You have enough to occupy your time without having to correct common SEO mistakes. Unfortunately, these mistakes are detrimental to your dental practice's SEO strategy and may even lower your rankings in search engines.   

The number one rule of ditch digging is to put down the shovel. The same applies to common search engine optimization mistakes — stopping is the first step. Avoiding these common mistakes will ensure that your site is functioning at a high level and reaching existing and potential patients in your local area — your target audience.  

1. Failing to Optimize Your Website for Local Search Results

One of your dental practice's most significant advantages is that while it competes for rankings, it is primarily concerned with ranking locally. If you are in Eugene, Oregon, you are not competing with dental practices in Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York. Your goal is to win the rankings battle in Eugene and the surrounding communities. 

Build your website around your target audience. If you haven't already, create a Google My Business page. Encourage and make it easy for patients to leave reviews. Include references to your location on your site, and check that your metadata is optimized.

Metadata includes the title tags and meta descriptions on your site. It is a valuable part of your SEO strategy. 

Check out our tips for local dental SEO.

2. Forgetting to Conduct Keyword Research

Often professionals, such as dentists, assume they know what words patients will search for when looking for their services. After all, they are educated and licensed to practice in the field. Consequently, they focus their site content on keywords they believe patients search for rather than the keywords they actually use to search.

Fortunately, you do not have to guess which words to pursue. Your target audience will tell you if you know where to look. Google offers Google Keyword Planner. This keyword research tool will help you identify the words you should target. 

3. Having Low-Quality Content

A website is not a create-it-and-forget endeavor. Poorly constructed content can hurt your rankings in Google. Websites require updating to remain fresh and full of high-quality content. Put your keyword research together with your local optimization, produce a relevant and engaging site for your patients, and avoid using duplicate content. 

4. Not Taking Advantage of Social Media

Social media is a fast and easy way to promote your brand and build your business. You should post about your practice, new services, and daily dental tips. In addition, social media accounts may be automatically linked to your blog, posting all new content. 

You need to use social media to build your customer base.  Dental Intelligence offers templates for creating great dental marketing content.

5. Failing to Include Videos

Dental care lends itself to creating short how-to video content. Post these videos on your site and social media to create a holistic approach to your SEO strategy. You can cover an array of quick care topics and allow potential customers to see your practice and get a feel for you. 

6. Using Improper Anchor Text

Anchor text allows you to link content to related content elsewhere. This practice helps search engine algorithms understand your content. Consequently, anchor text is an excellent way to improve your site's ranking and reputation. 

People often need to learn about anchor text which can cause the exact opposite of the intended effect. Make sure your anchor text is relevant. Do not use identical anchor text multiple times; never chase too many keywords.  

7. Failing to Make Your Site Mobile Friendly

In the modern incantation of communication, mobile devices reign supreme. You will lose customers if your website is not optimized for mobile viewing. View your dental practice's website on your phone, and ask your family and friends to do the same. If it appears clunky and needs help to fit on your screen, you need to make it mobile-friendly. 

Improve Your SEO Strategy

Now that you know the seven common SEO mistakes your dental practice should avoid, begin searching for these errors in your own SEO strategy. Contact our team at Dental Intelligence today to see how we can help you bring in new patients, then learn about the perfect dental SEO keywords for your campaign.