Dental Marketing Blog
Free dental marketing tips and strategies for dentists from internet dental marketing experts. Feel free to participate. All dental marketing related questions and comments are encouraged.
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Tips for Choosing a Dental Domain Name
February 2, 2010 by Erik Cunningham
The availability of dental domain names is rapidly decreasing as more and more dentists, dental marketing companies and domain name investors (aka cybersquatters) enter the competitive landscape.
I strongly recommend that you purchase a dental domain name as soon as possible, even if you don’t have immediate plans for a dental website. Why you ask? Because buying your desired domain sooner rather than later could mean the difference between a price tag of $15.00 and $1500.00.
So what factors should you consider when choosing one or more appropriate domain names for your dental practice? Your domain name(s) should be:
1) Patient Friendly
Pick a domain name that’s easy for your patients (and staff) to remember. Using the name of your dental practice is likely your best option. If it isn’t available, use the dentist’s name. If you’re still having trouble with availability, try variations of the dentist’s name with “dr” or “dds”.
Avoid purchasing dental domain names with dashes (”-”) in them. No one likes to say or remember “this-that-theotherthing”.
Buy a “.com”, not a “.net”, domain name. People are forgetful. If you tell a patient to visit your “.net” domain, they will likely type “.com” into their web browser which will either confuse them or, worse, lead them to your competitor’s website.
2) Search Engine Friendly
Consider purchasing a search engine friendly domain name in addition to the patient friendly domain I just described.
Search engine friendly domain names include both your city name and your dental specialty. A good example would be “rootcanalmiami.com” or “endodontistmiami.com”. Many search engine friendly dental domain names are already taken but it doesn’t hurt to look.
If you do find one, ask your dental web designer to make it your website’s primary domain name. Then use a “301 redirect” to point your patient friendly domain name to your search engine friendly domain. Don’t worry, your dental web designer should know what I’m talking about.
3) Available
The sooner you begin searching for a dental domain name the better your chances that the one(s) you want will still be available. Visit DentalDomainSearch.com and reserve your perfect dental domain name today!
Comments (0) — Dental Web Design — Tags: dental domain names, dental practice marketing, Dental Web Design, Dental Website Marketing, dentist domain names
Online Yellow Pages Offer Free Advertising for Dentists
March 20, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
Most popular online yellow pages sites offer free advertising for dentists and other local businesses.
And while a free advertisement in an internet yellow pages directory won’t send you as many referrals as a paid or upgraded yellow pages ad, the benefits a free listing offers are still well worth the time and effort it takes for you to set up.
Why? Because a free dental yellow pages ad can:
- Help patients who are looking for your dental practice by name, find your contact information quickly and easily.
- Generate referrals from patients who live very close to your practice.
- Help local search directories like Google Maps and Yahoo! Local confirm your business address for display in their local search results.
- Host reviews and recommendations for your practice from patients.
As you can see, submitting your dental practice information to free internet yellow pages directories can offer a wide range of dental marketing opportunities for your local practice – some, you’ve probably never even considered.
Now that you see what free dental ads can do for you, it’s time to start submitting! Here are a few popular yellow pages sites that offer free dental advertising opportunities to help get you started:
Comments (0) — Internet Yellow Pages Advertising — Tags: dental marketing online, dental practice marketing, local marketing, online reputation management
Dental Marketing Push or Pull?
February 27, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
In our last post, Dental Marketing Strategies, Back to Basics, we discussed the two basic types of dental marketing, “push” and “pull” and posed the question, “Which type of dental marketing strategy is right for your practice?”.
The answer to that question depends on the type of dentistry you practice and the current state of your local economy.
General Dentists
If you’re a general dentist, you can benefit from both push and pull marketing strategies because your services include preventative, elective and compulsory dental treatments. Push marketing techniques like direct mail marketing are great for promoting preventative and elective dental treatments like regular checkups and teeth cleanings.
Pull strategies like dental website marketing, search engine marketing and yellow pages advertising are good for promoting compulsory dental procedures like filling cavities because they help to ensure that your patients can find your practice easily when they’re looking for your services.
Dental Specialists
Push marketing strategies aren’t nearly as effective for dental specialists as they are for general dentists because the majority of treatments and procedures offered by dental specialists are compulsory and not elective. Patients aren’t likely to respond to a postcard in their mailbox that reads, “We had a great time with your last root canal. How about we do another just for fun?”
As a dental specialist, you should focus most, if not all, of your dental marketing budget on pull marketing strategies. Advertising your practice in online dental directories and in print and internet yellow pages directories will make your contact information readily available to patients seeking emergency dental health services and general dentists looking for candidates for patient referrals.
Economic Conditions
In addition to the type of dentistry you practice, the current state of your local economy should also affect your dental marketing decisions.
When times are tough, many patients in your community may decide to put off elective treatments like cleanings, checkups and cosmetic procedures until their finances improve. As a result, push marketing strategies in a rough economy are likely to fall upon deaf ears.
The best thing to do during tough economic times is to focus your dental marketing budget on pull strategies. That way you’ll attract patients actively looking for your services and not waste money targeting people who can’t afford it.
