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| The 12 Best Things You Can Do to Boost Web Positioning
Xana Winans
President, Golden Proportions Marketing
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The web still remains an enigma for most dentists, and many just buy into the “search engine optimization (SEO)” sales pitch without knowing anything about what they are buying. Google evaluates over 200 different elements to decide where to rank your site, but some elements are more important than others. These top twelve should give your site a good leg up in the search engines.
1. Title Tags - The #1 Most Important Element of SEO
In your browser, look at the top blue bar of your screen – above the website address. That is your title tag. A good title tag is unique for every page of the site, and uses keywords that are related to the content on that page. For example, your home page might want to say “Family Dentist, Lewisburg PA”, where a page on composite fillings might use “White Fillings, Cavity Repair, Lewisburg PA.” You can list a range of keywords in each title tag, but put the most important ones in the first 65 characters - that’s all that shows in the search engine results. Title tags are estimated to be worth about 70% or more of your search match.
2. Linking – Get popular!
On Google, it’s all a big popularity contest. How many visitors, how long they hung out on your site, how often they come back, etc. But the most important thing is back linking. A back link is a link to your site from any other place on the web. Not just any old link will do. Links should come from websites that are relevant to your site’s topic. In other words, a link from the AACD website is far better than from your plumber’s personal blog. The keywords used in the link back to your site are critical too.
3. H1/H2 Tags
I bet you’re wondering, “what the heck is an H1 tag?” It’s just web shorthand for “Headline #1”. Guess what an “H2” is? Yep, the second headline on the page, or a subhead. While your website may have headlines and subheads, they may not be coded as H1 or H2 tags. How can you find out? Go to www.SEOBook.com and download the free SEO toolbar. There is a tool called the SEO X-ray that will highlight headlines that are properly coded as H1/H2, etc.
4. Alt Text
Don’t be intimidated – Alt Text just means the words used to describe an image, attachment or graphic that does not have readable text. Try this – right click on a photo on your website and then click “properties”. What pops up? If you have a photo titled “img123.jpg” it’s kind of useless for SEO. Instead, use keywords to title an image. On a page about veneers, title the image “dental-veneers-lewisburg-pa.jpg” for maximum searchability. This rule applies to pdf attachments, You Tube Videos, podcasts, even flash slideshows.
5. Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are the short paragraphs that appear under the link or a search result when you search for something. These descriptions are your sales pitch to get someone to pick your site off of the search results page. They are all code, so you won’t see them on your website. Use the SEO X-ray tool I mentioned above and it will show you immediately if you have one. They should be unique for each page and specifically related to the content of that page.
6. Keywords
Select two to three keywords to use per page. But don’t just say the same keywords over and over again in your title tags, H1/H2 tags, body content, etc. Mix it up! The headline may say “Teeth Bleaching” while the body copy mentions “Tooth Whitening” and “Whiter Teeth”. These are called long tail keywords, and give you more opportunity to reach the wide range of terms people use to search. Using the same keywords over and over on a page or in a site is called “Keyword stuffing” and Google is not a fan of the practice.
7. Use a Smart Navigation Plan
The easier it is to navigate your website, the longer visitors will stay! Important navigation should be visible “above the fold”, which means where the eye can see it without scrolling. Top level navigation with drop down menus is preferred. Title your navigation buttons with keywords or at least terms visitors will understand.
8. Make the Page Easy for the Eye to Scan
Most people are scanners, quickly looking at information that jumps out at them to see if the page is relevant. How can you get their attention for what counts the most? Use contrast! Headlines in a larger font, words in a different color and words in bold or italics are easier for the eye to pick up. Bulleted and numbered lists are also important for scanners.
9. Use Keywords in Your Links
Believe it or not, Google cares a lot about visually impaired people. If the reading software is reading your site out loud to a visually impaired person, the words “click here” mean nothing to someone who can’t see where the link is heading. Use actual keywords to tell someone where to go. “Learn about cosmetic dentistry” will work a lot better than “next”.
10. Your URL Address Should Change with Each Page
If you have a well programmed site, the URL address should change with each page. If you have a flash website, the URL will stay the same on every single page, and that’s a bad thing. A good URL extension might be LewisburgDentist.com/Teeth-Bleaching, where a bad one might be LewisburgDentist.com/pageid#13. Really – no one is searching for Page 13. Each URL needs to reflect that unique page and the primary keywords for that page.
11. Keep the Content Fresh
Google wants to know that you have an active site, not just one that sits there, the exact same as when you launched it five years ago. Add an “Articles” or “News” page and regularly update the site with new content. You can also upload a pdf of your newsletter or press release to keep it easy.
12. Measure, Measure, Measure
If you don’t have Google Analytics installed on your website, do it today. It’s free software that tells you incredible detail about your website’s performance. For example, you can not only see the exact city that a visitor came from on a particular day, but you can see what keyword got them there and what page was most important to them. You’ll see what pages are most popular (might be time to reorganize your site navigation?) and what pages they exit the site from. Learning what to apply to your site from Google Analytics is a whole ‘nother article – next month!
Xaña Winans is the owner and president of Golden Proportions Marketing (GPM), a thriving company that specializes in comprehensive, custom marketing and advertising strategies for the dental and medical fields. The GPM website can be found at www.goldenproportions.com and Xaña can be reached at 866-590-4476 or xana@goldenproportions.com.
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