It's All About Local Search When it Comes to Orthodontic Marketing on the Internet
With today's tech savvy generations unwilling to take the time to pick up a newspaper, read a magazine, or use the yellow pages when looking for local businesses... it's no surprise that Local Search on the Internet has all but killed the yellow pages. It is now one of the preferred forms of gathering information when researching local products and services.
Much has been written lately on the importance of Local Search. It allows you to quickly search results by neighborhood, city, state, or zip code. It is the ideal format for small businesses and professional practices to serve customers/patients who market in a limited demographic.
Your primary goal when marketing your orthodontic or dental practice is to reach out to your local demographic, not the Internet in general. This is where many websites fall short with their SEO (search engine optimization) coding. A patient seeking an orthodontic treatment provider in Chicago isn't going to find your website if it isn't coded for the local Chicago area and surrounding suburbs. It's critical your website have a strong presence in the local search results to attract new patients.
There are three ways consumers go about searching for local results in your area:
1. Use a local search engine such as Google Local or Yahoo
2. Access the Internet yellow pages with yellowpages.com or superpages.com
3. Go right to a search engine like Google and type in keywords and demographic info with "City, State"
Why use Local Search?
More and more businesses are beginning to understand that Local Search isn't just convenient for users, it is also a powerful marketing tool for businesses. Here are a few benefits:
1. Free or inexpensive advertising to promote your business
2. Additional inbound links to your site to increase SEO (search engine optimization)
3. Increase visibility in the search engines to increase new patient referrals to your website
Just because you have a website, doesn't mean new patients can find you on the search engines. Your site needs to be search engine optimized (SEO) for your local demographic.
Put your complete name and address on the main template and footer of your website. Make sure it is in text format and not a pretty photo the search engines can't read.
Describe in your website how your business relates to the community and include all the surrounding areas you want to target.
Be sure to spell out state names. Social Media and Local Search is exploding with new users. Many towns and cities have duplicate counterparts in other areas of the country. You don't want to be marketing in Rochester, MN if your practice is in Rochester, NY. Tell the search engines everything they need to know about your business in order to be found. If you don't do it... you might as well be invisible on the Internet.
Local Search today makes up 60-75% of all Internet searches. To spread the word and attract new patients, it is crucial you be proactive in marketing your practice on Local Search.
Instead of having to compete on a national or worldwide scale, local businesses can target their Internet marketing efforts on a specific geographic area which is much easier, if you know how to do it correctly. The window of opportunity is NOW. Take advantage of Local Search to build your business, especially during tough economic times.
Much has been written lately on the importance of Local Search. It allows you to quickly search results by neighborhood, city, state, or zip code. It is the ideal format for small businesses and professional practices to serve customers/patients who market in a limited demographic.
Your primary goal when marketing your orthodontic or dental practice is to reach out to your local demographic, not the Internet in general. This is where many websites fall short with their SEO (search engine optimization) coding. A patient seeking an orthodontic treatment provider in Chicago isn't going to find your website if it isn't coded for the local Chicago area and surrounding suburbs. It's critical your website have a strong presence in the local search results to attract new patients.
There are three ways consumers go about searching for local results in your area:
1. Use a local search engine such as Google Local or Yahoo
2. Access the Internet yellow pages with yellowpages.com or superpages.com
3. Go right to a search engine like Google and type in keywords and demographic info with "City, State"
Why use Local Search?
More and more businesses are beginning to understand that Local Search isn't just convenient for users, it is also a powerful marketing tool for businesses. Here are a few benefits:
1. Free or inexpensive advertising to promote your business
2. Additional inbound links to your site to increase SEO (search engine optimization)
3. Increase visibility in the search engines to increase new patient referrals to your website
Just because you have a website, doesn't mean new patients can find you on the search engines. Your site needs to be search engine optimized (SEO) for your local demographic.
Put your complete name and address on the main template and footer of your website. Make sure it is in text format and not a pretty photo the search engines can't read.
Describe in your website how your business relates to the community and include all the surrounding areas you want to target.
Be sure to spell out state names. Social Media and Local Search is exploding with new users. Many towns and cities have duplicate counterparts in other areas of the country. You don't want to be marketing in Rochester, MN if your practice is in Rochester, NY. Tell the search engines everything they need to know about your business in order to be found. If you don't do it... you might as well be invisible on the Internet.
Local Search today makes up 60-75% of all Internet searches. To spread the word and attract new patients, it is crucial you be proactive in marketing your practice on Local Search.
Instead of having to compete on a national or worldwide scale, local businesses can target their Internet marketing efforts on a specific geographic area which is much easier, if you know how to do it correctly. The window of opportunity is NOW. Take advantage of Local Search to build your business, especially during tough economic times.
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