One page for every treatment
The most common and the most expensive. Six treatments named on one page means six searches lost, and they are the searches with money attached.
Guide
Local SEO for dentists
Dentistry is decided in the map pack and then in the reviews. Somebody with a broken tooth, or a partner who has finally agreed to book a check-up, opens Google, sees three practices on a map, and reads the reviews on all three. The website is where they confirm a decision they have mostly already made, which is why work on the Google Business Profile usually moves more appointments than work on the site.
8 steps
Free to read, in the order it pays to do it. Nothing to sign up for and nothing to download.
The second thing that decides it is whether the practice answers the question that was actually typed. Nobody searches "dentist". They search whether you take their insurance, whether you can see a child, whether you are open on a Saturday, what an implant involves, and whether it will hurt. A practice with a page for each of those gets the booking; a practice with a treatments list and a contact form does not.
Neither of those is a technical problem, which is the good news. Almost none of it needs a developer.
What dentists are actually competing for
These are the shapes the searches take. The words in brackets are whatever the searcher puts there, which is usually a town, a neighbourhood or a brand.
- dentist near me
- emergency dentist [city]
- dentist that takes [insurance]
- how much is a dental implant
- paediatric dentist [neighbourhood]
- dentist open saturday near me
The work, in the order it pays to do it
- 1
Claim and finish the Google Business Profile
Primary category set to Dentist, not Doctor. Every service you actually offer added as a service, because those are matched against what people type. Opening hours correct including the hours you are not open, holiday hours set, and the appointment link pointing at your booking system rather than the home page.
- 2
Get reviews arriving steadily, not in bursts
Twenty reviews in one week and none for six months reads worse than two a week for a year. Ask at the point the patient is happiest, which is usually at the desk after treatment rather than by email two days later. Reply to every one, briefly, and never discuss a patient’s treatment in the reply.
- 3
Write a page per treatment, not a treatments list
Implants, veneers, whitening, root canal, clear aligners, children’s dentistry. Each one is a different search with a different question behind it and deserves its own page explaining what happens, how long it takes and what recovery looks like. A bulleted list on one page ranks for none of them.
- 4
Put the insurances you accept in writing
"Dentist that takes [insurer]" is one of the highest-intent searches in the trade and most practice sites answer it nowhere. A plain list, updated when it changes, with the insurers named. If you are out of network, say so and explain what that means for the patient.
- 5
Answer the emergency search properly
Somebody searching at eleven at night for an emergency dentist wants to know whether you will see them tomorrow and what to do tonight. A page that says both, with a number that rings somewhere, wins a patient who has no loyalty to anyone yet.
- 6
Give each dentist a real page
Patients search a dentist by name after a recommendation, and directories usually outrank the practice on that name. A page each with qualifications, years in practice, what they treat and a photograph takes that search back.
- 7
Add photographs of the actual practice
Reception, surgery, the parking. Stock photographs of a model with perfect teeth signal nothing. Real ones let an anxious patient see what they are walking into, which is most of the decision for a nervous booker.
- 8
Fix the booking path last, and check it on a phone
Most of this traffic is mobile. If the booking link opens a PDF, or a form that needs a date of birth before it shows availability, the ranking work is wasted at the final step.
What usually goes wrong
The profile category set to the wrong thing
Practices set up by a web agency are often filed under Doctor, Health, or Dental Clinic rather than Dentist. The category decides which map results you appear in at all.
Review requests sent in a batch after a marketing push
Google reads the pattern as well as the count. A burst is worth less than a trickle and looks worse to a patient reading the dates.
Treating the website as the shop front
For a dental practice the profile is the shop front. The website is the second visit, not the first.
How to tell whether it is working
Rankings are not the measure. These are, and all of them come from accounts in your own name rather than from a report you have to take on trust.
- Calls and direction requests from the Google Business Profile, month on month
- Appointment link clicks from the profile, which is the closest thing to a booking Google will show you
- Search Console impressions for the treatment pages, not just the home page
- How many new patients say they found you on Google when asked at the desk, which is the only number that reconciles the rest
If you would rather not do it yourself
Everything above is work you can do without hiring anybody, and the profile half of it is worth doing whatever else you decide. If you want it done for you, this is the service that covers it, and we scope it on a call before anything starts.
Other guides
Questions about local SEO for dentists
What is local SEO for dentists?
It is the work that makes a practice appear when somebody nearby searches for the treatment they need: the Google Business Profile, reviews, a page for each treatment, and the site being clear about insurance, hours and location. It is distinct from general SEO because the map pack, not the list of blue links, is where most dental searches are decided.
How long before a dental practice sees results?
Profile work shows first, often inside a month, because the map pack reacts quickly to a complete profile and fresh reviews. Treatment pages take longer, usually two to four months to settle, and competitive city terms longer again.
Do dental reviews really change rankings?
They change both the ranking and the booking, and the second matters more. Volume and recency feed the map pack; what the reviews say decides which of the three practices on the map gets the call.
Can a practice do this itself?
The profile work, yes, and it is worth doing whoever else you hire. The treatment pages and the technical side are where most practices run out of time rather than ability.
Book a call with us
A 30-minute call in your working hours. Tell us what you sell and where, and we will tell you what we would do first and what it involves. Prefer email? Send your website through the form and the Passieon Team will reply within two working days.