It is probably not shocking to here that over 80% of all leads that are non-referral based begin with the major search engines along with their affiliates.  Because of this, Dental Internet Marketing has shifted away from Yellow Pages to Google, Yahoo and Bing.  Now you can chose to hire an Internet marketing company, hire someone internally to do it, or just try and make do with what you have in your office.
Dental Internet Marketing is time consuming, so having someone dedicated to it is critical.  Unfortunately, that is not the case for many dental clinics.  Also, lots of clinics that do hire out are promised the world but really get nothing back and get discouraged.
So if you are interested in outsourcing your Dentist Internet Marketing, knowing some basics will be extremely helpful.  Here are 3 things that you really need to be successful:
1. Have a Dental Website that looks great.
Many times potential customers will get to your site and leave if they feel that it is outdated, unattractive, hard to use and poorly laid out.  Make sure your website is simple.  Make sure you have that Dentist feel when someone gets there.  Maybe a picture of the staff or doctor. Even your logo will help.  Remember you have 7 seconds to capture them or they will leave.  Let the customer know where you are located, have a visible phone number and highlight what is important to your practice like the doctors, staff, and services offered.
2. Make the most out of local listings
Being a local business, you really need to make sure that you are being found when people are searching for you in your area.  One great way of doing this is local listings.  What I am talking about here is map listings with Google, Yahoo, Manta, Yelp, City Search, etc.  Each one is different but you would add your company, address, website, phone number, email, specials, photos or anything else they offer.  Now you can get reviews and answer comments that customers have and really become the dental clinic in the area that goes above and beyond.
3. Utilize Pay Per Click adverting and/or Search Engine Optimization
Once you have a great website, you need to get traffic to the site and you can do this by utilizing pay per click advertising (PPC) or search engine optimization (SEO).  I high recommend both, because some people utilize PPC while others use SEO.  Some use both.  Each one has different strategies, but PPC by far gets a quicker return on investment if you have quality keywords and have set the proper location.  SEO takes time and is where some Internet marketing companies offer you the world but get you nothing.
Windy City Strategies specializes in dental website design and dental Internet marketing solutions. With over 10 years of experience, our staff of expert web designers and Internet marketers have been leading the way with advanced solutions for dental companies by delivering customized strategies with you and your patient in mind.
By Bjorn Torling