Is your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and web traffic suffering while your practice is closed? If you’re stuck out of the office, it’s more important than ever to make sure you show up online. Quickly and easily assess your website using our four-point Online Performance Checklist to identify ways to maintain and improve how you show up online! Ready to put your website to the test? Which of the following can you check off your list?
1. Think Beyond the Rank
SEO isn’t just about keywords and search ranking. It’s also vital to consider traffic increases and time-on-site, especially since new visitors who stay on your site longer are more likely to become leads or schedule appointments. They may also be considering specific treatments or services, so keep an eye on where visitors spend the most time and what keywords drove them there. Keep these important metrics in mind when optimizing your website.
2. Create Quality Content
Keeping visitors on your site requires holding their interest–that means you need quality, engaging content. Think about what your patients want to see and read. Typically, they couldn’t care less about medical jargon or unsettling photos of procedures.Take a look at your blog metrics and social posts for clues on customer engagement. Is your content hitting the mark with existing and prospective patients? Where are patients engaging? Create content that nurtures and educates your leads and they’ll stick around longer.
3. Spend Strategically
Which is better: a stronger search ranking, or more new leads? While SEO is important to consider, sometimes it’s not the best use of your advertising dollar. Consider advertising via providers like Google and Facebook which offer geo-fenced and hyper-local options that are likely to make a bigger impact than SEO alone – ensuring you show up ahead of the competition in your surrounding area.
Give Patients a Reason to Visit
Simply listing your hours of operation will have patients and leads visiting your site for just a minute or so, and only when they’re looking for a dentist or when to call. Providing other reasons for people to stick around can drive them to visit more frequently and for longer. Include quality blog posts, treatment assessments, and features like online scheduling or comfort service surveys to drive improved traffic and SEO ranking. These steps are a great place to start, but there’s more you can do to ensure you’re easily found online when patients start looking. Watch our on-demand webinar, where you’ll learn more secrets for ensuring visibility and traffic flow so your site keeps showing up as your practice is currently shut down.