For a growing number of patients, the first step of looking for a new dentist is online search. This trend has turned strong online reputation into a vital factor for running a prosperous dental practice. If patients are not finding you online, you have every reason to worry. 

So, let’s look at some of the basic cases when potential patients don’t come across your practice:

• Not on 1st page of search results
• Not listed on local directories and review platforms
• No online reviews from patients

#1: Not on 1st page of search results

Google and other search engines like Bing, Baidu and Yandex are where most people turn to when looking for information. On a global scale, Google is the most commonly used search platform with a market share of 92%.

According to research, 75% of people never go past the first page results on Google. Moreover, the first couple of results get most of the clicks. Also, note that most likely patients will use phrases like “best dentist in my area”, “teeth whitening in my town”, etc. Only a very small fraction will look up for your practice specifically by name.

If your website is new, it is possible that it is not indexed by Google yet. You can check if your website is in Google’s database easily by typing “site:mydentalclinic.com”. Here is an example of what you will see for non-indexed pages:

Even if your web page is indexed by Google, it may be ranking low for relevant key phrases. Competition from well-optimized websites of other dental practices can be pushing your page down in the results. In such cases, you might need to turn to a professional SEO-optimization agency, which can be rather costly. Also, it will require several months before yielding positive outcomes.

An alternative solution is to take advantage of free SEO-optimized directory like Dentacoin Trusted Reviews. It can help get your practice higher in results and catch the attention of a wider audience.

Dentist Profile on Dentacoin Trusted Reviews in Google Search

#2: You are not listed on local directories and review platforms

You can expand your online presence by featuring your practice on local business directories like Google My Business, Yelp, Bing, Foursquare, etc. Review platforms and healthcare directories such as WebMD, Practo, Dentacoin Trusted Reviews, etc. are also useful in that direction. 

Create or claim existing unverified profiles to increase your chances of being noticed by potential patients on popular sites. Also, this can have a positive impact on your ranking in search results.

In terms of SEO, Google My Business is the directory with the most importance. So, let’s look into more details of how to manage it effectively. 

Google My Business listing

Do you have a listing? It is free and easy to list your dental practice. Get started at https://www.google.com/business/ and follow the steps. Enrich your profile with photos of your premises, working hours, business description, provided services and other information to make it more prominent.

If there is an existing profile, you can claim it to have full control over the information. It is highly recommended to do it in order to prevent negative actions from other users. For instance, if your profile is unclaimed, another user can mark your practice as “Permanently closed”. To avoid such situations, go through the claiming procedure. Typically, you will receive a phone call or they will send a verification code by mail to the postal address of your practice. 

Note that Google My Business profile can improve your presence in search in one more way. Sometimes, Google shows up to 3 listings from Google Maps at the top of results. It is quite evident that getting your practice there can enhance your online presence significantly. The factors to get there are several but a claimed Google My Business listing is the start. 

#3: No online reviews

Patient feedback is important to get more patient traffic to your practice. Firstly, ratings make your profile more prominent in search results and have a stronger impact on potential patients. In some cases, patients came across your profile but if it’s lacking reviews, they just continue their search. What is the reason? Simply, they didn’t find proof from patients like them about the quality of treatment and outcomes. Moreover, online reviews can have a positive influence on your ranking in search results.

However, people have become wary of fake reviews. On the majority of platforms, there is no clear indication which reviews were written by patients who really visited the practice. A specialized review platform can help you highlight genuine feedback. How does it work? Usually, you have to send an invite to your patients through the review platform. Then, when invited patients leave reviews, their feedback will be marked as verified. It sounds time-consuming to send invites one by one. With platforms like Dentacoin Trusted Reviews you can use a file from your database with multiple contacts and send many invites at once. Also, if you don’t have the emails of some patients, you can invite them through WhatsApp link, and their review will appear as verified.