Creating an Amazing Content Marketing Strategy for Dentists

It’s a cliche that people deeply fear dentists. And why? Sitting in a chair with your mouth wide open and getting your teeth checked is a vulnerable position to be in.

People want healthy, sparkling teeth too. So, how can a dentist convince patients to book appointments? The answer is with the help of dentist content marketing.

In this guide, we’ll give you the following:

• An introduction to content marketing 
• Five content marketing strategies that work

There’s a lot to cover, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

What Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is using your content to:

• Create brand awareness by appearing in your target market’s search journey.
• Advertise your expertise through high-quality and informative posts and resources.
• Attract potential customers by promoting your different services.

There are many ways to increase site traffic with content marketing, most of which you can do at no cost. Some examples are:

• Blog posts, including how-tos, guides, and articles
• Visual content such as photos, infographics, and video
• Resources like ebooks, leaflets, and educational posts

Other dentist content marketing strategies, such as search engine optimization (SEO), will be covered in more detail below.

5 Content Marketing Strategies That Help Dentists Get Customers

Now that you know what content marketing is and why it works, let’s look at five effective strategies dentists can use.

All five also incorporate SEOs that dentists need. Don’t worry, though; each one will explain how and why the SEO elements work.

     1. Create Local Business Profiles

One excellent SEO marketing technique for dentists is appearing in local searches, which is a fantastic opportunity to attract attention to your business.

However, search engines aren’t the only tools people use to find what they need. Claim or set up profiles on other websites and apps to increase visibility. Advertise your dental clinic using local business listings, online directories, and social media.

For example, set up your clinic on:

• Google My Business or Google Maps
• Bing Places
• Yelp
• Apple Maps
• Facebook / Meta for Business

Through listing profiles, you make yourself more accessible and available. Patients who look for nearby dental clinics will easily find you this way.

In addition, local listings and online directories allow you to share information about your clinic. This lets patients see customer reviews, business hours, contact details, pictures, and linked social media accounts beforehand.

     2. Use Specific, Rich SEO Keywords

Using the right keywords is part of a good SEO content marketing strategy. Specifically, use ones that draw the right kind of attention from search engines.

Prime types that are effective for dentist content marketing include:

• Comparison keywords: Patients want sound dental care advice for their concerns. Use keywords that address this. For example, ‘best electric toothbrush for sensitive teeth.’
• Local SEO keywords: Along with local business profiles, using location-based keywords like ‘San Diego dental clinic’ solidify your place in search results. Remember to include two or three nearby cities when considering local keywords.
• Informational keywords: Patients want information about dental procedures they might need. Try using keywords that fit this need, like ‘types of a dental filling,’ for example.
• Broad match keywords: Adding adjectives to popular short-tail keywords helps you rank for the same keyphrase. For example, ‘blue dental braces’ can help you rank for ‘dental braces.’
• Instructional keywords: Educational content has a lot of utility in healthcare marketing. People often want additional instructions, even for simple dental care. A good instructional keyword for dentists would be ‘how to floss properly.’

An added benefit to targeting the five types above is that they are long-tail keywords. This means that each type contains at least four words, making them more specific.

The more specific your keywords, the lower the search volume. However, this also means greater potential for higher rankings.

     3. Write High-Quality Blogs and Posts

Written content is an amazing way to advertise your expertise as a dentist. It’s easier and faster to produce than other types of content, and you needn’t sacrifice quality.

High-quality content makes your website appealing for three reasons:

• Well-made content tells search engines that you deeply understand the subject matter. Patients also want to know that you understand what you’re saying and doing.
• Content that is reputable among users and experts shows authority in a specific field of study. Another way to think of this is how often others reference your content.
• High-quality content is considered an accurate and reliable resource. Content that can negatively impact people’s lives, such as those related to medicine, needs to be trustworthy.

Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) are important, but it doesn’t mean your blogs have to sound like research papers. There are many ways to write blog posts that follow E-A-T but remain accessible to regular people.

Some examples are:

• How-to posts for dental care
• Guides on common dental services
• Comparison and ranking lists

     4. Make Your Website Responsive

Search engines want to serve the needs of their users. To do this, they return results that provide the best experience for the searcher. Google, in particular, has outlined several metrics that affect search engine results page (SERP) ranking. One of these metrics is E-A-T.

Another metric is what Google calls ‘mobile-first indexing." Essentially, this means that Google and other search engines prefer websites that leverage mobile-friendly web design.

Here’s a short list of guidelines to help you get started:

• Don’t crowd your pages with plug-ins or other busy elements.
• Make your web pages faster by optimizing photos and images.
• Use original, high-quality images that appear clear on mobile. 

     5. Have an Omnichannel Marketing Plan

Omnichannel marketing is done by “leaving a breadcrumb trail” that leads back to you. This means creating multiple marketing touchpoints to increase the chances of successful customer conversion.

To illustrate, a dentist might do the following as part of their dental content marketing:

1. Send an email to potential leads about free consultations for first-time patients.
2. Post special prices or discounted services on their clinic’s Facebook page.
3. Upload a short, catchy jingle to the clinic’s YouTube page.

The goal is to publish unique marketing content on different platforms, encouraging potential leads to visit the dentist’s website to make or finish an appointment, purchase, etc.

Summing Up

Dentists have a lot to gain from good content marketing, whether it’s claiming your business on Google, doing keyword research, or planning for omnichannel marketing. Apply these and other ideas to start meeting new patients today.

Need help? Contact us to work with medical SEO experts who get results.