Jim Du Molin offers dental marketing news and dental practice management advice for dentists.
We asked dentists if their dental practice website marketing is worth its expense. Less than half (40%) of dentist respondents said yes: internet marketing generates new patients and a positive ROI.
The remaining 60% replied that they don’t believe that internet marketing has particularly helped find new patients.
Dentists picked direct mail as their most effective avenue for dental practice marketing. Other favorites include yellow pages advertisements, TV ads, and dental websites.
“Sixty new patients per month with the new dental sign!” said one dentist.
“A mini dental implant ad can help many people with denture problems," offered another dentist. "Oh yeah, and my campaign brought in thousands in restorative revenue."
“My radio ad with dental website support led to over 200 calls in 4 days!" boasted an Illinois dentist.
Read more about this dental patient marketing survey: Dental Marketing Campaigns
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.
Read more: Enjoying Dental Marketing & Management Dentist Responsibilities
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.
Read more: Dental Website Maintenance & Internet Dental Marketing
Part of a well-designed Internet dental marketing plan should include a link building strategy.
Over the past year Google has made even more changes to its search algorithm to offer up websites high in search that people have linked to and shared throughout the web. One of the ways Google decides how popular a website has become is to consider the type of links pointing to your dental website over your competition.
This is why it is important to create a dental marketing plan that includes a strong link building strategy to ensure that your dental practice website is ranking high in search.
But where do you start?
1. Orthodontist, oral surgeons, prosthodontists and referral practices.
Do you refer business to other specialists? Consider asking for a reciprocal link in return for referring business. You could even recommend that they create a page dedicated to business they work with locally and recommend. Your dental practice could be listed under preferred dentists or dentists they recommend.
2. Friends and family.
Do you have family or friends who are active on the Internet? Do they have a blog or local website where they would be willing to link to your dental practice? Would you be willing to donate some money towards their hosting costs in return for a “Sponsored by” link?
3. Businesses you locally recommend.
Are there businesses in your community to which you regularly refer your dental patients? Have you thought about creating a referral webpage where you link to local businesses in exchange for a link back from their business website?
4. Social Media.
Make sure that you are creating regular dental SEO engagement on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus that includes a link back to your dental practice website.
5. Contests.
Think about creating a contest on your dental practice blog once a month that involves something dental patients would love to have. Ask them to share a link to your contest for even more chances to win.
6. Press releases.
Writing newsworthy press releases with links back to your dental practice website and making sure that they are distributed across newswires can not only raise the interest of reporters looking for stories or interview quotes, but they can also provide your dental practice website with high-quality links.
Some of these link building ideas will work better for your dental practice website than others. It depends on how you run your dental practice and the other dental specialists and local businesses that you engage with on a regular basis. But with just a little bit of effort you can receive links to your dental practice website and improve your search ranking over that of your local competition.
Yes, it does require some work, but doesn’t your dental practice deserve to thrive both online and off?
Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet marketing expert for dentists in North America. He has helped hundreds of doctors make more money in their practices using his proven Internet marketing techniques.
 |
|
|
 |
Setting Dental Fees for Maximum Case Acceptance
You deserve a raise! We offer strategies on how to set fees.
$10,000 a Month Chart Audit
Extract money from your files! Includes complete forms for conducting chart audits.
DIY Office Brochure
Create your own brochure with our video lesson, template, and pre-written content.
Practice Answering Machine
A proven marketing strategy for your practice answering machine.
Maximize Case Acceptance
Increase dental patient case acceptance by 25% or $125,000.
Maximize Your Marketing: Target High-Value Patients
Amp up your marketing and get the new patients you want.
Turn Your Front Desk into a Marketing Machine
Convert high-value new patient leads into dental appointments.
Structuring a Dental Associate Program
Learn how to convert your practice into cash at retirement.
Designing the $1,000,000 Dental Practice Sign
Signage is the #1 lowest-cost way to acquire new patients.
Internal Marketing & Communications
This core strategy targets your existing patients.
Doctor-to-Doctor Marketing
Generate referrals from other medical practitioners.
