dental websites

16 Percent of Dentists Do Not Have A Dental Website

November 8, 2011 By Catherine Hughes 1 Comment

When dentists consider building a dental website they tend to think in terms of one massive site instead of several websites covering their areas of expertise. Having a multiple website marketing strategy can help you dominate search in your geographic area.

In our most recent survey, we asked dentists if their dental practice has multiple websites.

More than half (58%) said they have only one website. 15% replied that they have at least two dental websites, while another 11% have at least three. Urban and suburban dentists were more likely to have more than one dental website.

Shockingly, 16% of the survey respondents did not have a dental website at all.

Here are a few of the things our dentists had to say on the subject –

“We have dental website that we can change the content ourselves without paying the webhost and we have an optimized site that draws much more traffic.” (California dentist)

“We have 2 dental websites – 1 through your company [Internet Dental Alliance] which we are very pleased with and another through another company which I am very disappointed with and have switched companies 2 times and still am not getting what I want.” (Georgia dentist)

“We have multiple web addresses linked to one website.” (New York dentist)

“We just stated with second dental website — thought it would help.” (Pennsylvania dentist)

“We have only one website, but we have a Facebook Page also.” (Washington dentist)

Dental market domination should always the goal of your dental website. Instead of the traditional, one website approach, here at The Wealthy Dentist we believe in having several specialty-specific dental websites that support certain search phrases in addition to the dental website you may already own.

Having multiple dental websites helps you casts a wider reach across the top search results for your services as well as your dental practice itself. Multiple dental websites simply hedges your search position for a large set of dental keyword phrases creating a market monopoly strategy for a dental practice.

Multiple dental website marketing has all the features of search engine optimization and Internet dental marketing, but is easier to manage, more cost effective in the long run, and in many cases dramatically better at building targeted dental patient traffic.

What is your dental website marketing strategy?

Filed Under: Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: dental marketing, dental survey, dental surveys, dental wbsite, Dental website marketing, dental websites, dentist, dentistry, dentists, Internet dental marketing, marketing

Dental Marketing for Botox Severely Restricted in UK

October 19, 2010 By Jim Du Molin 3 Comments

Dentists have been warned not to mention Botox or other prescription medications in their dental marketing and advertising by the UK’s Dental Defence Union (DDU).

Moreover, British dentists can’t so much as mention dental Botox treatment on the homepage of their dental websites.

Dentists are permitted to mention Botox and other prescription treatments only on pages within their dental website that patients choose to access.

In its warning report, the DDU is careful never to refer to Botox® by name.

“While a particular brand name of botulinum toxin may be a household name, dental practices cannot actually refer to it in publicity material as it is a prescription-only medicine.”

Dental marketing is one area where the UK is far more conservative than the US, with attitudes lagging years behind out own.

“To illustrate the pitfalls of practice promotion, this issue of the DDU Journal also includes a case study about a dentist facing a GDC investigation after his financial director placed an advertisement in the local telephone directory stating the practice was ‘a centre of excellence’ which ‘specialised in all aspects of dentistry’.

“The DDU was able to help the member draft a letter of response and the GDC accepted he had been unaware of the advert. However it warned him that as practice principal, responsibility for the advert rested with him and in future he must make absolutely sure no misleading statements were made.”

But the DDU advises dentists, “Phrases such as ‘centre of excellence’ should be avoided as well as any claim implying superiority over any other dental professional or practice.”

In the US, the standard is that you must not represent your services as superior to your competitors’, but the term “Dental Excellence” is found in countless practice names and internet dental marketing campaigns across the country.

So… does that mean that it’s okay for UK dentists to strive for excellence, but not to achieve it?

Filed Under: Dental Editorials, Dental Marketing Tagged With: botox, dental advertising, dental marketing, dental websites, UK

Maintaining Dental Websites: Who’s Doing It?

August 31, 2010 By Julie Frey 3 Comments

Most dentists with dental websites have a website consultant or internet dental marketing company that handles site maintenance, this survey found.

In a recent survey, we discovered that 3 out of 4 dentists have a dental website.