In Summary
- General dentists can benefit from both push and pull marketing strategies in a good economy
- Dental specialists should focus their budget on pull marketing strategies
- All dentists should utilize pull marketing strategies in a bad economy
Next week’s question: “Why didn’t you read the summary first?”.
Comments (0) — Marketing Strategies — Tags: dental marketing campaign, dental marketing strategies, dental practice marketing
Dental Marketing Strategies, Back to Basics
February 17, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
There are two basic types of dental marketing strategies you can employ to promote your local dental practice - “push” and “pull”. And while the most effective dental marketing campaigns often include a combination of the two, factors like the current state of your local economy and the type of dental treatments and procedures your practice offers should dictate how much of your marketing budget you devote to each one.
Push Dental Marketing
The term “push marketing” is used to describe dental marketing strategies that deliver unsolicited information about your dental practice to prospective or existing dental patients in your community. The most common types of push marketing in dentistry include direct mail, TV, newspaper and radio advertising and internet banner advertising.
In the past, some dentists have misinterpreted the strategy of push marketing in dentistry as “pushy”. These dentists haven’t considered however that push marketing performs a valuable service to both you and your patients by reminding them to schedule regular dental checkups and cleanings for improved long term oral health. Push marketing also brings information about your practice right to your patients’ doorsteps which saves them time and effort if a visit to the dentist is already on their to-do list.
Pull Dental Marketing
“Pull marketing” refers to dentist marketing techniques that make your dental practice information readily available to prospective dental patients actively looking for your services. Common pull marketing strategies for promoting dental practices include print and internet yellow pages advertising, website marketing, search engine marketing, pay-per-click advertising and dental directory advertising.
Pull marketing gives your dental practice an edge over your competitors and helps both you and your dental patients by simplifying the question, answer and appointment scheduling processes.
Some dentist marketing strategies qualify as both push and pull marketing. Word of mouth and dental office signage are good examples.
If a patient sees your dentistry office sign on their way home from work and it reminds them to schedule an appointment with you, then your sign serves as a push marketing strategy. If a dental patient has a toothache and decides to drive around the neighborhood looking for dentist and sees your office, then your sign serves as a pull strategy.
So which type of dental marketing strategy is right for your practice? Find your answer in next week’s blog post, Dental Marketing Push or Pull?.
Comments (1) — Marketing Strategies — Tags: dental marketing ideas, dental marketing strategies, dental office marketing, dental practice marketing
Dental Web Design - Getting Over the Hump
January 13, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
As a dentist or dental office manager, you may be putting off dental website design because you don’t know where to start, who to trust, or what to ask when researching a dental web design company.
You may also feel that you don’t have the time, energy or funds required to work with a professional dental website design company.
The reality for most dentists however, is that the largest obstacle standing between them and a newly designed professional dental website is their mental committment to the task. I refer to this psychological barrier as, “the hump”.
“The hump” is created when we allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by fear or anticipation of a potentially difficult situation based upon our inexperience. We typically respond to the hump in one of three ways:
- We avoid the situation entirely
- We procrastinate
- We overcome it
The problem with responses 1 and 2 is that they perpetuate our state of anxiety. The great thing about the third option is that once we get over the hump we often find that the experience wasn’t nearly as difficult as we’d anticipated.
To help you get over the hump, let me share a few simple details about Dentist Marketers’ dental web design services.
- You can be as involved or uninvolved with the process as you’d like.
- We handle all of the details for you including writing all of your text.
- Our pricing is simple and straightforward with no hidden fees.
- We’ve been designing and marketing websites since 1999.
Learn more about our dental website design services or get over the hump now by completing our short online setup form.
Comments (0) — Dental Web Design — Tags: dental practice marketing, dental web design company, dentist website design, online dental marketing
Dental Marketing In The New Year
December 30, 2008 by Erik Cunningham
The new year is upon us! And although dental marketing strategies are likely to evolve in 2009, 2010 and beyond, societal traditions of change and self-improvement at the beginning of each new year are timeless.
That’s why January, February and March are great months to attract new dental patients, with New Years resolutions to visit their local dentist, to your practice.
Orthodontists and Cosmetic dentists can benefit from prospective patients who want to improve their appearance in the new year. General dentists and dental specialists can attract patients with renewed motivation to take care of cavities or dental hygiene issues they’ve put off in years past.
The first few months of the new year are also host to several school holidays, which are perfect opportunities for Pediatric dentists to schedule new dental appointments for kids.
This year, take advantage of all of the dental marketing opportunities 2009 has to offer by marketing your practice online, through dental website design or in your local yellow pages.
Comments (0) — Campaign Management — Tags: attact new dental patients, dental marketing, dental marketing online, dental practice marketing, new years resolutions
The Truth About Online Dental Directories
November 5, 2008 by Erik Cunningham
Submitting your dental practice to online dental directories can be a great way to market your website to search engines and promote your business to prospective dental patients or other dentists. The truth however, is that not every dentist directory is created equal.
