Get Them and Keep Them!

July 15, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing

Cheerful,Female,Dentist,Holding,Drill,And,Smiling,Near,PatientTo grow your dental practice and remain competitive it’s important to draw in new patients. It’s an ongoing process, and just one of the ways that Internet marketing can make a difference.

Just as important as bringing in new patients is keeping those patients you already have. Ideally, they’ll be with you for a lifetime. They will benefit from your dental skill, and you will benefit as your practice thrives in a highly competitive field.

Competition

No question about it: there’s almost always a new dentist in town. Experienced practitioners form offices of their own, and recently-licensed dentists hang out their shingles for the very first time.

Statistics from 2020, the most recent year for which numbers are available, show how much competition is out there:

  • 201,117 active dentists in the United States
  • 61 dentists for every 100,000 people, nationwide

That’s a lot of dentists and a lot of patients!

Internet marketing helps bring you new patients by connecting with them on search engines, social media, and your dental practice website. Ironically, those same technologies make it easy for you to lose patients.

Think of it as two sides of the same coin. The same Internet search that helped new patients find you makes it simple for existing patients to take their business elsewhere.

  • 70% of those asked, according to one study, said it’s easy to find a new provider, thanks to the Internet

That’s a huge percentage. Keeping the patients you already have is critical to the continued growth of your practice. The same strategies that helped bring them to you in the first place can help you hang on to them.

Internet marketing has been compared to an iceberg. At any given time you only see a small part of it, like a Facebook post. ProspectaMarketing is an Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Responding To Bad Online Reviews

June 16, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Online Reviews

Smiling,Dentist,With,Tools,In,The,OfficeHealth care professionals have always had unhappy patients: always have, and always will. That’s just the way it is, and dentists are no exception to the rule.

These days unhappy patients can pull out their smart phones and in a matter of seconds, tell the world about what a rotten experience they had at your office – whether or not there is even a shred of truth to what they say.

This cannot be taken lightly, because reviews are a huge influence on your practice. For one thing they affect how you rank in local search results. For another, good reviews make you seem reputable and help drive new business your way, while bad ones can have the opposite effect.

What You Should Do

In spite of your dedication and skill, bad reviews will happen. How you react to them makes a difference.

The first thing you should do when you get a bad online review is … nothing. Don’t answer right away: wait a day or so, and respond with a cool head. When you do reply it should be in two parts.

  • Personal. If you know who the reviewer is, reach out with a phone call or text. Politely thank them for their feedback and ask if they would like to discuss it further. Your willingness to do so will probably go a long way to improving the situation.
  • Public. It’s important to reply to the review on the site where it appeared, too. A lot of people are going to read that review. A reasoned, respectful response shows that you care, take complaints seriously, and want to improve.

You can’t please everyone, but reviews can make or break your online reputation. The best strategy is getting more positive reviews, and there are ways to influence how many you get. ProspectaMarketing can help. We are an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

More Common Than The Toothbrush

June 1, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Relaxed,Mature,Old,60s,Woman,,Older,Middle,Aged,Female,CustomerIt’s been two years since Google introduced its “mobile-first” policy. Since that time the trend toward smartphones and tablets as the preferred means of Internet access has only increased. Everyone has a smartphone now. Some trend-watchers say they more common than toothbrushes!

“Mobile first” means that when users search for something, Google first  evaluates the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking search results.

If your site isn’t mobile-ready you are at a competitive disadvantage. It may look great on your laptop, but Google may not find it. You end up missing out on a huge pool of potential new patients.

Are You Mobile-Ready?

You may have heard that some web designs work well across the board: laptops, desktops, and smartphones. To a certain extent that is true. But the best approach is to make sure that everything on your site, from design to content, is optimized for mobile devices.

If you haven’t optimized your dental site for mobile, don’t put it off another day. ProspectaMarketing can help. We are an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Your Local Listing

May 3, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing

Handsome,Man,At,Dentist's,OfficeUsing the Internet to market your dental practice used to be considered a luxury, but those days are gone. In 2021, promoting it online is essential!

Anyone with a smart phone should be able to find your practice within a few seconds. Virtually everyone has one these days, and the sheer number of these devices is staggering. In the United States alone there are:

  • 298 million smart phones in 2021
  • 311.53 million smart phones by 2025

Worldwide, the number of smart phones is – hold on to your hat –3.8 billion!

If would-be patients can’t find you online, then for all practial purposes your office is invisible.

Your Local Listing

You make it possible for people to find you via your local listing: information you place on Google My Business and similar platforms. This information – your local listing – affects your ranking in search engine results, which is how people find you.

