Starting a new dental practice? It’s an exciting venture, for sure, but it also comes with the challenge of attracting and retaining new patients — and doing it fast, and on a limited budget. Effective online dental marketing is crucial for building a strong patient base and establishing your practice as a trusted provider in the community. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore various strategies and tools to successfully market your startup dental practice.
Let’s start with the basics — beginning with your practice website.
>>> BONUS: See how your dental practice’s marketing stacks up with our free checklist.
Practice Website
Your dental practice website is the cornerstone of your online presence. It is the first introduction to your practice for potential patients and reflects the professionalism and quality of your services. A well-designed practice website can enhance your credibility and make it easy for patients to find the information they need.
Here are a few things to consider when designing a website for your new dental practice:
Content Marketing System (CMS)
Almost every website is built on a content management system, or CMS. You can think of the CMS as similar to the framing of a house. You can dress up a house however you like, but underneath, it’s the structure that gives it stability.
There are many options for CMS platforms, but at DentalScapes, we strongly recommend WordPress.
WordPress is a popular platform for building websites due to its flexibility, ease of use, and extensive range of plugins. In fact, over 40% of websites are built on WordPress.
For a dental practice, WordPress offers numerous themes and templates that can be customized to match your branding. It also provides a powerful framework for more customized designs. Maybe even more importantly, WordPress can be outfitted with powerful search engine optimization (SEO) tools that can help your website rank in search results. At DentalScapes, we often refer to WordPress as “the closest to ‘Google-preferred’ as it gets.”
Optimized Content
Content optimization is vital for improving your website’s visibility in local search results and attracting more potential patients. Ensure that your website includes these foundational elements:
- Home Page: Your homepage is often the first impression for potential patients. It should include high-quality photos and videos (preferably authentic and specific to your practice), an overview of your specific services, your unique selling proposition (USP) (what differentiates you and your practice), and prominent calls to action encouraging visitors to schedule an appointment.
- Service Pages: Your website should include a unique page for every service that you offer. These pages should be optimized to communicate relevance to Google and improve your search rankings.
- Location Pages: It’s critical that your website communicates the markets that you serve — both to potential patients and Google. By including location-specific pages (e.g., for each city that you serve), you’ll improve patient experience and search rankings for location-specific searches on Google.
- About Page: Information about you, your practice, your team, and your mission builds trust with potential patients. Your About page is an opportunity to set yourself apart and introduce your practice’s unique personality.
- Contact Page: Make it super simple for visitors to your website to call or submit a form inquiry. Your contact page should include this content as well as your hours and directions. Include an embeddable Google map to improve the user experience.
- Blog: A blog is the best opportunity to keep your website fresh, educate your patients, and communicate relevance to Google to improve your rankings in local search. See more information in the blog-specific section below.
- Calls to Action: The goal of your website is to motivate potential patients to make an appointment. Optimize your website for conversion by including frequent and prominent calls-to-action (CTAs). As a best practice, you should ensure that a “click-to-call” button is persistent across the website, making it easy for potential patients to call your practice as they scroll and browse the website.
PMS Integrations
As self-scheduling becomes more and more popular, you might consider integrating your practice management software (PMS) with your website. Practice management systems like Eaglesoft, Dentrix, and Open Dental include easy-to-integrate appointment booking tools that a dental marketing agency can help you set up.
Blog
Maintaining a blog on your practice website can significantly boost your SEO efforts and position you as an expert in the dental field. Include a blog on your website and regularly publish informative and engaging posts on topics such as dental hygiene tips, the latest dental treatments, and common oral health issues. Beyond providing valuable educational information to your patients, a blog ensures that your website is continually generating fresh, optimized content that communicates your practice’s relevance to Google for local search.
How Much Does a Dental Practice Website Cost?
The price of a new dental practice website varies widely. Templated sites, with little to no custom elements unique to your practice, can be purchased for $500-1000 (give or take), while a fully custom website built on WordPress might cost up to $12,000.
When comparing website design companies, read the fine print. Make sure that you’ll own the website outright when completed. Some companies offer websites for as little as $99/mo., but if you decide to move to a different marketing agency, you’ll have to pay a hefty fee to keep the site. At DentalScapes, every website we build is 100% owned by the client, with no exceptions.
