Dental practices that are looking to acquire more patients and drive more appointments for specific services should be investing their marketing spend into search engine optimization (SEO) and, more specifically, keyword research. To have a successful dental SEO strategy to see more patients, you’ll need to target patient searches by doing comprehensive keyword research and building a keyword strategy around that research.
What Is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of looking for specific words or search terms that potential patients are searching for in your area. Keyword research for a dental practice means understanding if more patients in your area are using search terms like “dentist near me” or “dental implants near me.”
Why Is Keyword Research Important for SEO?
Keyword research is important to search rankings. The better you can identify keywords relevant to patient searches in your area, the better you rank in search results pages.
How to Find Keywords
To find the right keywords to target, make a list of important and relevant services for which you want to see more patients at your practice. For example, if you want to see more dental implant patients, when doing your research, you’ll focus closely on the number of times that keyword or variations of that keyword (also known as measured search volume, or MSV), are searched per month. You can use SEO research tools.
Once you have a list of topics that you want to focus on at your practice and you want to rank for in SERPs (search engine results pages), you’ll want to brainstorm some keyword phrases that you think patients will type in a search engine that is related to that topic. Let’s take our dental implants topic and look at some possible search terms related to that topic:
- “Dental implants near me”
- “Types of dental implants”
- “Dental implant cost”
- “Dental implant complications”
- “Dental implant procedure”
Because there are many more variations, it’s important to focus on phrases that potential patients will use to search related content to the specific topic or service that you are trying to target. You’ll eventually narrow down the list, but at the beginning, come up with as many relevant search terms as possible.
Check Your Existing Rankings
Google is continuing to encrypt more and more keywords, so it’s helpful to do some research to see what keywords your practice website is already being found for. To understand your current website traffic and analytics, you can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or HubSpot’s Sources report.
Search a Keyword Database
A keyword database is the most efficient way to manage your keywords for organic search marketing campaigns.
Dentists can employ a strategic approach to keyword research:
- Take the list of relevant terms and phrases related to dental services that you have come up with, including specialties like dental implants, braces, or teeth whitening.
- Utilize keyword research tools to analyze search volume, competition, and keyword difficulty, ensuring a balance between high search volume and manageable competition.
- Incorporate long-tail keywords and location-specific terms to target local audiences effectively.
- Refine the keyword list by identifying high-value keywords with strong potential for driving traffic and conversions.
- Regularly monitor keyword performance and adapt strategies based on emerging trends and changes in search algorithms.
By conducting thorough keyword research and implementing a data-driven approach, dentists can enhance their online visibility and attract more patients to their practice.
Conduct a Keyword Gap Analysis
In keyword research, the goal is to understand precisely what your potential patients are searching for. Part of that keyword research is to gain a better understanding by conducting a keyword gap analysis.
A keyword gap analysis is an SEO strategy that compares your site to another competing dentist’s site in your area. The analysis compares what keywords they are capitalizing on that you are not and how to use that information to your advantage. This comparison will help identify “gaps” or “keyword gaps” that your practice could use to outrank your competitors.
For example, if a popular search term in your area is “sleep apnea” and you find that a practice in your area is using “sleep apnea symptoms” effectively, it may be a search term that you overlooked. Or you want to rank higher for patients who are searching for “sleep apnea,” and you find that your competitor is underutilizing keywords like “sleep apnea dentist” or ”sleep apnea treatment options.” If your practice incorporates those keywords into content on your site, you’ll be positioning your practice to capture more traffic.
Keep in mind that to stay ahead of your competition and continue to improve your online presence, a keyword gap analysis should be run regularly to see what is working and what is not for you and your competitors.
Look at Search Suggestions in Search Engines
If you have ever searched for something in Google, you may have noticed it starts to predict the keyword or search when you start typing. Simply looking at the search suggestions or predictive results can help you identify popular dental queries or the specific service you are looking to target.
The “related searches” section at the bottom of the web page and the “people always ask” boxes can also help you in your keyword research and create ideas for other keywords you may want to consider in your SEO efforts.
How to Choose Keywords
Choosing keywords based on research and a well-structured strategy will help you produce content with the potential to attract more patients and rank higher in organic search results. Choosing keywords without information or research may attract a small number of patients but it’s possible that picking the wrong keywords may not attract patients at all.
Understand Search Intent
If patients are not searching for a keyword, then it doesn’t make sense for your practice to target it. Therefore, it is important to choose keywords that have search traffic potential. When potential patients are searching for a dentist or dental services in Google, generally they are trying to:
- Learn about dental procedures, treatments, or health topics.
- Schedule appointments for cleanings, fillings, or cosmetic procedures.
- Find a specific dental practice’s website to gather information about the services offered, location, and contact details.
