SEO FOR ORTHODONTISTS

SEO for orthodontic websites is very similar to dental SEO. My orthodontist website SEO process is almost identical, in fact. Just like an initial oral exam will reveal what’s going on in your patient's mouth, and allow you to form a diagnosis and prognosis, you have to apply the same approach to your orthodontic SEO campaign. Only a thorough marketing analysis can describe how many new starts you can gain from SEO for your orthodontic website. With orthodontists, we can research the specific specialty procedures which you are looking to provide. The types of orthodontic procedures people search for on Google include help with:

• Overcrowded and Misaligned Teeth
• Treating Malocclusions
• Crossbite, overbite, and underbite
• Maintaining Space
• Lip and Cheek Bumpers
• Palatal Expanders
• Orthodontic Retainers
• Invisalign Orthodontists near me

..and many more keywords.

The most critical first step is to become familiar with the audience size on Google. Without knowing what number of orthodontic-related searches there are in your geographic area, no company can help you with an estimate of how many starts you can expect for any of the above orthodontic conditions. My SEO strategy for orthodontists includes a variety of keywords that many orthodontic SEO companies may miss. We will turn over every stone, examining every piece of SEO evidence with as many SEO software tools as is necessary. This marketing analysis is a critical part of my orthodontist SEO strategy, and you would be wise to follow my SEO process in order to ensure we set reasonable expectations about what SEO can do for your orthodontic practice.

The most important thing you need to know is what you can reasonably expect from SEO. If you believe that you’ll get 100 starts per month from SEO, but you’ll actually get 200, you might think this is a worthwhile problem to have. However, many times the expectations you have about SEO as an orthodontist can create major letdowns. If you imagine getting 30 starts per month, but you actually get 10, this may be mildly disappointing. Now, imagine getting 0 starts from this same SEO campaign.

This is what I often see after years of working in orthodontist SEO. Orthodontic SEO is the same in terms of expectations that need to be managed. I may take a 5-minute glance at your orthodontic website and determine that you should get around 10 starts per month, but I could be wrong. A marketing analysis is the first step to allowing us to be on the same page with reality. Without a comprehensive marketing analysis, there is no SEO strategy. You would be wise to check out my marketing analysis for orthodontists to see my step-by-step process of determining your potential with SEO.

When prospective new patients search on Google, they may have a variety of intentions behind the search. There are 4 major types of searcher intent behind all orthodontic related Google searches:

1. Informational intent.

This is when a prospective patient is looking for information on an orthodontic topic. They might be wondering about the risks and success rates of an orthodontic procedure, for instance. They might be wondering about the average cost or timeline of an orthodontic procedure. A few examples might be “is Invisalign for children” or “should I hire a dentist or orthodontist for Invisalign” or “how long does Invisalign take.”

2. Navigational or Branded intent.

Branded (sometimes called navigational) intent is looking for a specific company or offer. For instance, people looking for “ABC Orthodontic Care” are looking for a specific orthodontist in town.

3. Transactional intent.

Transactional intent is what we’re typically going for with most orthodontic website SEO campaigns. Transactional intent is when someone is ready (or almost ready) to accept treatment. A few examples of orthodontic transactional intent keywords might be “Invisalign providers near me” or “orthodontist in [city name]” or “best orthodontist near me.”

4. Commercial Investigation intent.

While there is overlap with transactional intent, commercial investigation searcher intent is going to involve more educational style content to rank for. An example of a commercial intent keyword might be “how to know if I should do Invisalign.”

Your orthodontic website should have content that caters to all types of searcher intents, but the transactional intent is typically where you want to ensure you have the most helpful content. Making sure your orthodontic website is serving these searchers well is an ongoing process, which I teach about in my dental SEO course.

Technical SEO for your orthodontic website will be the setting up and measuring of data programs such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google My Business. It also involves the server-side of your website and can have a substantial impact on how your orthodontic website loads and performs on any device, location, and website browser.

My dental SEO course is the first of its kind in the dental industry. Since I don’t see any substantial difference between local SEO for orthodontists and that of general dentists offering orthodontic services, the course encompasses both professions, and in fact, all dental specialists would benefit from my SEO course.

While it is true that most searchers check only the first page’s result of their search query. But, still, a few people go beyond the first page. If you are ranked in the top 30, you should expect some clicks. If you are ranked higher, you get more impressions and click-through rates. In many general cases, you can expect approximately 40% of the clicks if you’re ranked #1 on the first page and 3% of the clicks if you’re ranked at the bottom of the first page. While it may seem insignificant to be on the second page, if the keywords which you’re indexed for have a large amount of search volume, you can expect some clicks and possibly even gain new patients from second-page rankings. This is especially true for pediatric orthodontists.

$4900 for a new orthodontic website, or a redesign of your current website. This includes on-page SEO and technical SEO of your website. A non-optimized orthodontic website can be created by Squarespace or Wix or another DIY provider for less than a few hundred dollars.

In a perfect world, every orthodontic website designer would know how to make your orthodontic website SEO friendly. Since this isn’t the case, I can only say that a marketing analysis is essential for indicating whether or not your website should require an SEO investment. A marketing analysis will indicate how many starts you’re missing out on, should you never rank highly on Google. Only then will you be able to know what makes sense in your case.