Your local listing is a business profile that includes:

  • Practice name, address, and phone number. These are known collectively as NAP.
  • Website URL.
  • Description.
  • Tagline or slogan.
  • Social media links.

A good local listing will result in more new patients, so it must be complete, accurate, and easy to find via smart phone. ProspectaMarketing is an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

A Whole Lot of Dentists

April 1, 2021
internet dental marketing, Internet Marketing, Local Internet Marketing

Dentistry is an intensely competetive field, and  in the United States there is no shortage of practitioners. One of the reasons for that, judging by recent statistics, is that more new dentists are graduating from dental school each year, while fewer are retiring once they reach the age of sixty-five.

477717658 edit 1Nationwide, it works out to something like sixty-one dentists for every 100,000 people. That ratio does not appear to be a blip on the radar, either: trend-watchers say the number of practicing dentists is expected to continue growing for at least another fifteen years.

Marketing!

How do you compete for new patients, when there are so many dentists for people to choose from? The answer is that you must market your practice. You may already have heard how important marketing your practice is, in order to stand out in a crowded field. Do you have a clear idea how to do that?

There are a lot of different strategies. In this day and age there is an emphasis on the Internet, but no single approach is the best.

Here are just few things to think about:

  • Be active on social media. When members of your community follow you on social media you can reach them, 24/7/365. Sharing your expertise and providing updates on your practice builds your reputation and is a great way to get patient reviews.
  • Emphasize Local Search. When people search the Internet for goods and services near their home, they use local terms. No one searches for “teeth whitening,” for example, without including the name of their town. The content on your website must have all the essential terms people look for, including the name of your city, its neighborhoods, and even local landmarks.
  • Get involved in your community. Offline, there may be nothing better to raise your profile locally than being active in the community. Share your knowledge of dentistry at local schools, sponsor a youth sports team, and have a booth in your town’s summer festivals. Each of these enables you to build personal relationships.

Marketing your  dental practice helps you stand out from the crowd, and  ProspectaMarketing can help. We are an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Dental Marketing: Millions On The Move

March 15, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

627946913 edit 1Did you know that more than thirty million Americans relocate each and every year? It’s true – and it only takes a little imagination to realize what that means. Each year, millions of people are living in a new town and trying to find a new dentist.

Marketing your dental practice via the Internet enables you to get their attention.

Dental marketing means putting the name of your practice before the public. In the Internet age, it involves influencing search engines and using social media platforms.

Local Searches

Virtually everyone is on the Internet now, and virtually everyone searches for consumer goods and services. Google alone processes more than 3.5 billion searches every day!

Digital marketing puts the name of your dental practice before a large pool of potential new patients, and in a way that:

  • Is easy for users to find
  • Makes it simple for people to contact your office
  • Describes all that you have to offer
  • Presents a positive image
  • and more!

When people look for health care professionals like dentists, they usually include search terms like “dentist near me,” or the name of their city. In other words, they localize their search terms. By optimizing your practice website for local search, you can use this to your advantage.

Local search isn’t much different than ordinary Internet searches. The difference is in the keywords, links, and other content used to attract Google; it all has a local emphasis. That is how people who live in your town, and maybe just moved there, are going to find you.

There are a lot of dentists out there, and millions of people are on the move. Digitally marketing your practice helps you stand out from the crown. ProspectaMarketing is an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Market Your Practice!

March 1, 2021
Local Internet Marketing

 

786134827 edit 1Is your dental practice being properly marketed? Proper dental marketing means more than just improved revenues. The benefits of good dental marketing include long-term relationships with your patients that drives new business, and promotes growth for many years to come.

Proper marketing can be a real challenge for many dentists. Modern dental marketing is built around the Internet and includes many components: what is called a multi-channel approach. They include Google My Business, social media, a state-of-the-art website, and search engine optimization. And that’s just for starters.

  • Google My Business (GMB). GMB is a tool for managing a business online. It is free, and makes it easy for people to find you and to get a sense of what you’re all about. A listing on Google My Business is essential!
  • Social media. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are already important to business, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. By effectively using social media you build brand awareness, tell your story, answer questions from current and potential patients, and more.
  • Website. A great dental website is the foundation of a successful practice. Use it to provide visitors information about your and your services. Moreover, by properly optimizing its content you enable potential new patients to find you (see next entry).
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization). One of the ways new patients find you is searching the Internet via Google. Google looks for search terms, such as “teeth whitening [city name]”. An optimized page anticipates these searches with specific words; when Google finds them your site shows up in search results.