This is known as search intent. When choosing keywords to target, it’s important to only choose keywords where the content lines up with search intent because Google doesn’t rank content that searchers are not looking for.
Look at Keyword Search Volumes
You need to look at keyword search volume during keyword research to understand the average number of times specific keywords or phrases related to dental services are searched for. By analyzing search volume, you can identify which keywords potential patients are using most frequently when searching for dental information or services online. This information helps prioritize your SEO efforts by focusing on keywords with higher search volume, giving your practice a greater potential for attracting more patients to your website.
Ideally, finding keywords with search volume over 100 and low to medium level of difficulty is the most effective strategy. The higher the search volume means you have a higher level of competition and the lower the search volume is means potential patients may not see your content.
Check for SERP Features
Check for SERP features in your keyword research to understand how search results are displayed for specific keywords. SERP features like featured snippets, local maps, knowledge panels, and image or video carousels can significantly impact search visibility. Knowing what SERP features that are relevant to a dental keyword allows you to adjust your content and optimize your website structure for those features to increase your ranking in search results.
Consider Keyword Difficulty
Considering keyword difficulty is an important element of your keyword research process. Keyword difficulty scores are typically ranked by percentage from 0-100%, with 100% being the highest level of difficulty to rank for a specific keyword. Keywords with a score anywhere from 15-29% are considered easy to rank for, even if your website is new. The higher the keyword difficulty is, the more work there is to rank for that keyword or keyword phrase, including more structured content, quality backlinks, on-page SEO, and content promotion.
Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis
Doing a cost-benefit analysis for keywords will help your practice evaluate the potential return on investment (ROI) of targeting specific keywords in your SEO strategy. Considering the amount of time, resources, and potential advertising expenses against the expected benefits of increased website traffic and increased new patient appointments, you can make an informed decision about what keywords would be the most beneficial to target.
How to Target Keywords
Targeting keywords begins with good keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs and identifying relevant keywords and phrases that your potential patients may be using when searching for dental services. After doing a competitor analysis and keyword gap analysis, your practice can begin looking at opportunities in your keyword strategy.
Look at goals and prioritize your keywords based on search volume, relevance to your services, and competition level in your area. Focus on targeting a mix of high- to mid-volume keywords as well as key phrases that are more specific and more commonly used, which are called long-tail keywords. If one of your keyword targets is “dental implants,” a long-tail keyword in that same topic would be something like “affordable dental implants in [insert your cityname]. Long-tail keywords can get less search traffic but tend to convert higher because potential patients are more likely to use specific verbiage when typing in search engines when they are ready to decide on dental services.
Once your list of keywords has been nailed down, you’ll implement those keywords in high-quality content on your website, on-site optimization elements, local SEO optimization elements, and backlinks to target your list of keywords.
Create Keyword Clusters
Keyword clusters can create more targeted and thorough content that addresses details of your services and improve your practice website’s relevance and authority in search results. Keyword clusters are groupings of similar keywords that have the same search intent, Example: “braces for teeth alignment,” “Invisalign clear aligners,” and “orthodontist for kids.”
Google can rank the same page for multiple keywords. So, if the keywords have the same or similar search intent, they should be targeted on the same page. Creating keyword clusters does require more keyword research, more content development, and time, but the result from building topic clusters creates a more user-friendly website and therefore a more Google-friendly website.
Focus on Content Quality and Usability
While your practice is working on optimizing your keyword strategy, it’s important to prioritize content quality and usability to be effective. So, when writing or reviewing content for your website, make sure the content is informative, engaging, and relevant to your patient’s needs or what potential patients may be searching for. Then ensure that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate by including primary keywords in URL slugs, title tags, meta descriptions, and H1 tags, and include the primary keyword in the first paragraph of the content and primary and secondary keywords throughout the body of the content.
Use Keywords Strategically
A keyword strategy from keyword research defines the search engine queries a dental practice aims to rank for, along with the ways to rank for them, and ways to prioritize keywords to improve search rankings. This means, it’s necessary to create a hierarchy of dental keywords and target them effectively. For example, while keyword research may reveal that “teeth whitening” brings in significantly more searches than “porcelain veneers,” a dental keyword strategy might prioritize “porcelain veneers” because it has lower competitiveness and stronger relevance to the service that is being targeted. By using keywords strategically, dental practices can be more effective with their keyword strategy, optimizing their online presence for the highest impact and patient engagement.
Prioritize Keywords with Existing Rankings
When investing time and resources in your keyword research, it’s important to prioritize your targeted keywords and put them into a solid content strategy. Through your research, you’ll inevitably run into thousands of potential keywords, but you might not have the luxury of time or resources to commit to all of them. A great place to start would be to review your existing keyword rankings and prioritize those. You’ll likely have some content and data already and should be able to easily create new performance standards and find ways to improve.