My orthodontic website design company offers orthodontic website designs for $4900. If you don’t need SEO for your website, there is always a cheaper option.

Many orthodontic SEO companies will tell you that in modern times, every orthodontist needs SEO. However, SEO is a competition. I compare SEO to a footrace. If everyone is getting SEO done, what are the differentiating factor(s)? You need to go into SEO the same way you go into providing your orthodontic services: diagnosis ALWAYS precedes prognosis. I offer a marketing analysis to help you decide if and when SEO will help your orthodontic practice reach your goals. I will also be honest with you about what is and isn’t possible with SEO in your unique situation. The same way you are honest with your patients after an initial oral exam.

Most likely, yes. However, it’s critical to not accept SEO promises of unlimited success just because of an orthodontist SEO company. A careful marketing analysis, the orthodontic marketing equivalent of an initial oral exam, will help us better understand your potential with SEO.

Your SEO success will be determined by the two major questions involved with orthodontist SEO:

1. How many people are actually searching for your orthodontic services in your geographic area?
2. What is the competition level in your geographic area, specifically with respect to SEO for orthodontic procedures?

Once we have the answer to these two questions from marketing analysis, you will be in a strong, well-informed position to answer this question. However, generally speaking, dentists who commit themselves to create helpful orthodontic content will oftentimes have equal footing with you when it comes to orthodontic-specific SEO.

We need to measure you up to the competition by assessing what other orthodontists and general dentists are doing differently from you when it comes to their dental or orthodontic websites.

Long-tail keywords are keywords that might seem obscure, longer search queries. An example of a long tail orthodontic keyword might be “how much is Invisalign from a board-certified orthodontist in Texas?” 

They tend to be searched far less often than the most powerful orthodontic SEO keywords, or short-tail keywords such as “orthodontist near me.” 

The most mileage you’ll get for your orthodontic practice will most times be the short-tail keywords. Short tail keywords will typically be the most competitive keywords, so a careful marketing analysis will investigate what the path of least resistance is for your unique orthodontic website.

Many times, long-tail keywords will add up to very large search volumes. They also will oftentimes be of very low competition level. This means that your orthodontic website might put up a blog post highlighting a few long-tail keywords and automatically rank #1. However, you have to consider searcher intent when considering whether long-tail keywords are worth going after or not.

Off-page SEO has to do with how many times you and your orthodontic website’s content is mentioned all around the internet. Being mentioned many times can help Google identify your orthodontist website as special and authoritative. Google doesn’t know what kind of grades you got in school, nor does Google know who is the best clinician. Google goes off a certain set of criteria, not the least of which is how many people find it helpful to mention you in an editorial fashion. For more information on how you can get featured in the local news, or get linked to by bloggers and journalists, feel free to check out my dental SEO course, or this blog post on link building.

SEO for orthodontists involves many factors. While your raving 5 star reviews may be very helpful in converting existing and future SEO traffic, it will only be but one factor that Google takes into consideration. Studies show that Google reviews are believed to be approximately 7% of your orthodontic SEO puzzle solved. Your orthodontic website, the content on it, the coding and server behind it, and how often you’re being mentioned by authoritative sources in the media are all big factors to your SEO success. For example, editorial links to your website from local sources may be over 80% of your SEO strategy if other orthodontic websites in your area are lacking this SEO feature. It all boils down to what other orthodontic websites are doing in your geographic area. A comprehensive marketing analysis is critical to know what you’re getting into, and what kind of results you can expect from orthodontist SEO.

Google Ads is an excellent research tool for SEO. In addition to helping you get more immediate traffic from Google, we can measure how Google searchers react to your orthodontic website. SEO is typically thought of as a long-term effort when compared to Google Ads. This isn’t always the case, and only a marketing analysis can help us see the orthodontic SEO landscape in your particular case. Before pulling the trigger on any kind of orthodontic marketing, be sure you’re fully informed about what will work best in your unique case.

We can use your PMS to track ROI. We also have software to help track. Please keep in mind that 100% attribution is extremely difficult, and in my years of experience in SEO, almost impossible. The important thing is not that we track every penny of ROI towards SEO, but that we know the ROI is worthwhile by looking at what we can track.

Many times, orthodontists don’t know exactly which SEO factors are most important in their exact case. Marketing analysis will help even the most seasoned orthodontic SEO expert find out what is missing in your specific case. To learn more about how my SEO process involves research before execution, check out my dental SEO course or set up a call to discuss what’s going on with your SEO.

Many SEO factors go into ranking an orthodontic website. Some of these factors are within your control, while other factors will be outside our control. A marketing analysis of your unique orthodontic website can help you understand how you stack up to the competition on Google.

People have questions. Orthodontic content should answer these questions. There is a significant overlap between offering orthodontic content which people find helpful and entertaining, and SEO services that help your orthodontic website get found on Google. Content plus technical SEO, plus editorial links equals SEO success!

While word of mouth is always the best form of orthodontic marketing, SEO tends to be a close second. This is because you want to be found by those who have already decided they want your orthodontic services. However, if I do a marketing analysis for you, you may find that SEO is not all that it was cracked up to be by other salespersons of SEO companies. I’ll tell you the truth. That way, we both go into your SEO services with a reasonable view of what’s in it for you.