Acquiring new patients online

As you transition to independent practice, patient acquisition will become an ever more important skill. In the digital era, patients are empowered to research and reach out to a wide range of providers for their dental needs. Not only has patient acquisition become more competitive as a result, but it also requires a host of creative digital marketing skills to stay ahead. In this article, we highlight smart strategies that dental students can leverage to acquire more patients online. 

1. Optimize your website for conversion.

In its most basic form, conversion optimization means anticipating what your prospective customer needs to make a decision, then making it as easy as possible for them to do so. To illustrate, let’s imagine you’re looking to attract more Invisalign customers: 

• Within the first five seconds of landing on your home page, is it clear that you offer Invisalign?

• Is there a dedicated Invisalign page with more information? 

• Is there a clear link or button to that page, or is it buried in a menu?

• Does the page load quickly?

• Does the page appeal to the wants and needs of your typical Invisalign patient?

• Does the page answer all the questions or objections they might have? 

• Is it obvious what the next action should be?

• Is it easy to actually take that action (i.e. two steps maximum)?

A “no” at any stage of this process is an opportunity for your prospect to leave your site and go elsewhere. It’s worth taking the time to map out the journey of your potential patients and make sure your website is checking all the boxes. 

2. Optimize for local search terms. 

Most prospective patients today will use a search engine like Google to look for local dentists. Search engine optimization, or SEO, involves identifying exactly what they’re searching for and optimizing your website accordingly. 

As a local business, lots of your search terms will be locally oriented. Examples might include: 

• “best pediatric dentist in Long Beach”

• “Invisalign Hampstead County”

• “dentist for anxious patients San Francisco”

Use free keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush or Moz to find out what people are searching for in your area. Identify one keyword/phrase (or group of similar ones) to target for each individual page of your website and then use them strategically in your content, headings, and “background” data of your page, e.g., title, meta description. Don’t overdo it though, as Google may rank you lower if it suspects that you’re deliberately overstuffing your content with keywords to manipulate your ranking. 

3. Improve user experience. 

When Google decides where your website should appear in the search results, user experience also plays a significant role. A conversion-optimized website is, by its nature, one that is easy and enjoyable to use, but you can go a step further by: 

• Giving your site a well-organized, intuitive layout.

• Making sure your web pages load quickly.

• Adding accessibility features like large text formats or contrasting colors. 

• Publishing interesting content that keeps visitors on the site. 

• Optimizing your site to look great and function well on mobile devices, too. 

• Adding user-friendly features like direct “call now” buttons. 

4. Target high-intent keywords.

Keywords are often classified by intent — that is, why the person is searching and whether they are likely to take action. A high-intent searcher is ready to take action right now and can be easily converted to a customer. In dentistry, high-intent searches might include: 

• “emergency dentist in Charleston”

• “last-minute dental appointment Brooklyn”

• “urgent dental care lost tooth Riverside”

These searchers need a dentist and they need one now! Create pages on your website optimized specifically for these keywords to make sure you’re at the top of the search results and ready to help. 

5. Optimize for mobile.

The majority of searches are now done on mobile devices, so it’s important that your site looks great and works well on mobile as well as desktop. Not only will your potential patients appreciate this, but Google’s ranking algorithms will reward you for having a mobile-friendly site (and penalize anyone who doesn’t). 

Another essential mobile feature is a direct call button on your website, allowing your prospective patient to call your office with a single click. Conversion-wise, making the patient search for your number, write it down, leave the app, bring up the call app, then tap in the number presents lots of steps at which the patient could “drop out” and decide not to call. Making it as easy as possible with a one-click button, then, is a simple way to boost your conversion rate. 

6. Showcase with social media. 

Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social platforms, with 69% of Americans on Facebook alone. Both sites offer the option of publishing short video stories (Reels) and holding live broadcasts (Lives), making them the perfect vehicles to showcase your work. 

One interesting idea for Reels is to take frequent photos of a patient’s teeth throughout cosmetic treatment and then put them all together in a time lapse-style video showing the transformation. Lives, on the other hand, can be used for things like live Q&A sessions, treatment walkthroughs, or streaming promotional events. 

TikTok’s popularity isn’t set to slow down anytime soon, so consider joining the many dental students and professionals who use the platform to offer entertaining takes on all things dentistry.

Whichever platform(s) you choose, remember that prospective patients are likely to judge the quality of your work by the quality of your content. It’s worth investing in a good camera for photo and video posts to maintain your professional, expert image.

7. Target your advertising.

Google, Facebook and Instagram’s paid advertising programs let you get incredibly specific about who you want to target, so take advantage of their demographic features to get maximum ROI on your ad spend. 

Want to attract local families to your practice? Research shows that women make 90% of the healthcare spending decisions for the family, so you can make sure your ad is shown only to women who: 

• Are aged over 24;

• Are married or in a relationship;

• Live within five miles of your clinic;

• Have a household income of $50,000 or over;

• Have shown an interest in maternity, childcare or family content. 

8. Nurture your reputation. 

According to PatientPop, almost three quarters of those surveyed said they use the internet to find and evaluate potential new dentists. 54.6% specifically look for online reviews on sites like Google and Yelp. With 80% of people claiming to trust them as much as a personal recommendation, these reviews carry a lot of weight for prospective patients. 

Having no reviews is almost as damaging as having negative ones, so make a point of asking your patients to leave a review on their preferred platform, e.g., Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. Before you ask for a review though, be sure to first ask how the patient felt their treatment went. This gives you a chance to proactively address any potential problems before they make it online for the world to see.