Local SEO
Local SEO (search engine optimization) is critical for new dental practices looking to establish a strong presence in their community and generate new patient appointments from Google. Local SEO is all about optimizing your online presence to attract potential patients from the specific markets that your practice serves. This approach ensures that when someone nearby searches for dental services, your practice appears at the top of search engine results.
The “holy grail” of local SEO is getting your dental practice to appear in the “Local Pack” (sometimes called the “Map Pack”) — the list of the top three prioritized practices in local search results.
3 Reasons to Prioritize Local SEO
Why should your startup dental practice invest in local SEO? Here are three key reasons:
- Increased Visibility: Local SEO helps your practice appear in local search results, making it easier for potential patients to find you. When someone searches for “dentist near me” or “dentist in [your city],” local SEO helps ensure your practice is prominently featured. This is critical — research shows that the top three practices in local Google search receive over 70% of clicks.
- Higher Conversion Rates: People searching for local services are typically closer to making a decision. By targeting these potential patients, you increase the likelihood of converting searchers into actual appointments.
- High ROI: Apart from patient and provider referrals, there’s simply no better return on investment than local SEO. Over time, your investment in local SEO will yield a steady stream of qualified leads and new patients from organic (non-paid) search, generated at a far lower cost-per-acquisition (CPA) than paid channels like Google ads, Facebook ads, and others.
Components of Local SEO
There are many “ranking factors” that Google considers when prioritizing dental practices in local search. To effectively implement local SEO for your dental practice, focus on the following core components:
- Google Business Profile (GBP): Claim and optimize your GBP listing — it’s essentially your online “business card” and often the first introduction to your practice for local searchers. Ensure all information is accurate, complete, and regularly updated. Google loves GBPs that are frequently updated and engaging, so post a new GBP update at least once a week — and include a link to a relevant page on your website in every post.
- Local Citations: “Citations” is a fancy word for directory listings. Ensure your practice is listed in local directories and online listings such as Yelp, Healthgrades, and the Better Business Bureau.
- Reviews: Encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews on Google. Your practice’s reviews — both overall number and average rating — are considered by Google when determining your practice’s placement in local search.
- Localized Content: Create content that speaks to local interests and needs, such as blog posts about community events, dental health tips specific to local conditions, or patient success stories.
- On-Page SEO: Optimize your website’s pages with local keywords, ensuring that your location and services are prominently featured in meta descriptions, titles, and headers. As detailed in the “Website” section above, make sure that your website includes location-specific pages, which communicate relevance to both Google and local searchers.
- Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, as most local searches are conducted on smartphones and tablets.
How Much Does SEO for a Dental Practice Cost?
SEO is a long-term play and requires significant investment over time. In general, you can expect to pay $500-1,500 per month for professional SEO services from a dental marketing agency.
By prioritizing these local SEO strategies, your new dental practice can increase visibility in the community and attract more potential patients.
Online Ads
We often describe SEO (see above) as a “marathon” and online advertising as a “sprint.” That’s because SEO takes time — you might not see significant results until 4-6 months after your initial investment. Online ads, on the other hand, are “faucet on, faucet off” — you can immediately start generating new patients, which makes them especially valuable for startup dental practices that need to fill their columns fast.
The most common online ads for dental practices are Facebook and Instagram ads, Google pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and Google Local Services Ads (LSAs). Each ad product has its own pros and cons.
Facebook & Instagram Ads
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are powerful tools for reaching a broad audience. These platforms allow you to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors (e.g., families with young children), making your ads more effective. With Facebook and Instagram ads, you can pay-per-click (PPC) or pay-per-impression (CPM), depending on your objectives.
Cost: When optimized appropriately, Facebook and Instagram ads can be very cost-effective, generating new patient appointments for $40-150 per appointment, depending on the market, specific service, competition, and other factors.
Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Google PPC ads are an excellent way to capture potential patients actively searching for dental services. PPC stands for “pay-per-click,” and with Google ads, your dental practice bids on specific keywords and pays per-click to your website.
Cost: Google PPC ads are typically more expensive than other online advertising products, simply because they are “high-intent,” meaning that users are directly searching for dental services and are far more likely to convert. With a well-optimized Google ads campaign, you might expect to generate new patient appointments for $60-175 per appointment, depending on the market, specific service, competition, and other factors.
