple, 4-page microsite.
A small dental website like this probably won’t rank naturally unless it’s unique, sponsored, or advertised by celebrities and TV channels to a large following, which creates a large volume of users.
Using that scenario, your page could increase in ranking due to the CTR effect.
Most dental websites and companies need to naturally grow their ranking and increase their dental SEO by adding information, answering questions, writing, and sharing content, including blogs and articles.
Outreach
On-site dental SEO is essential, but it’s only the beginning. Attention is required to create and cement the reputation and authority of your dental website.
This is attributed to being linked to by highly regarded dental websites and blogs. This process is called outreach, which involves forming connections with dental websites and blogs to share their success.
If some decent dental websites and patients link your dental website (that don’t have to be from your market), Google will likely increase your ranking as they will deem your site more worthy.
At VC Dental Marketing, our dental SEO team can fully optimise your dental website so that it ranks at the top of Google’s search engine results pages.
We can develop a strategic dental SEO campaign to ensure you are ranking for all the key search terms in your sector. If you need help with your dental website or dental SEO, click here.
