Dentaltown January 2025 - 46

When we talk about traditional
SEO in this context, we are referring
only to organic traffic. Once again, the
most important data point is the number
of new patients coming into your
practice, but notice the steps we use to
get there are different (Fig. 2).
Visibility
Figures 5 and 6 (p. 48) show a traditional
Google search result. While
some of the items we see in search
results may vary (questions, videos and
images), when it comes to searches
related to local businesses (as we are as
dentists) you often see the following:
* Paid Google ads (green)
* Google Maps Pack (yellow)
* Traditional organic search (Fig. 6)
Local SEO and traditional
SEO overlap
If you have an optimized local SEO
approach, you might see improved
traditional SEO results. However,
the data to support this observation
is anecdotal. Local SEO campaigns
generally consist of two separate
parts, including a Google My Business
Optimization Campaign and a
Citation Campaign. Remember that
Google Maps is for searchers, and GBP
is where we as profile owners give
Google Maps information.
Your GBP is the foundation of any
local SEO campaign, and it is the most
important part of your local presence.
They're free to get, and you can visit
business.google.com to claim your
profile and verify your practice. It's
important that once you verify the
profile you fill it out completely. Google
is often updating the data you can
add to your GBP (they recently added
an option to mark if you are accepting
new patients), so it's important that
you keep an eye on your profile.
Another reason you should fully
complete your profile is that we don't
know what GBP factors will draw in
clicks from searchers.
You can check the strength of your
profile by logging in to the Google
account associated with your profile
and then Googling your business'
name. You'll see an area at the top
of the page that looks like this, and
you want to make sure your Profile
Strength is green and says " Looks
Good " underneath (Fig. 3).
Google Maps Pack placement
and guarantees
There are no guarantees with Google
Maps Pack placement, and Google
shifts the maps pack positions around
in a seemingly random manner. For
example, there are practices that have
10 times the number of reviews as a
competitor, but `rank` behind practices
that have only five reviews. Unfortunately,
this is part of the Google algorithm.
My advice is to follow Google's
recommendations and optimize your
profile as best as possible, generate
reviews and run a citation campaign.
Fig. 2: Traditional SEO data points.
Local SEO ranking factors
The number one ranking factor for
local SEO searches is proximity.
That can be frustrating for us as
dentists because we treat patients
from multiple local areas. You
might be in Short Hills and able to
see Millburn Town Hall from your
office, but it doesn't change the fact
that Google is going to recommend
practices in Millburn to people in
Millburn. That being said, there
are ways we can `rank` a practice for
multiple localities, but understand
that no matter how much effort
you put in, it's unlikely that you will
rank in a second area where there
is any level of competition.
The number one ranking factor
when it comes to optimizing your
GBP is the Primary Category of
your profile (Fig. 4). After that
are your on-page signals, including
having your name, address,
phone number and hours on your
website. Reviews are the next
factor, which is why it's important
to maintain current, positive
reviews.
Specific keyword
rankings
Organic traffic to
your website
New patients
Fig. 3: A view of your Google Business Profile strength.
JANUARY 2025 | 46 | DENTALTOWN.COM
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Dentaltown January 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown January 2025
