How to Reach Page One of Google
It’s a cliché, but content IS king, at least on the Internet. Google is a search engine, and it functions like an enormous library. Businesses that provide unique information to Google are favored and given higher rank in search engine results.
To provide information on Google, you must use words, a practice we know as copywriting. Even images need alt-image tags, which are words behind the pictures that tell Google’s indexing robots what the image depicts. Videos that rank high are usually hosted on YouTube, a Google-owned property. The highest-ranking videos have a written script uploaded, along with the video file.
Regarding Dental Blogs & Lots of Web Pages
A blog may seem silly. Who’s going to read posts about dental procedures, anyway? Your patients don’t have the time to read dental blog posts.
That is not the point.
The purpose of dental blogging (and adding pages to a website) is to improve visibility with a higher search engine position and the breadth of phrases your site can be found for.
It seems intuitive that when you publish an article online, you want people to read it. However, the Internet age has altered why copywriting is important.
Websites that rank highest usually have a significant number of pages, and those pages have original text. Other factors, like domain longevity, incoming links, and testimonials, have a significant influence on Google rank, as well. With time, though, the site that houses the most and best information will be rewarded with page-one rankings.
Are you beginning to see why content is king on the web? Achieving page one of Google requires strategic implementation of text.
The Best Dental Websites
I’ve been in dental copywriting for 13 years, starting out as a freelance writer, then moving into an editor role, and now own and operate my second dental marketing company, Identiwrite Creative. Through this time, I’ve seen just about every type of webpage you could imagine – great ones and really, really bad ones. It’s funny, though, because even an outdated-looking website can rank high in search if the content is top-notch.
The best text for a website comes first from the dentist, then it’s filtered through a dental copywriter and an editor, and then it’s published and optimized on the back end, for search. Oftentimes, a dentist does not want to write website copy, for any number of reasons.
To combat this, I conduct a telephone or written interview with the dentist to start – then a dental copywriter composes the text. We write for two audiences: the target dental patient, based on the dental practice’s procedures, local demographics, and the most profitable services offered; and Google’s search engine indexing robots. The text we compose is clinically accurate, while also appealing to the emotions of the human reader (potential patient).
The Best Dental Website Writing
The best dental websites have text that:
- Is 97% original content (allowing a 3% duplication factor for phrases like “according to the ADA”)
- Is formatted with appropriate heading tags, with only one main heading and multiple subheadings
- Runs over 550 words in length
- Includes links on keyword phrases, to related destination pages within the website
- Integrates keywords effectively in the text, heading, links, metadata, and image descriptions
- Correctly implements links, without duplicated destinations or multiple phrases for a single destination
- Is optimally organized with main and subnavigation well planned
- Includes regular updates to the main content
- Also includes a blog with a minimum of once-a-week posts (follows all copy guidelines above)
- Is scannable for the web reader (short paragraphs, sub-sections, sub-headings, lists, etc.)
- Includes at least one visual element, like an image, chart/graph, or video (all images need alt tags)
In some cases, a dental consultant or practice owner will hire Identiwrite Creative to edit and optimize existing content. If the text is not published elsewhere online, which we can quickly find out, then this option is practical and effective.
In other situations, a website does not have enough/any usable text, so the best option is to create text from scratch. This undertaking requires planning. Keywords must be researched and selected, then navigation and internal linking should be planned, before the text is composed.
In either case, I highly recommend a keyword ranking report in Chrome Incognito, to determine where the site currently ranks for targeted keywords. This will allow the writer or SEO expert to strategically organize navigation and links, for optimal ranking results.
What to Expect from Results
Optimizing a website is no longer a one-time investment. Google Search constantly changes on many fronts. The algorithm is regularly tweaked by Google, and no one has access to all the changes. As new and existing businesses alter their websites, listings, links, etc., search results change. Every person’s unique browsing history is also a factor, as is Google Local. So, we cannot know with certainty the exact results a dentist can expect from implementing the copywriting strategies I suggest.
However, based on my clients’ websites and the ongoing SEO reporting and research I conduct for them, I can say that using my strategy works. It brings dentists’ websites from “not found on first three pages” to page one of Google, if properly executed. For stubborn keywords for which a site does not quickly move to page one of Google, I have additional strategies. One solid technique is conducting a competitive analysis to determine what high-ranking dental sites are doing to achieve their position. With this knowledge, I can devise an effective plan to bring my client’s website alongside theirs.
What can you expect? Better rankings. Beyond that, a lot more information must be considered and studied.
To discuss how we can get your dental website on page one of Google, call me, Shauna Duty, at Identiwrite Creative today. I’m at 940-395-5115, or you can email me: [email protected]. Bulk pricing is available for website developers and consultants who engage us to work with multiple dentists.
