How An Aging Website Destroys Your Organic Search Ranking

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Were you one of the first to jump on the dental website bandwagon? Do you have a website that’s 20, 10, or even just five years old? Did you shop for the lowest bidder and then accept your current design without fully understanding digital marketing strategy? If so, what was once a great move to improve your visibility may now actually be hiding you from potential patients. Here are three previous best practices that could be hurting your local SEO today.

1. Frames

The way individual web pages are created has changed drastically over the years. Today, you can use a main template and central administrator settings to change page titles, menus and background images across all of your pages. Previously, each individual web page needed to be created by hand. If you wanted to change your menu, you had to adjust every page. To get around this, developers started using frames. Each page might have two or more frames. You’d have the main content frame, a side menu frame, possibly a header frame and maybe even a footer frame. The problem was that search engines couldn’t put the frames together and saw them as separate web pages that didn’t have enough content to rank. If your website has frames, you need to upgrade it ASAP.

2. Image Header

Many websites had, and some still use, a nice image at the top of each page with the company’s name and logo in fancy font. The problem is search engines can’t read images. If your company name is in an image, a search engine can’t figure out who you are. If you want to come up in searches for your dentist’s names, your practice name should be included in text.

3. Fixed Layouts

As website designs got more sophisticated, developers needed new ways to control the layouts. One way was by assigning fixed widths and heights to web pages as a whole, as well as individual items within each web page. This worked when web pages were only viewed on computer monitors that were all roughly the same size. Today, your website needs to look good on a big desktop computer, a small laptop, and most importantly as a mobile site for a phone. Because so many searches are now done on mobile devices, search engines push you down in the rankings if your website doesn’t work well on them. Do yourself and your practice a favor and build a new website that is designed and optimized for mobile devices. Make sure your local registry information is correct and accurate.

If you need a dental website, content, blogging or video, mailers or other dental marketing assistance we have solutions for you! We know dentistry and we know dental marketing. Contact Grow Practice Grow today and talk to a dental marketing expert!

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How Google Ask Maps Will Change How You Attract Patients

By Sean Hamel • January 23, 2025

Google’s new Ask Maps feature is a game changer for dental practices. As the AI-powered replacement for the outdated Google Q&A tool, Ask Maps allows patients to ask specific questions about your practice and receive instant, accurate responses. This isn’t just an update, it’s an opportunity for dentists to connect with more patients and build trust in a highly competitive market. What Is Ask Maps? Ask Maps is a feature in Google Maps that uses artificial intelligence to provide answers based on trusted data. It pulls information from your Google Business Profile, reviews, website, and other reliable sources to respond to user questions. Examples of what patients might ask include: Do they offer Invisalign? How do I book an appointment? What do their reviews say about their cosmetic dentistry services? The AI responds with detailed, accurate answers tailored to your practice, eliminating outdated user-generated responses. Why Dentists Should Care About Ask Maps Patients often decide on a provider based on the information they find online. Ask Maps ensures they receive accurate, engaging answers about your services, helping you stand out from the competition. An optimized presence on Ask Maps can result in higher trust, increased patient inquiries, and more appointments booked. How Ask Maps Works Ask Maps gathers data from: Google Business Profile : Details like your services, operating hours, and photos. Reviews : Google reviews and those from third-party platforms. Your Website : Key content about your practice, team, and services. Social Media : Profiles such as Facebook and LinkedIn are also considered if other data sources are insufficient. If your online presence isn’t robust, Ask Maps may fail to provide answers, potentially costing you opportunities. How to Maximize Your Practice’s Presence on Ask Maps Here are actionable steps you can take to optimize your online presence: 1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile Ensure all practice information is accurate, including hours, services, and contact details. Regularly update high-quality photos of your office, team, and equipment. 2. Enhance Your Website Provide detailed answers to common patient questions like “What does a root canal involve?” or “How do I know if I need braces?” Include professional images, videos, and clear calls to action to improve engagement. 3. Encourage Reviews Ask satisfied patients to leave Google reviews. Respond to all reviews (positive or negative) to show professionalism and care. 4. Maintain Social Media Profiles Keep platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn updated with accurate and consistent information. Use these channels to share patient success stories, team introductions, and practice updates. 5. Regularly Update Photos Upload fresh, high-quality images to your Google Business Profile and website to maintain relevance and engagement. Why Story-Based Marketing is the Key to Success At The Art of Dental Marketing, we understand that facts alone don’t drive patient decisions, stories do. That’s why we developed the StoryBuilt™ Engine , which combines advanced SEO with story-based marketing to help your practice connect emotionally with patients while ranking higher in search results. SEO That Converts : Our strategies ensure that patients find your practice when they search for services in your area. Story-Based Content That Resonates : Patients want to feel understood. By using stories, we help you build trust and loyalty with your audience. Story-based marketing enhances how tools like Ask Maps present your practice, ensuring your message is emotionally compelling and highly visible. Take the Next Step Ask Maps is just the beginning of AI’s impact on patient engagement. Ensure your practice is positioned for success by leveraging this new tool alongside proven marketing strategies. Schedule a call with our CEO, Sean, today to learn how we can optimize your online presence, attract more patients, and help your practice thrive. Let’s tell your story and grow your practice together.

