In the digital age of 2023, dental surgeries need a strong online presence to attract and retain patients. If you don’t have an online presence, you may as well be invisible!
It was once seen as odd to try and advertise a dental surgery without the use of newspapers or flyers; but today, those advertising methods are considered outdated, and the only way to make your dental surgery noticeable is via an online route.
Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a crucial role in improving a dental practice’s visibility and online success. Why? Because SEO allows you to effectively track and measure the impact of your marketing efforts. However, in order to do this properly, you need to keep your eyes open for some of the key metrics that can be used to successfully identify a good marketing and SEO plan.
It sounds more complicated than it is, honestly! So, this article highlights the essential SEO metrics that dental surgeries should focus on in 2023 to enhance their online visibility, attract new patients, and stay ahead of the competition. Remember, this list is a guide, and if you aren’t sure about these aspects of your marketing team, contact a marketing team to assess the ones that you already have in place.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to the visitors who find your dental surgery’s website through search engine results pages (SERPs) like Bing or Google. Monitoring organic traffic is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of your dental SEO strategies. By utilising tools like Google Analytics, dental surgeries can track the number of organic visits over time.
Analysing organic traffic patterns helps you understand which keywords and optimization techniques are driving the most qualified leads to your website. This information enables you to fine-tune your content strategy and target keywords that generate the highest-quality traffic, ultimately leading to increased patient conversions.
In the short term, many dental surgeries will use traffic that is generated via pay-per-click advertising, but long term, this can be costly and a bit unreliable. So, a good metric to look for when assessing the efficacy of your dental surgery website is looking at organic traffic.
Keyword Rankings
Monitoring keyword rankings provides valuable insights into your dental surgery’s visibility in search engine results. By tracking specific keywords related to your services and location, you can assess your website’s performance against competitors.
Tools like Google Search Console or third-party platforms allow you to monitor keyword rankings over time. Identifying keyword trends and fluctuations can help you optimise your website’s content and adapt your SEO strategy accordingly. By consistently monitoring and improving keyword rankings, you can enhance your dental surgery’s visibility to potential patients and establish a strong online presence.
Backlink Profile
Backlinks are crucial for establishing your dental surgery’s credibility and authority relating to search engines. Monitoring your backlink profile helps you understand the quantity and quality/authority of websites linking to your content. Tools like Moz or Ahrefs provide insights into your backlink profile, including the number of referring domains, domain authority, and anchor text distribution. By analysing your backlink profile, you can identify opportunities to acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable dental industry websites or local directories. A strong and diverse backlink profile can improve your search engine rankings and boost your dental surgery’s online visibility.
User Engagement
User engagement metrics indicate how visitors interact with your dental surgery’s website. Metrics such as bounce rate, time on page, and pages per session can reveal insights about your website’s usability and content relevance. Low bounce rates and longer time on the page indicate that visitors find your content valuable and engaging. Monitoring user engagement metrics allows you to identify areas for improvement, such as optimising page load times, enhancing user experience, or refining your content strategy to better meet patient needs. By providing a positive user experience, you increase the chances of converting website visitors into actual patients.
Local SEO Metrics
For dental surgeries targeting a specific geographic area, optimising for local search is crucial. Local SEO metrics such as local keyword rankings, Google My Business (GMB) insights, and online reviews play a significant role in attracting local patients.
By monitoring local keyword rankings, you can assess your visibility in local search results and identify opportunities for improvement. GMB insights provide valuable data on how potential patients discover your dental surgery and interact with your business listing.
Positive online reviews not only enhance your reputation but also influence search engine rankings. Prioritising local SEO metrics helps dental surgeries gain a competitive edge in their target markets.
