Search Engine Optimization for Your Orthodontic Practice

Setting yourself apart from the competition can be difficult. With many other orthodontic practices in the area, you may not know where to start to increase your patient base and grow your practice. Patients often do a fair amount of online research before picking up the phone to schedule a consultation with an orthodontist or filling out the form on a website. This time is critical, so ensuring you’re setting yourself up for success is a must. One way to do that is with search engine optimization (SEO). Here’s how to optimize the online presence of your practice.

Why SEO Is Important

SEO is the backbone of your online presence, helping your practice grow and increasing your patient base from behind the scenes. If you’ve noticed, there are always sites that pop up at the top of the page when you’re searching for a certain keyword. They reside there because their website has been optimized for maximum success. Optimizing your practice’s SEO can land your website at the top of search engine results too, resulting in more trust from potential patients. Utilizing these best practices, you can help search engines not only find you, but improve your chances of being placed at the top of the list.

Website Optimization

Your practice’s website is the hub of your online presence. This is the landing place for potential patients to learn more about you, your practice, your services and much more. A well-constructed website will add the success of your practice, while a poorly constructed one can send prospects elsewhere. That’s why your site needs to be easy to navigate, informational, and clean. Sites that take too long to load, links that are broken, or confusing navigation make potential patients more likely to leave your site and explore the next practice on the list. Make sure prospects can find what they’re looking for by keeping your site visually pleasing and easy to manage. Incorporating industry-specific keywords into your site not only helps search engines classify your site appropriately, it also helps your site move higher on the list when patients type certain keywords into their search bar.

Utilizing Google

Setting up a Google My Business page is an important element when it comes to the SEO of your orthodontic practice. This is where potential patients will find various pieces of crucial information about your practice, so keeping it updated and correct is key. Make sure to include the following:

• Contact information, including correct phone number, address, and website address
• Current hours of operation
• List of services
• Photos of your practice and staff
• General financing information

By keeping this information current, patients will be able to get in contact with you easily without having to search for information.

Ask for Reviews

When it comes to orthodontics, potential patients want to read reviews. This is a big decision for patients, since getting orthodontic treatment is a big investment of their time and money. Positive reviews from current or past patients are a great way to help your practice move up the search result list. The more good reviews you have online, the greater your chances of potential patients getting in touch with you.

Optimizing Your Practice for Success

In the end, providing exceptional orthodontic services and growing your practice are top priorities, and by optimizing your practice’s SEO, you’re one step closer to reaching your goals for success. Keep these best practices in mind and start getting your orthodontic practice on the map.