In general, at least 60% of visitors to your website used a search engine to find it; at least 65% of all search queries are performed using Google. Are you having trouble understanding the Google results page and how it can help patients find and learn about your practice?
PBHS is here to help.
There are typically three regions that appear on a Google search result page: Organic, Google Maps, Sponsored Links.
Organic
Organic rankings are the most important form of listings for your dental website and bring the most traffic. The listings appear based upon their relevance to the search term entered by the patient. Google and other search engines use a very specific algorithm to determine website ranking. Understanding the ever-changing components of the algorithm and regularly performing techniques to conform to them, will have a tremendously positive effect on the ranking of your dental website.
Organic listings are typically more valuable than Sponsored Pay-Per-Click campaigns because computer literate and web-savvy searchers know that the information is more objective and complete than a sponsored link. Similarly, a magazine reader is likely to be more influenced by a business featured in an article rather than in an advertisement.
The content on PBHS websites is already pre-optimized for organic searches, but our SEO services provide even more complete and optimized techniques to make your site more competitive and improve your rankings. PBHS SEO services include a full range of strategic marketing options.
Google Maps
Google Maps is a local business (practice) search tool that generally appears on searches for terms that include a location name, or when the searcher clicks on the Google Maps section of Google.
It is unique in that it geographically locates, on a map, businesses that are relevant to your search. All practices can be listed in this section, even if they don’t have a website. It appears to be a mere geographical phone book.
However, your Google Maps profile can be a valuable piece of search engine property. It is vital that you, as the business owner, verify the profile so that you can complete all applicable content and ensure that it is correct.
Your profile can be optimized using appropriate, search-able descriptions, photos, links, etc. to help it rank as high as possible. Research shows that the percentage of people using Google Maps listings as their primary business search tool is steadily growing. Enhancing this listing can also impact your organic results.
Google Maps Listings also aggregate patient testimonials, hence the stated links that say “7 reviews, 2 reviews, 24 reviews, etc”. Inevitably, its more probable that the practice with the most high quality reviews will have a greater number of click-throughs to their website. This type of “Reputational Marketing” is quickly becoming a necessity in any strategic online campaign. Ask PBHS about our Reputational Marketing Options.
Sponsored Links
Most search results include one or more sections of Sponsored Links (a.k.a. Pay-Per-Click or PPC) advertising. Pay-Per-Click advertising is found in the right-hand column of the page (sometimes on top also). These areas are usually differentiated by a background color or the words “Sponsored Links”.
Any type of Organic campaign can be tracked to better help determine your Return on Investment (ROI). Yet, PPC ads can be setup to re-direct a patient to a specific landing page on your website or even a completely separate website to help understand the exact return of each individual ad. It is also possible to allocate a special phone number on each landing page and track the number of patients calling based on the effectiveness of the campaign. You can then determine which campaigns are receiving the most clicks and driving the most phone calls.
It is a good idea to seek guidance when creating and maintaining your PPC campaign. If implemented incorrectly, PPC can be a wasteful investment resulting in a poor return. If implemented properly, such a campaign can be an incredible boost to your online marketing efforts. PBHS can effectively create your PPC advertisements, analyze and report your results and train your staff to build a successful campaign.
Where Do You Want To Be Found?
Sign up for a search engine optimization campaign with PBHS’s talented SEO department. PBHS offers a range of services and pricing depending on your needs. Please call (800) 840-5383 to have a PBHS representative analyze your website’s optimization and determine how we can help increase your website’s presence on the search engine rankings.