How to Move Your Website Without Losing SEO

January 22, 2025

Website migration is a critical step for dental practices looking to switch marketing providers or improve their online presence. However, a poorly executed migration can lead to lost search engine rankings, reduced traffic, and patient confusion. Most dentists want better marketing without the hassle of building a new website. By understanding the key aspects of website migration, you can guide your marketing team to protect your online visibility and ensure a smooth transition. Why Website Migration Matters for Dentists A website migration involves moving your website to a new provider, hosting platform, or content management system. This process often comes with goals like improving site speed, security, or user experience. While these improvements are valuable, mishandling the migration process can cause significant issues. When search engines can’t find your pages due to broken links or missing redirects, your rankings drop. This makes it harder for patients to find you online. Traffic decreases, and potential patients may visit competitors instead. Revenue can be affected if these issues persist. What to Ask Your Marketing Team Before Migrating To safeguard your practice during a website migration, it’s essential to ask your marketing team key questions: Are you backing up the current website? A full backup of all content, images, and settings ensures nothing is permanently lost if issues arise during migration. Will you implement 301 redirects? Redirects are crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings. They ensure patients and search engines are directed to the correct pages on the new site. Are you auditing the current site’s content and performance? Identify high-value pages with the most traffic, backlinks, or conversions. These pages need special attention to protect their rankings and visibility. How will you protect SEO elements? Your marketing team should carefully review and update metadata, internal links, and header tags to preserve your search engine performance. Is there a testing process before launch? A staging environment allows your marketers to check for broken links, missing content, and technical issues before the new site goes live. Common Pitfalls to Avoid During Migration Mistakes during migration can harm your online presence. Broken links frustrate visitors and lead to lost traffic. Missing pages cause confusion for patients and damage your credibility. Slow load times hurt your user experience and can negatively impact your search engine rankings. Introducing BYOW: Bring Your Own Website At The Art of Dental Marketing, we understand that dentists want better marketing without starting from scratch. That’s why we offer BYOW... Bring Your Own Website. You can come to ADM with your existing website and still take full advantage of our Storybuilt™ Marketing Engine. Our process is designed to make transitions seamless. We protect your SEO, handle the technical details, and transform your website into a powerful marketing tool that creates emotional connections with patients and drives real growth for your practice. How The Art of Dental Marketing Can Help Unlike other agencies, we don’t require you to build a new website to work with us. Our team ensures your SEO is protected during the migration, handles the technical aspects, and makes the process quick and stress-free. With our Storybuilt™ Marketing Engine, we amplify your website’s impact, making it a tool for meaningful patient engagement and practice growth. How to Move Forward If you’re considering switching marketing providers but want to avoid the hassle of building a new website, The Art of Dental Marketing is here to help. With BYOW, you bring what you’ve got, and we’ll handle the rest. Contact us today to learn how we can make your website transition easy and effective. Protect your practice’s online presence and keep attracting patients with a seamless migration.