Google Local Services Ads (LSA)
Google Local Services Ads, or LSAs, are a cost-effective way to gain visibility in local search results. These ads appear at the top of search results and include a “Google Guaranteed” badge, which can increase trust and clicks.
Importantly, Google LSAs are a “pay-per-lead” ad product, meaning that your dental practice only pays when a qualified patient calls or messages your practice.
Cost: Google LSAs can be very cost-effective, depending on your market, specific services, and competition. However, specific performance varies greatly based on these factors, and with a well-managed campaign, you might expect to pay $50-175 per new patient appointment.
Social Media
Social media is a game-changing opportunity for new dental practices to boost their visibility in the community, reach potential patients, and keep current patients engaged.
Keep in mind, however, that social media is now a “pay-to-play” marketing channel. While it used to be the case that organic social media posts would reach a majority of your followers (and others potentially interested), in today’s media environment, you’re lucky if you reach even 10% of them. You simply need to invest in “boosted” posts and paid advertising if you want to make an impact on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.
Let’s take a look at opportunities in social media for new dental practices:
Organic Social Media
Maintaining an active presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can help build community engagement and brand loyalty. Maintaining a consistent posting cadence is key. In general, your dental practice should aim to post to social media channels at least three times per week.
Try to follow the 90/10 rule — 90% of your practice’s social media content should be educational or entertaining. Limit self-promotion to just 10% of posts. In most cases, potential patients aren’t on social media searching for a dentist — they’re there for connection, entertainment, and education. Keep your posts fun and authentic — showcase the unique personality of your practice.
Cost: With an in-house employee managing social media, your investment is limited to the time allotted, meaning you might spend roughly $50 per week in hourly wages. With professional social media management by a marketing company, you should expect to spend $500-1,000 per month, give or take.
Paid Social Media
“Boosting” posts and running paid social media campaigns can dramatically expand your reach and allow you to target specific demographics (e.g., families with young children). Paid social media ads are particularly effective for promoting special offers, new services, or community events. For instance, you might run a social media ad campaign aimed at generating implant or Invisalign cases specifically.
Keep in mind that the “organic” posts mentioned above are tremendously more effective when boosted with a limited budget. Spending even $5 per post can mean the difference between reaching 50 people or reaching 5,000.
Cost: In general, dental practices should budget at least $50-100 per month to boost organic social media posts. More comprehensive ad management by a dental marketing agency typically starts around $500 per month, with ad spend paid separately to the social media platform(s).
Review Generation
5-star patient reviews aren’t just important for building trust among potential patients — they’re also an increasingly important “ranking factor” that determines how your practice ranks in local search results. Google is interested in three things related to reviews: 1) your overall number of reviews; 2) your average rating; and 3) “velocity,” or the frequency and consistency with which you’re getting reviews.
Given their importance, dental practices should integrate review requests into their workflows. In general, every satisfied patient should receive a review request upon treatment completion. Automated review request software (sometimes integrated into your practice management software) can dramatically increase efficiency and improve results. Patient communication platforms like Weave can also help generate 5-star reviews for your practice.
How Much Does Review Management Software Cost?
Review management and patient communications software vary in cost, but most dental practices can expect to spend between roughly $150-800 per month. Keep in mind, however, that there are few investments in dental marketing with a greater ROI than generating 5-star Google reviews, given their weight in the Google algorithm.
SMS Texting
SMS texting can enhance patient engagement with appointment reminders, follow-up messages, review requests (see above), and promotional offers. Platforms like Weave integrate with your practice management software to streamline communication.
>>> For a free guide to patient reactivation text campaigns, grab a copy of our ebook, “The Dental Practice Revival Program.”
How Much Does a Texting System for Dental Practices Cost?
While text capabilities are sometimes integrated into practice management software, a standalone patient communications platform can be purchased for roughly $250-800 per month.
Is Your New Dental Practice Using Online Marketing Effectively?
With so many channels, strategies, and tactics (not to mention ever-emerging technologies), it can be hard for new dentist owners to keep track of opportunities in online marketing. If you’re unsure how your practice stacks up, grab a copy of our free checklist: “The Dental Domination Checklist: 7 Steps to Turbocharge Practice Profitability with Online Marketing.” Or, for a free digital marketing audit, book a call with one of our dental marketing strategists. We’ll review your online presence and identify opportunities to kickstart growth and improve profitability for your practice. Schedule a free strategy call today!