Getting the Word Out About Your Orthodontic Services

Offering orthodontic treatment options opens the door to substantial growth for your practice. However, it’s important to market them the right way to appeal to both existing and new patients. These local strategies will help you effectively target the patient base in your area to best leverage your dental practice’s orthodontic treatment options.

Optimize your Google Business Profile.

One of the first things you should do to prepare your dental practice for local marketing success is to set up your Google Business Profile. This is a free resource provided by Google that lets you take control of your online presence.

Claiming your profile establishes you as the owner of your dental practice and provides you with access to a variety of tools. For instance, you can update basic details, such as the address, contact information, and hours of your business, to ensure accuracy in search results. This information is presented to users in a convenient manner as they search.

There are many ways to expand your Google Business Profile beyond this basic information, however. You can also add a detailed description and include relevant keywords, and you’ll have the option to add photos to ensure that any potential patient’s first impression of your practice is a good one.

Your Google Business Profile also lets you interact with reviews. Thanking patients for positive reviews is a great way to build lasting relationships. Dealing with negative reviews is a bit more complex, as you’ll have to keep patient confidentiality rules in mind. But you can interact with these reviews as well to show both current and prospective patients you care.

Use local keywords.

Keywords play a vital role in search engine optimization (SEO). Including the right keywords will make your website more likely to appear for potential patients. When you add orthodontic services to your practice, you’ll also want to update your website to include appropriate orthodontic keywords and announce your new treatment options.

As for local strategies, incorporating keywords that include your city name can help improve local results. Terms such as “dentists who practice orthodontics in [city]” are a great example. You may also want to include variations if your target patient base covers more than one town or municipality.

There are a few critical places where you’ll want to include keywords. For example, web page content and corresponding meta tags should all contain primary keywords. Your blog presents an excellent opportunity to target additional keywords, as you can make multiple posts with a wide range of keywords.

Get positive patient reviews.

Many patients evaluate a potential dentist based on online reviews. This makes acquiring positive patient reviews essential for the ongoing success of your practice. Of course, focusing on delivering quality care and a positive patient experience comes first. But there are some local strategies you can use beyond that.

Encouraging patients to leave online reviews can dramatically improve your online presence and boost your local search rankings. You can include a reminder and link to leave a review in various email communications and feature a Google Business Profile link in your email signature.

You can also simply ask patients directly to leave a review after a positive experience or successful treatment. Google is the most convenient platform to leave reviews, but keep in mind that there are other popular websites like Yelp and Facebook that enable user reviews.

Don’t forget to respond with a simple thank-you to each review you receive on these platforms. This is a simple way to build online engagement, and it reflects well on your practice. Keep in mind that you’ll want to avoid mentioning any of your patients’ identifying information, even if they mention it first, as it is a potential HIPAA violation.

Leverage local listings and directories.

While local listings and directories may not be as popular a resource as they once were, they are still valuable for your practice. Even if patients aren’t directly visiting local directories to find a dentist, those directories can strongly influence local search results.

You can find a variety of directories online where you can list your practice. That could be a local chamber of commerce, other business owner associations, or regional dental or medical directories.

When you do list your practice, make sure to remain consistent in how you submit business information. The general standard is name, address, and phone number (NAP). Sticking to this standard helps prevent mix-ups and is also key in facilitating accurate data in search engines and other resources.

Making the Most of Your Practice’s Local Marketing

Putting local marketing strategies to work allows you to maximize the impact of your new orthodontic treatment options. If you’re looking to expand your practice by way of orthodontics, the American Orthodontic Society provides courses to prepare you to offer treatment and the support you need to achieve effective growth. Check out our upcoming courses to get started on your orthodontic services journey today.