Of dentists with websites, 32% personally oversee their website, 14% have staff oversee it, and 55% have a website consultant or dental marketing company that maintains it.

"We have regular meeting about updating the site with the website consultant, the staff, plus all the doctors in our group practice," said a Texas pediatric dentist.

Filed Under: Dental Surveys Tagged With: dental websites, internet, website marketing

Dental Management & Marketing: Fun – or No?

August 17, 2010 By Julie Frey Leave a Comment

Dentists are split over dental marketing and management — almost half hate those responsibilities, but just as many say they sometimes enjoy them.

“I hate the management, but like the marketing,” said one dentist.

In this survey, 43% said they sometimes enjoy dental management and dental practice marketing, 16% say it's not the best and not the worst, and 41% absolutely hate it.

"I like patient education and motivation.” (Endodontist)
“I like the dental surveys and hearing what other dentists are thinking.” (New York dentist)
“I enjoy bringing out the best in the team and coming up with a marketing plan that works!” (California dental professional)
“I love the marketing; it is fun and profitable. Dental websites are essential, and I have many.” (Illinois sleep apnea & TMJ dentist)
"Internal dental marketing, where my patients tell their friends about the appointment they had at our office, is what I prefer most.” (Wisconsin dentist)
“I don’t like that we have to advertise, but the general public has been so brainwashed to accept marketing that we are almost forced to do some form of marketing in order to stay competitive.” (Florida dentist)
“I wish I could have someone buy my practice and do the management! I have been told often that I am an excellent manager, but it is not my favorite part of practice ownership. I never seem to get a total break.” (Alabama dentist)

Filed Under: Dental Surveys Tagged With: dental consultants, dental management, dental marketing, dental practice management, dental websites, dentist survey, dentists

Why Google Is the Only Search Engine You Need to Worry About

July 27, 2010 By Jim Du Molin 17 Comments

When it comes to internet marketing, search engine positioning is your most important concern. And while there are lots of search engines out there, the savvy web marketer knows that Google is the only one that really matters.

The latest numbers from June show Google controlling 63% of the web search market, with about 10 billion searches per month. That means that two out of every three web searches went through Google.

Yahoo! had 19% of the market, and Bing (the Microsoft search engine introduced last year) was in third place with 13% of searches.

Yahoo! has announced that it will soon use Microsoft’s Bing for its own organic search infrastructure, but the transition has not yet taken place. Yahoo! has indicated that the switch could take place as early as next month, or as late as next year.

Organic searches are the search results that come up naturally when a person searches for a keyword or keyword phrase. Paid search results are sponsored links that are part of pay-per-click (PPC) web marketing campaigns. Paid search listings typically are displayed above organic search results in a shaded section, or to the right in a sidebar.

While some dental practices use PPC dental marketing, organic search engine optimization is the real goal of dental website marketing. Your search engine ranking (how high your website ranks) depends on the quality of your website content, your keyword optimization, and incoming links from other websites.

When people talk about “search ranking,” they almost invariably mean Google ranking. The holy grail of SEO is for your website to display on the first page of Google search results (that is, in the the first 10 search results) for your target keyword phrases.

To see how your dental practice website ranks with Google, just enter in your target keyword phrase — for example, “cosmetic dentist Tulsa” or “Van Nuys dentures.” And cross your fingers!

If you’re on the first page, you’re doing well. If you’re in the top 3, your SEO is excellent. But if you don’t see your site on the first page of results, it may be time to review your site’s search engine optimization. Internet Dental Alliance specializes in optimizing the SEO for its dental websites.

Understand that in competitive markets, a search engine optimization company will charge you from $400 to $1,400 a month per website, with no guarantee of results. In fact, any company that claims it can guarantee you placement on the first page of Google is misleading you. In the ever-changing world of internet dental marketing and search engine technology, there can be no guarantees.

A note about Google searches: if you’re logged into Google or Gmail when you conduct your search, your results will NOT be the same as what other people will see. Google tracks information (like your location and interests) to display custom search results that it thinks will be most relevant to you. To see the same search results as potential patients, make sure you’re logged out of Google and use the “Private Browsing” option under the “Tools” section of your Internet browser.