Marketing your dental practice properly helps you stand out in an increasingly competetive marketplace. It’s a complex discipline, and ProspectaMarketing can help. We are an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Are Dental Websites Obsolete?

January 18, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Websites

From time to time you may hear that small business websites are going the way of the dinosaur. Don’t you believe it! For commercial enterprises like dental practices, a website is essential.

593429825_edit_01The argument against websites is that in the age of social media they are not as effective in generating new business. Advertising on platforms like Facebook is more effective.

Make no mistake: social media has its place. It is an important tool that can deliver great results. But it has its limitations, and one of main reasons you still need your dental practice website is that you own it and its content.

No Restrictions

Social media should be considered an adjunct to your own site. You can put a lot of information about your practice there, but the best place for essential information is the site you own lock, stock, and barrel.

Because the site is yours, and only yours, you are able to control its content without restriction. You can update it at a moment’s notice. Not so with social media. You may spend a lot of money on Facebook advertising – to stick with that example – only to have them change the rules and ban the ads. The decision is not yours and you are powerless to do anything about it.

It takes time and planning to build and establish an effective website, but it pays off. ProspectaMarketing is an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

Online Reviews: Fresh is Better

January 4, 2021
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Online Reviews

Positive online reviews are critical to the success of your dental practice. How critical? They’re second only to your outstanding dental care. Virtually everyone reads them before deciding whether to book an appointment.

245624101 edit 1By online reviews, we mean those written by your patients. They appear on Google My Business and similar platforms, and are influential because they represent real-world experience. Study after study has demonstrated that people trust online reviews as much or more than the recommendations of their friends and family members.

Online Reviews

New statistics about the importance of online reviews of local businesses, like dental practices, are particularly eye-opening. The numbers were compiled by BrightLocal, a local marketing firm.

  • 93% of all consumers searched the Internet to find a local business during 2020.
  • 34% searched every single day.
  • 87% read online reviews, up from eighty-one percent from the previous year.

As you might guess, it’s good to have plenty of positive online reviews. But more important is that there are fresh ones. As far as most consumers are concerned, newer is better.

  • 50% only read reviews written within the last two weeks.
  • 73% only consider those written within the last month.
  • 86% read those from the previous three months.

There are strategies you can use to promote a reliable flow of fresh online reviews, and expert help is available. ProspectaMarketing is an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

What Makes A Great Dental Website?

December 16, 2020
internet dental marketing, Local Internet Marketing, Websites

Most visitors to commercial websites decide within fifteen seconds whether they are going to engage: whether they will buy a product or use a service. This is as true for dental practice websites as it is for any other.

643274893Fifteen seconds isn’t much time, and begs the question: what makes a great dental website?

The overall goal of your site, of course, is to convert visitors into patients. There are key components your site must have:

  • Make it an expression of your practice. Show visitors that your practice is unlike any other in town. Your site should have a unique logo, original images, be easy to navigate, and tell visitors what they want to know.
  • SEO-friendly. Search Engine Optimization may sound a little dull, but it’s how you get your site to rank on search engines like Google. Using the right words – keywords – is critical to reach new patients.
  • Knows your audience. Are you a family practice? An orthodontist? The site should reflect this in its appearance.
  • Secure. It seems like almost every day we hear about websites being hacked. By one count it’s thirty thousand hacks every single day. Your site has sensitive information, and you must be sure it’s protected.

461525554Must-Haves!

There are other elements that are must-haves for any good dental website. These include:

  • Easy navigation. Your site visitors must be able to find what they’re looking for. Good organization and an easy-to-find, easy-to-understand menu makes that possible, and makes for a more positive experience.
  • Photos and video. The images on your site should really resonate. Avoid stock photos; original pictures and videos show visitors what you do, as well as what you, your staff, and your office look like.
  • Calls To Action. Each page on your site should have an objective: getting visitors to schedule an appointment or give you a call. Incentives like a free cleaning for new patients encourage them.
  • Online scheduling and payment. Nowadays, we all expect a full online experience, including the ability to book appointments and pay bills. It’s convenient for patients and can even make your practice more efficient.
  • Testimonials. Never underestimate the power of the testimonial! The approval of satisified patients the new word-of-mouth: through online reviews shared to your site, or even videos.
  • Blog. A blog is a useful tool for showing off your practice. Blogs that are regularly updated attract the search engines, too: Google loves fresh content.

If your site is missing these elements, it may be time for an upgrade. Expert help can make your website shine! ProspectaMarketing is an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.

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