Like most businesses trying to utilize technology for marketing purposes in these competitive times, dental practices are not lagging behind in the race to reach a larger pool of clients.
One effective method is search engine marketing, which, when fully optimized, can have a significant impact on patient leads, helping you connect with more clients in need of your services. Whether your practice is part of a large chain or an independent clinic, SEM can give you an edge.
This blog will explore the intricacies of how dental search engine marketing (SEM) works and actionable steps to boost patient leads. For targeted efforts, strategies like dental implant marketing are also worth exploring.
What is Search Engine Marketing?
Before we get into explaining how dental search engine marketing (SEM) can help you with increasing the number of clients that approach your clinic, we must first build a contextual understanding of the topic. Dental Search Engine Marketing refers to investing in paid advertising services which can help your website appear on search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s a process where relevant keywords are bid upon for the purpose of having them displayed on search results where potential clients can search for them using keyword terms.
SEM can come in a variety of different forms, text-based ads, display ads, and retargeting campaigns. This differs from SEO, a more organic solution that lasts a long while because SEM provides the possibility of instant visibility on SERPs via placements that you yourself invest in.
Strategies to Boost Patient Leads
Now that we have the contextual understanding out of the way let’s get into specific strategies you can implement to get instant and reliable results.
Keywords: Finding the Right Search Terms: The foundation that a lucrative SEM campaign is built upon is finding the exact keywords that you want to target. In our case of dental practices, the keywords could be specific dental services and treatments or conditions that interested individuals are searching for.
Local and Service-Oriented Keywords: The best keywords for an SEM campaign that’s most lucrative are keywords that are localized and oriented towards the types of services that your practice offers. Instead of using broad, general keywords (like “dentist”), it will prove many times more effective to bet keywords that are a) specific to the location of your clinic and b) based on your services (“full arch dental implants near me.”).
Use Tools Like Google Keyword Planner: An online resource that can make this process easier is the Google Keyword Planner, which, as the name suggests, will help you find just the right words that relate to the dental services that you’re providing and also has the option to display important metrics and information such as search volume and any competition that you’ll have.
Create Engaging and Relevant Ads
Now that we’re done choosing the keywords, the next natural step is creating advertisements written with clarity and preciseness in mind so that you can directly target the problems that the searcher is having and provide them solutions. Clarity is paramount, of course, but the ads should also be compelling and attractive to the potential client.
Highlight Unique Selling Points (USPs): Selling your services to the interested individual will require you to ponder about what makes your service different, as in, what sets it apart from similar ads about other dental practices that surround it; these will be your Unique Selling Points (USPs). The USPs could be anything, the state-of-the-art technology that your clinic has, the family-friendly and homely atmosphere of the clinic, or payment plans that are affordable and attractive.
Remember to highlight your USPs in your ads to get the most out of them and set yourself apart from the competition.
Include a Compelling Call to Action (CTA): The objective of the ad is to direct the client towards your service; the best way to achieve this is to declare a Call to Action (CTA) in your ads; it tells the searcher what to do next, now that they’ve decided to pursue or analyze your practice.
CTAs are written for the purpose of inviting the searcher to actively seek out and come into contact with your service; some of the common ones are “Book an Appointment Today,” “Call us now,” or “Get a Free Consultation”.
Optimize Landing Pages for Conversions
At this point, half the battle is won; we still have to ascertain whether the landing page your ad directs to is perfectly optimized for conversions. This is the stage where the client decides between contacting your practice or moving on to a competitor.
Ensure Mobile Responsiveness: This was hinted at before, but make sure that your landing page is intuitive for people who open it on their smartphones. A laggy, asymmetric mobile interface and clunky aesthetics can dishearten visitors into moving on to the competition and damage credibility at the onset.
Clear and Simple Design: Clarity and simplicity in design and in descriptions/phrases are optimal here. The paragraphs should be short, easily comprehensible, and mixed in with compelling bullet points and a consistent design philosophy to engage and attract more visitors.
Appointment Scheduling and Contact Forms: Forms are perfect for clients trying to contact you directly for further details and appointments. Make the process easier for them by integrating within your website a simple appointment booking form or a phone number that is consistently active. Your goal is to have the client spend as little clicks as possible to reach out and make an appointment.
Conclusion
In this blog, we talked about the variety of ways dental search marketing can increase patient leads. We started by providing a contextual understanding of dental search engine marketing (SEM) and ended with some reliable ways you can nail the optimization of landing pages for conversion.
If you want the process of dental search engine marketing to be more streamlined and want your dental practice to start attracting and increasing the number of clients exponentially, then consider partnering with Teraleads, which specializes in dental search engine marketing. Contact us now to learn more!
