OK. So, what is the best marketing method for dentists?

It’s Google’s own “Google My Business” platform (formerly known as “Google Local/Places”) and it’s where we recommend every dentist get started with their local marketing…

The Google My Business section of the search results appears at the top of page 1 just above the top 10.

If you’re featured there it’s easy for prospective patients to click to get directions to your practice.

Your phone number, website and practice address are also visible, together with your Google Reviews…

Google only displays a select group of 3 businesses in the Google My Business section (known as the “3-pack”) so it’s important that you do what you can to make sure it’s you – rather than your competitors – that are featured there…

How does Google My Business work?

Local SEO involves optimising your Google My Business (GMB) profile to rank on page 1 of Google’s search results…

In that sense, it is similar to website SEO (except that it’s a fraction of the price…)

The other main benefit is that your reviews are also displayed right next to your business information – this is important because online reviews are the second-most trusted form of marketing (right after word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends…) so when people see you have positive reviews, they’ll feel much more inclined to call you…

What are the advantages of using Google My Business vs. other marketing methods?

A. The top of page 1 of Google is where the lion’s share of people will see you… And ranking your profile is the easiest way to get your practice listed there (above the top 10 results).

B. Not only that, as soon as your practice reaches the top 3 for one search term, Google will also start to rank you at the top for a large number of other dental treatment keywords (as long as your profile is set up correctly). Compare this with traditional website SEO where you typically have to spend a lot of money to rank each page individually over many months…

C. The “3-pack” is also the place where all your Google reviews and star ratings are displayed: so if you have a good reputation, you’ll be showing that to everyone who visits the page. (If you don’t have many (or any) reviews yet, or if your reputation needs some help, take a look at this service.)

D. Google My Business is also the cheapest way to get rankings on page 1 for your major keywords (e.g. “Dentists/Cosmetic Dentists + CITY”)

What kind of results can it provide?

Take a look at these examples provided by Dental Connections who set up the Google My Business profiles for the following two dental practices and then helped them rank in the “3-Pack” at the top of page 1 of Google:

As you can see, both practices are getting a large number of extra phone calls each month, in addition to the thousands of people being exposed to their practice name, contact information and ratings and reviews…

Client A (established client): almost 400 calls/month just from their Google My Business profile.

Client B (relatively new client): an additional 98 calls coming in through their profile.

Why does Local SEO work so well?

Local SEO is effective because The Google My Business results automatically appear at the top of page 1 of Google for a large number of the most searched for terms dentists want to rank for – such as searches for “dentist/cosmetic dentist + YOUR CITY”

To give you an idea of how powerful this strategy can be, here’s a screenshot of just some of the search results one practice started ranking for after setting up their Google My Business profile properly (click to enlarge):

A well-optimised profile can literally put you at the top for all the main search results in your area.

When combined with positive Google reviews (that appear alongside your listing in the search results) there isn’t a more powerful marketing strategy for getting in front of the maximum number of people and showing them just how good your practice is…