Local SEO for dentists: give your citations a full check up

Local SEO for dentists: The basics

When users conduct a local dentist search, whether with location-based keywords like the town name or with “near me” in the query, the positioning of the results they get are going to play a big part in their decision. In fact, 76% of smartphone users who search for a local business visit one of the results within 24 hours.
Competing with other local dental practices means working to improve your rankings so you appear as high as possible in the list, whether in Google’s Local Pack, Google Maps or other popular directories.

Users conducting a local search for dentists will typically ask questions like:

Fortunately, brushing up on your local SEO knowledge and getting a few essential tools working for you (like Semrush’s Listing Management tool) can help your clinic shine at the top of local search results.

The #1 task in local SEO for dentists

One of the key things dentists should focus on in their local SEO strategy is making sure their most important information can be found easily. This data is often referred to as NAP (name, address, phone number) and is the bare minimum dentists should distribute. Dentists who want to outrank their local competitors should also include opening hours, website, categories, images of the practice and staff, as well as a detailed description featuring relevant local keywords. Google has made this easier than ever with Google Business Profile (GBP), which is displayed on the right-hand side of the search engine results page (SERP) and also informs the data shown in Google Maps.

These business details should also appear on all the other important directories online, such as Yell, Facebook and Apple Maps—not just so users doing a local search for dentists find your practice, but also to help Google validate your GBP data and determine your local rankings.

Semrush’s Listing Management tool is the best way to distribute your dental surgery’s NAP data to all the relevant directories, including Google Business Profile, and make sure it’s all up to date and accurate.

Why reviews matter in local search for dentists

As well as looking for NAP details, users will compare the number of reviews and star ratings that appear in their local dentist search, so it pays to incentivise happy patients to leave you a review on Google.

This can be done with a simple text message campaign asking users to take a few minutes to write a review on Google; you’ll find a lot of people are happy to do so as long as you make it easy for them and include a link. It’s important to reply to all the reviews you get from patients—even the negative ones—so people coming across your profile can see you care about client feedback (you can use Semrush’s Listing Management tool to save time with the Review Management (tool).

Local dentistry content boosts rankings

Working on your website content can go a long way to improving your rankings in local dentist searches. If your clinic has multiple areas, consider making specific landing pages for each location and embed a Google Map on there to help patients (and Google) to find you. Your NAP data should also appear on these pages, marked up with schema. Authoritative blog posts with local keywords are another important local SEO ranking factor—and they can also be posted to your Google Business Profile.

Post content and special offers, such as discounted teeth whitening, on your Google Business Profile too to incentivize patients to choose your practice over competitors that also appear in their local dentist search (you can schedule Google Business Profile posts with Semrush’s Social Media Poster).

Benefits to investing in local search for dentists

Good local SEO hygiene can bring a steady stream of patients and will really set you apart from dentists that have neglected theirs. Local search results for dentists appear above organic website results, so it’s a prime piece of Google real estate you need to be competing for. If your business doesn’t appear in the Google 3-Pack, users might never hear of your business and go directly to a competitor that they can clearly see is nearby and has good reviews. Add a link to allow patients to go straight to book appointments directly via your Google Business Profile and make local SEO for dentists work for you as an incredibly powerful marketing strategy to lock in new business without even having to pick up the phone.

Smileworks is a cosmetic dentistry and facial aesthetics practice in Liverpool that became a multi-million dollar business using Semrush tools that are highly recommended to conquer local SEO for dentists.
“I’ve never seen a local dental practice in the world ranking as much as we are now; I’ve never seen a local practice in the world with as much traffic as we have…My biggest problem now is I cannot hire dentists fast enough!”- Ed Challinor, Co-founder and CEO

Tools that makes local search for dentists a lot easier

Google Analytics is an essential free tool that can tell you lots of valuable information about your website’s performance and where your users are coming from. You can learn more about the search traffic coming to your website with Google Search Console, another free tool that can give you ideas for keywords and alert you to technical SEO errors that need to be addressed. Semrush is packed with SEO tools to help dentists with their local search ranking, including the Keyword Magic tool, Position Tracking and Backlink Analytics. One of the most powerful tools Semrush offers to help with local SEO for dentists is the Listing Management tool.

Poor citation distribution and inaccurate information is bad news when it comes to improving local SEO for dentists and can mean the difference between a flourishing practice and one no one has even heard of.
Semrush’s Listing Management tool cleans up your listings and keeps them aligned so you can relax safe in the knowledge you’ve done everything you can to get your business noticed online.