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Internet Marketing Lecture AACD 2014

Infinity Dental Web – David A. Hall, DDS, AAACD
Handout for Internet Marketing Lecture
AACD 2014 Annual Scientific Session – Orlando, FL

Download PDF of Lecture Handout
Lecture Handout phone version

Types of Search Results:

1. Universal Search Results – What you typically get
Organic Results – Unpaid or natural results
Sponsored Search Results – Pay-per-click advertising
2. Personalized (Private) Results – Turn them off to see what everyone else sees
3. Local Search – Looking for a business, like a dentist or a restaurant
4. News Results – Doesn’t pertain to dental marketing
5. Instant Answers – Doesn’t pertain to dental marketing
6. Image, video, books, shopping, and maps – Have special search sites

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Follow these practices to stay on Google’s good side
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

Red Flags to identify less-than-qualified SEO “experts.”

1. “Insider” claims
2. Predictions of future results
3. Guarantees of specific rankings
4. Authors of printed books about SEO

On-page SEO Ranking Factors. Have the keywords in these places:

1. Title tag (not visible on the page, but shows up on the search results page and on the little browser tab at the top edge of the browser window)
2. Page headline
3. Subheads
4. Body text
5. Anchor text (the keywords present in links pointing to the page)
6. Image alt-text tags
7. Image filenames

Google Panda Update – over 25 updates starting in February 2001
Purpose: to promote quality content

Google Quality Content Guidelines:

1. Are the articles on your site full of good detailed information, or very shallow?
2. Do you have duplicate content? This could mean that content is duplicated on multiple pages or that you have content that is duplicated on other sites across the web.
3. Do you have spelling errors?
4. Do your articles provide original content that can’t be found elsewhere on the web?
5. Would people want to bookmark and share your content?
6. Are there a distracting number of ads on your pages?

Ingredients of a quality blog post:

1. Unique – address some question no one has ever addressed before, or take a unique angle on a subject.
2. Provocative – you want to stay within certain bounds of propriety, but a modest level of being provocative can get attention while still being appropriate.
3. Timely – connect your post to a current event.
4. Personal – a personal story adds warmth to any subject.
5. Controversial – there is a temptation to be bland in the dental profession. This does not make for a good blog post. Do you think LeAnn Rimes has a case in her complaint about her smile makeover? What do you think of the oral surgeon accused of unsanitary practices? Take a stand. Timid writing doesn’t get attention.
6. Humorous – humor adds interest to any comment.

How to discover stock content on your website:

1. Pick a sentence that seems like it should be unique, and copy it.
2. Paste it into the Google search window and put quotes around it.
3. If you get multiple search results, the content is stock content.
4. If there are any doubts, repeat the process a couple of times.

Google Penguin Update – beginning in April 2012
Purpose: to penalize “over-optimized” websites

2014 SEO:

• Quality content, with images and, in some cases, video
• Cultivate online directories
• Draw in links with quality blogging (“magnetic” blog posts)
• Use social media
• Address any technical problems with the website
• Focus on a quality user experience

What is the primary message your website needs to convey?

TRUST

The two elements of trust:

1. I care
2. I know what I’m doing
Convey these messages by showing, with facts and quality content, rather than by just telling.

Website features that can cause a visitor to leave:

1. Intro pages – force visitors to cross a hurdle to get to your site
2. Flash sites with small page size – Don’t provide enough space for solid information
3. Pop-ups – Annoying and perceived by patients as desperate
4. Auto-play music & video – Send visitors scrambling to mute

Return on Investment:

For Paid Search, expect 8 or 10 to 1
For organic SEO, Infinity Dental Web expects
First Year – about 5 or 6 to 1
Second Year – about 25 or 30 to 1
Third Year – even better

Social Media – What to post:

1. Personal information
2. What people want to know
3. Comments on current topics
4. Use humor
5. Community involvement
6. Contests and giveaways
7. Pictures

Maps Ranking Factors:

1. Citations
2. Data consistency
3. Proximity to geographic center
4. Reviews
5. Strength of website

Key online directories to claim first and make sure your data is consistent:

Google
Bing Yahoo
Yelp
infoGroup Acxiom
Neustar

More complete list of online directories for dentists (free):

get a Google Account
Google+ Business
Google Places for Business
Yelp
Yahoo
Bing
RateMDs.com
Merchant Circle
EveryDentist.com
JustClickLocal
EZlocal
GetFave
YaSabe Pocketly
Manta
Neustar
Express Update
Yellowbook.com
Foursquare
YP.com
YellowPageCity
Healthgrades
CitySquares
Angie’s List
Insider Pages Patch
MojoPages
The Business Journals
MagicYellow
showmelocal
eLocal
CrunchBase
Superpages
LocalPages
Kudzu
Nokia PrimePlaces
City-Data
CityGrid

Paid directory services:

Dr. Oogle
BBB.org
WhitePages
LocalXML
USCity
Universal Business Listing
Chamber of Commerce

Top 10 Consumer Review Sites:

*Google
*Yelp
*Yahoo Local
TripAdvisor
*Angie’s List
Healthgrades
Urbanspoon
Citysearch
ZocDoc
Insiderpages

Those with * are worth cultivating as a dentist, in all parts of the country.

Review No-Nos

1. Don’t set up a reviewing station in your office
2. Don’t offer any compensation for reviews
3. Don’t try to squelch
4. Don’t ignore bad reviews
5. Don’t do bad stuff
6. Don’t call your patients idiots

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