There are 3 main types of online dental directories you’ll run into on the web. The first, and most common, is a reciprocal link directory.
Reciprocal Link Directories
Reciprocal link directories offer to list your dental practice on their site if you add a link on your dental website pointing back to their dentist directory. This arrangement is fine if the link you’re getting is of equal value to the link you’re giving. Unfortunately, that’s seldom the case.
Many dental directories hide or block your link from search engines using javascript or “nofollow” attributes in their code. This practice negates the search engine marketing credit your website receives for link popularity.
But take courage. If the reciprocal link directory you submitted your dental practice to is popular among web users, your efforts are not entirely wasted. Your link or listing can still generate phone leads for your practice or click-through traffic for your website from potential patients using the dental directory to find a dentist in their area.
Paid Directories
The second type of online dental directory you’ll find is a paid directory.
Paid online dental directories charge a small one-time fee for reviewing your submission for content and relevancy. When properly executed, this human review process can lead to higher quality content and greater search engine marketing value.
Like reciprocal link directories however, hidden or blocked content can negate the search engine marketing value of your listing. For this reason and for financial security purposes, we recommend that you search Google for the name of the paid dentist directory you’re considering to see what others are saying about it before you give them your credit card information.
Free Dental Directories
The third and final type of online dental directory you’ll encounter is the free dental directory.
This is truly the holy grail of dental directories. Dentist directories like this may request, but don’t require, reciprocal links and cost you nothing but your time. The best free dental directories also offer search engine marketing value by making links to your dental website visible to search engines.
How can you find such a directory? We just happen to have one right here :). Submit your dental practice to our dentist directory today. There’s no charge, and we don’t hide your link from search engines.
Comments (0) — Online Marketing — Tags: add url, dental directory, dental practice marketing, dentist directory, online dental marketing, submit site
Dental Practice Marketing Through Local Schools
October 13, 2008 by Erik Cunningham
As a follow up to our previous post, Dental Practice Marketing Through Local Business Organizations, I thought I’d offer more free tips for marketing your dental practice through local elementary, junior high and high school programs.
Participating in these programs is cheap and easy and helps you market your dental office to a highly targeted segment of your local community.
Participate in School Fundraising Events
Local schools are always looking for ways to fund their clubs, athletic teams and school field trips. Hosting a booth at a school’s seasonal fair or carnival is a great way to promote your practice. Goldfish booths and lollipop draws (sugar free of course) are always popular attractions, especially for young children who are always accompanied by their parents. At your booth, hand out coupons for free teeth cleanings or other special offers.
Sponsoring a car wash in the parking lot of your dental practice is also a great way to market your practice. It brings attention from the parents of the club or team your sponsoring, and the event’s participants and supporters. And by hosting the event right outside your dental office, you’re bringing local vehicle traffic right to your front door.
Attend Career Day at Your Kid’s School
Visiting your child’s classroom on career day or offering to do a presentation on oral hygiene for any elementary school class during health month is an excellent way to reach kids and parents in your local community. While you’re there, hand out free toothbrushes and dental floss along with a copy of your business card for the kids to take home and show their parents.
When marketing your dental practice to your local community, a little effort and creativity goes a long way. By getting involved in school events and programs in your area, you have a great opportunity to reach out to and help local children, their parents, and ultimately, your own practice.
Comments (2) — Community Marketing — Tags: dental practice marketing, dentist marketing, local marketing
Endodontists, Periodontists and Other Dental Specialists Should Market Online
October 8, 2008 by Erik Cunningham
Yet another dental marketing blog post turned full-blown article.
Why Dental Specialists Need Online Marketing
The article provides several compelling reasons for endodontists, periodontists and other dental specialists to market their practices online. This is one you don’t want to miss!
Comments (1) — Online Marketing — Tags: dental practice marketing, dental specialist marketing, dentist networking
Dental Marketing During Difficult Economic Times
October 1, 2008 by Erik Cunningham
We’ve heard a lot about the nation’s current economic crisis on the news lately. With all of this negative talk about the economy, some dentists are considering scaling back on their dental marketing efforts.
There are many ways to weather and even prosper during difficult economic times. When properly executed, streamlining your dental marketing campaign can be one of them.
The key to successfully marketing your dental practice in a troubled economy is to carefully assess the productivity of each area of your dental marketing campaign. Cut the low producers and increase your budget in the areas that yield the highest return on your marketing investment.
If you’ve hired a dental marketing company, they should be able to do this for you. If you market your dental practice yourself, start asking your new patients how they found you and keep track of which dental marketing methods are working best for your business.
You may also need to change the marketing message of your ads to reflect difficult economic conditions. Increase your focus on affordable financing options and co-pay opportunities or encourage your customers to take care of expensive dental procedures now, while their dental insurance status is stable.
It’s possible to succeed and even thrive during difficult economic times if you make wise and well informed decisions about changes to your dental marketing campaign. Streamline your campaigns, don’t make blanket cuts, monitor the results of your marketing programs and invest in stategies that work.
Comments (0) — Campaign Management — Tags: dental practice marketing, dentist marketing, economy
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