Search engine optimisation is the magic that takes place within and behind the scenes of your website. It is the key to getting your website ranked and then driving traffic to not only your site but also your clinic.

SEO can be really effective when it’s used correctly. Here are some of the fundamental principles you should know about SEO and how you can use it for your business.

#1: Produce Relevant Content

Delivering informative, original, reader-friendly content to your website regularly is an integral aspect of an effective SEO plan.

Informational content gives you a way to include keywords on your website that help boost your rankings with Google for highly searched queries. In simple terms, this means that more of your patients will be able to find you and receive the dental treatment they need faster.

Remember to keep the content you produce original, no cutting and pasting from other websites that are similar to yours. Google rewards websites that deliver unique and original content with better rankings.

#2: Acquire Backlinks

Backlinks are links from one website to another. Backlinks are important because they help Google determine how to rank websites. The more links to your website from other credible websites, the better ranking you will have with Google and the easier it will be for more people to find your website.

You can acquire backlinks for your website in a couple of ways:

·      Earn them – This happens through press releases, outreach, and community involvement.

·      Build them – When you reach out to other site owners asking them to link to your page

If you don’t have the time to acquire backlinks for your website on your own, you might want to seek help from a marketing company to strategise your marketing plan and do the work of backlink outreach for you.

It’s extremely important that you never buy links. These tactics can get you penalised by Google, so just avoid the risk by not buying links.

#3: Utilise Citations

Citations in SEO refers to the web-based references on online directories, which include your clinic’s name, address, and phone number. Citations help improve your visibility on the internet, your rankings in Google, and are excellent for local searches. A few examples of good citations to have are Yelp, Apple Maps, and Bing.

Citations serve the dual purpose of providing information to your patients so they can successfully interact with you and receive your services, and to ensure that Google and other search engines see your business information as consistent and reliable and rank your website well.

This may seem obvious, but it’s important to ensure that your website has accurate citation information since this is the first place patients will look for you.

Next, you can increase rankings with Google by developing and managing a listing with Google My Business. This is an incredibly valuable service that utilizes Google’s dominance over search engines.

Don’t Miss Out on the Magic

These are just a few of the ways you can begin to make SEO work for your website so your dental clinic can start to reap the benefits.

Remember, SEO takes time to build and regular maintenance to manage. Your SEO needs also differ according to your unique location and market.

If you can’t manage your SEO on your own, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to reach patients in your area. Finding a marketing company you can trust to help you strategise your SEO plan could be one of the most profitable decisions you make for your practice.