Advanced Keyword Research Tips
Find keywords that are driving a significant amount of traffic and create highly focused optimized content, then focus on filtering your keywords by intent. Search intent can be informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional.
- Informational search intent: Patients who are looking for information or education on dental services.
- Commercial search intent: Patients who are searching with the intent to buy oral healthcare products or services.
- Navigational search intent: Patients who are searching for specific pages.
- Transactional search intent: Patients who are looking to complete a specific action, like scheduling a cleaning or implant consultation.
Advanced keyword research will help with choosing keywords that line up with direct search intent.
Find and Use Semantic Keywords
Semantic keywords are words or phrases that relate to each other conceptually. For example, a keyword like “orthodontic consultation” semantically relates to “jaw alignment” and “overbite.” To find semantic keywords, look for related keywords and synonyms for your primary keyword. You can utilize Google by looking at the autocomplete feature or “people also ask” section to find keywords that patients are searching for or use a keyword research tool like Semrush.
Once you’ve gathered a list of semantic keywords, you will use them strategically throughout your content. Be very thorough when developing your content. Use different variations of your primary keyword and include many subtopics. Use semantic keywords in your title headings, subheadings, and meta tags to help search engines and patients understand what your main topic is and the subtopics throughout your content. It’s important when you are enriching your content that you use semantic keywords that remain relevant and answer a user’s questions naturally without being repetitive.
Anticipate Keyword Trends
Anticipating keyword trends through your keyword research can help your practice understand what keywords are currently trending for products or services, making your marketing campaign better targeted to deliver results. To anticipate keyword trends, keep up with industry news, keep a close eye on social media to see what patients in your community are talking about, and listen to your patients’ feedback or common questions when visiting your practice.
If you can anticipate keyword trends and quickly create content around those keywords before your competitors even recognize a term’s popularity, you can improve your rankings.
Keyword Research Tools
There are many keyword research tools out there but here are three that we would recommend:
Google Search Console can be used to understand what keywords your dental practice is already ranking for. In addition to keyword visibility, you will also be able to see metrics like the number of clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and position of your relevant keywords.
Semrush is a comprehensive keyword research tool with the ability to do a competitive analysis of your local competition, allowing you to identify high-value keywords for your practice and track your competitor’s keyword strategies. Semrush provides insight into organic search data, keyword difficulty, and other related keywords.
Ahrefs is another broad keyword research tool that also provides data on keyword search volumes, CTR, and keyword difficulty scores. Ahrefs also dives into backlink analysis and content gap analysis that will help your practice identify areas of opportunity in keywords that will benefit your SEO strategy.
Semrush Keyword Research Tools
- Semrush specifically provides multiple SEO keyword research tools that your practice can utilize with their free account, including:
- Keyword Overview
- Organic Research
- Keyword Magic Tool
- Keyword Gap
- Keyword Manager
- Organic Traffic Insights
SERP Gap Analyzer
The SERP Gap Analyzer will look for search terms that are under-optimized or easier to rank for, rather the spending countless hours of manual keyword research and SERP research. The SERP Gap Analyzer essentially analyzes your practice’s website to find the gaps in the SERP results and highlights keywords that could benefit from optimized content.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free service that can help your practice monitor statistics for your website in Google search results, provide information and statistics on top search queries, number of indexed pages, top countries, devices, video pages, sitemaps, and more.
Google Keyword Planner
The Google Keyword Planner is a great free resource for uncovering keyword opportunities for SEO and pay-per-click advertising (PPC). However, it does not provide precise search volume data, keyword difficulty, or search intent.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a great tool to see what patients are searching for in real-time and then use that data to understand the level of search interest there is on a specific topic.
Track Your Keyword Rankings and Keep Improving
After putting in time, effort, and resources to do keyword research to improve your practice’s search rankings and website visibility, you’ll want to continue to track your keyword rankings. It’s important to continue to track your rankings, as your keyword rankings can frequently change.
Some factors that can require you to keep improving your keyword strategy can be that Google changes its algorithm, making it necessary for SEO strategies to be adjusted, or a new practice moves in down the street and takes an aggressive approach to its SEO strategy and is continually publishing new content.
Whatever the reason, if you are tracking your keywords, you’ll know what is working and what keywords are not working so you can continue to adjust and keep improving your keyword targets. By establishing and improving your keyword rankings, you can expect more patients to see your website and your website traffic will increase.
Do you want help conducting keyword research and building and building an effective dental marketing strategy? Our dental marketing experts are here to help. Reach out to have a strategy call today at (888) 932-3644.
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