Digital Strategy Post COVID19

COVID has accelerated the change in media habits for people at a far more rapid pace than even the fast pace that was already in motion pre-COVID.

Data abounds that demonstrates that people young and old are spending significantly more time online than ever before.

The notion that you need to be more than just a website on the internet is a new reality. The very idea of maximizing your brand’s digital presence is no longer an option; instead, it has become necessary.

Consider this; if you have a brochure website and are not getting much traffic through your online presence, you can be confident that another dental office is using their website on the same internet and drawing a large number of patients to their dental offices.

The question that you need to ask yourself is this – in a brand journey of search, through discovery, interest, and conversion (a call to book an appointment) that is increasingly online, how are you faring versus those dental offices that are actively attracting and engaging with potential patients?

Becoming a digitally mature brand

Becoming a digitally mature presence on the internet can feel like a daunting prospect in an online ecosystem that is incredibly dynamic.

To be successful online, you need to adopt the right technology and put into place digital strategies that are measurable and help you achieve effective customer outreach. Or in other words, be available with content online that is not just of interest to your potential clients but content that these potential clients are actively searching for.

This transformation definitely feels onerous, but SEO research across the globe shows that implementing a smart digital presence strategy can significantly cut down on advertising spend, generate cost savings, result in larger client acquisition numbers, and increase revenue.

Digital Strategy Post COVID19 and the 3-Step Digital success plan

To get their digital strategy post COVID19 in place, we find that there are three things that the smart dental office can to accelerate their digital transformation, become patient magnets and transform their businesses to be digitally relevant and ready for what their patients are looking for today:

1. Define your ideal new patient: Do not diffuse your marketing effort. Focus on the type of patients you are looking for and the geography you are based in.
2. Focus your web presence: Instead of a scattered presence across multiple online channels, focus on building one primary presence first – a website that provides quality content that your target patients will find relatable and informative.
3. Build a strategic digital partnership: You need to find a company that is not just an SEO company or a website designer. Yes, the company you work with has to be adept in both these fields, but what you need is a strategic partner who has technological domain expertise specifically in your business field.

Search Engine Optimization:

Good search engine optimization, by definition, helps you get found on Google. Given how consumer habits are changing and how much search is has moved moving online during these past eight months of COVID19, having an easily found website in google search is a new marketing imperative.

Good SEO for a dental office website, at its essence is a 4-step process:

1. On-Page: Optimize content on your website. Ensure good site structure & content flow.
2. Off-Page: Build contextual links to your website from other high quality websites through sharing content, and guest posting.
3. Optimize for Local: Build Citations – create a presence of your business in directories that are relevant to your business and to the geography that you operate in.
4. Technical SEO: Make certain that your website is fast, secure and technically robust.

Remember that it is easy to be on page one of Google when you are the only act in town. However, even if you have a few competitors, you can’t afford not to turbo power your website with excellent SEO practices.

In conclusion:

A well built, secure, and fast website is an existential imperative. This website is the face of your brand that your prospective clients will first find before they call your office to book an appointment. Make sure that you make a great impression. 

Well executed SEO will help create relevant traffic for your website. Traffic that your content will then convert into paying patients at your dental office. To get your digital strategy post COVID19 in place, these are the foundational topics that you will need to address.

At Experdent Web Services, we put these very ideas into practice. We are results-driven, dentist focused, and experts in SEO for dental offices in North America. If you are a dental office and are looking for SEO or need advice on your digital strategy, call us for a free 30-minute consult.