Marketing for dentists

Google ranks that map mainly on relevance, distance and prominence (Google Business Profile help).

Make the profile complete: the right category (Dentist, or your specialty), every service, accurate hours including early or late days, photos of the office and the team, and whether you speak Spanish. Then build the website pages Google needs to show you for treatment searches: cleanings, implants, crowns, clear aligners, emergency visits and children's dentistry, whichever you offer. Each page should say who the treatment is for, what to expect at the visit and how to book.

Put the insurance list where it's easy to find, and say plainly whether you're in network for each plan you name. Offer online booking or a booking button on every page, next to the phone number. If you see Spanish-speaking patients, give them the whole site in Spanish, not a translate button: Spanish is the most common language other than English spoken at home in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey). Show your dentists by name, with photos and training, since patients are choosing a person, not only an office.

Keep the phone number and the booking button in reach on every screen on a phone, and make pages load fast. The pages it needs: one per treatment, an about page for the practice, your reviews and a contact page with your address and parking. Use real photos of your office and team rather than stock smiles. If new patients fill out forms online, use a forms or booking provider built for patient information and ask how it protects that information; a plain website contact form is not the place for health details. Link your Google Business Profile to the site, with the same name, address, phone and hours on both.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights has fined dental practices for disclosing patient information in replies to online reviews (HHS Office for Civil Rights enforcement announcements).

A friendly text or email after the visit, with a direct link to your Google review form, is the easiest way to keep reviews coming. Google doesn't allow offering anything in exchange for a review, or asking only the patients you expect to be happy (Google's policy on reviews). For a bad review, a short reply that thanks them, says you take feedback seriously and invites them to call the office works without revealing anything about the visit.

It matters less for general searches that your profile and website can win on their own over time.

Tie each ad to one treatment and one page: an implant ad goes to the implant page, not the home page. Google has a policy for healthcare ads, and some treatments and claims are restricted, so the wording matters (Google Ads policies, Healthcare and medicines). We set up the account in your name, and you pay Google directly for the clicks.

Send them by email and text at the interval your dentist sets for each patient. Patients who haven't been in for a long time can get a gentle note too. Ask for permission to text on your new patient form, and send Spanish-speaking patients their reminders in Spanish. And when a friend asks for a dentist they can trust, a patient who comes in regularly has your name ready.