SEO is one of the most important long-term marketing strategies for an Orthodontic practice to build. But it’s also one of the marketing strategies you’re most likely to need an expert to help implement.
In this guide, we’ve broken down the complex world of Orthodontic SEO into clear, actionable strategies based on our extensive experience as an Orthodontic Marketing agency. Think of this guide as your comprehensive plan for your practice to gain more visibility in organic search results.
Table of Contents:
Understanding Orthodontic SEO Fundamentals
There are three fundamental concepts that any Orthodontic practice needs to understand when putting together an SEO strategy.Understanding Search Intent
- Every search keyword that you target has an “intent” behind it. What is the searcher really looking for? Intent will help guide the kind of content you need to create.
- Informational Queries: When potential patients search for general information about treatments or practices (e.g., “when should I see an Orthodontist”), they’re in the initial research phase. Your content should provide clear, authoritative answers while positioning your practice as the expert.
- Research: When potential patients are more deeply researching conditions or treatments (e.g., “Invisalign vs traditional braces”). These keywords require more comprehensive answers to build trust and motivate them to reach out.
- Navigational Searches: These are searches like “orthodontist near me” or “Dr. Smith orthodontics.” These indicate high intent to book an appointment, and are also more likely to be impacted by local SEO, like your Google Business Profile listings, rather than blog or site content.
- Understanding the Algorithm
It’s also important to know what signals Google considers to be most impactful to SEO. Most recently, Google has been prioritizing user experience, especially the following:
- Core Web Vitals: These are Google’s metrics for user experience, similar to how you measure treatment progress. They include Largest Contentful Paint (page load speed for the largest element), First Input Delay (time to interactivity), and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability) – all factors that affect your search rankings.
- Mobile-first Indexing: Google now primarily uses the mobile version of your website for ranking. Your site should perform flawlessly on both desktop and mobile devices. This means optimizing images, text size, and navigation for mobile users.
- User Experience Signals: Search engines track how users interact with your site. Monitor metrics like time on page, pages per session, and conversion rates to optimize user experience.
- Competitive Positioning
Lastly, it’s important to understand how potential patients evaluate your practice against competitors while searching.
- Content Gap Analysis: Identify content topics competitors cover that you don’t. This helps you expand your content strategy effectively. When you create that content – make it longer, and more in-depth to get a competitive advantage.
- Backlink Assessment: Think of backlinks as professional referrals. Understanding which authoritative sites link to your competitors helps you build similar valuable connections. Focus on earning links from dental associations, local business organizations, and healthcare directories.
- Local Visibility: Analyze how your practice appears in local search results compared to competitors, just as you might evaluate your market position for different treatment options. Monitor your rankings for key terms in your service area and identify opportunities for improvement.
Essential On-Page Optimization Techniques
Like the precise placement of brackets and wires, on-page SEO elements must be carefully positioned to get the best result for your Orthodontic practice. These are a few on-page optimization strategies we see as most important.- Title Tags
These are not only the titles of your pages, but the titles that potential patients see in the search engine results. A great title tag means potential patients are more likely to click.
- Primary Keyword Focus: Research which keywords are the primary focus for each page, and make sure those keywords are included in your title tag.
- Location Modifiers: Include your service area in titles and meta descriptions (e.g., “Dallas,” “North Dallas,” “Highland Park”). Use variations of your location terms to capture different search patterns and get the most local visibility for your SEO efforts.
- Structure
Having a clear page structure means it’s easier for potential patients to read and digest information on your site.
- Main Service Pages (H1): Like your primary treatment categories, each main service should have a dedicated page with a clear H1 header (e.g., “Invisalign Treatment in Dallas”). Ensure each page has only one H1 tag.
- Content Flow: Structure your headers to create a logical progression of information, similar to how you explain treatment plans to patients.
- Image Optimization
Images are one of the most important elements to optimize for page speed.
- File Names: Name images descriptively using keywords (e.g., “invisalign-before-after-dallas.jpg”) rather than generic names like “image1.jpg”
- Alt Text: Write detailed alt text describing the image content, including relevant keywords when natural.
- Compression: Optimize image file sizes for web use without sacrificing quality.
- Format Selection: Choose appropriate image formats (JPEG for photos, PNG for logos) to balance quality and loading speed. Explore the use of newer image formats like WebP that Google may prefer.
Local SEO Strategies for Orthodontists
Local SEO is the most important SEO strategy for Orthodontists to get more patients. Simply put, local SEO targets potential patients that are near enough to walk through the door.- Google Business Profile Optimization
You must not only claim your Google Business Profile listing, but build it out as much as possible. The most complete profile will beat our your Orthodontic competitors.
- Profile Completeness: Ensure every relevant field is properly filled out and includes important keywords. Include comprehensive business information, services offered, and high-quality images.
- Category Selection: Choose precise categories that match your services (e.g., “Orthodontist” not just “Dentist”). Update business hours promptly and add special holiday hours when applicable.
- Post Updates: Share weekly updates about practice news, patient transformations (with permission), and community involvement. Maintain a consistent posting schedule.
- Photos: Upload high-quality images of your office, team, and treatments. Include virtual tours and photos that showcase your practice’s personality.
- Q&A Management: Monitor and respond to questions asked through your Google Business Profile
- Get More Reviews
Reviews are one of the primary ways not only for patients to research the quality of your practice, but they’re a key signal for local SEO as well. Practices with more 5-star reviews will be ranked more highly by Google.
- Request More Reviews: The reason most practices don’t have enough reviews is that they don’t ask for them. You have to develop a system to request reviews frequently, and especially at the right time. Don’t ask immediately after a treatment when the patient may still feel some discomfort.
- Request from the RIGHT patients: Another key mistake many practices make is asking ALL patients for reviews. But the best way to get 5-star reviews is to only ask patients that have had a positive experience. At RUNNER, we’ve built a system to first ask patients about their overall experience, and then ONLY ask those patients who’ve had a good experience to leave a review. Learn more about the RUNNER Reviews Manager Tool.
- Review Response Strategy: Develop personalized responses for both positive and negative reviews. Address concerns professionally and highlight your commitment to patient satisfaction.
Content Marketing in Orthodontics
Our Orthodontic Marketing Playbook emphasizes content as the cornerstone of digital authority. Here are the essential pillars we recommend for an effective Orthodontic content marketing strategy:- Educational Blog Posts
Blog posts are still a great way to generate traffic for targeted keywords, especially those that answer questions patients may be asking in the initial stages of research. Here are a few types of blog posts we’ve found to be effective.
- Treatment Comparisons: Create detailed comparisons between treatment options (e.g., “Invisalign vs. Traditional Braces”) that address specific patient concerns like aesthetics, comfort, and treatment duration. Include real patient examples and clinical insights.
- Cost & Insurance Guides: Break down treatment costs like you would in a consultation, including insurance coverage, financing options, and payment plans. Update regularly with current pricing and insurance information. Cost and insurance can often be one of the last barriers to overcome before booking.
- Technology Updates: Share how your practice implements new technologies, similar to explaining the benefits of digital scanners over traditional impressions. Highlight how technology improves the patient experience and differentiates your practice against other Orthodontists.
- Condition and Treatment-Specific Pages
The pages on your site that educate patients about conditions you treat and the treatments you provide are some of the most important pages because they target people deeper in research and more likely to book an appointment. Consider the following sections when creating these pages on your site.
- Treatment Details: Like a thorough treatment consultation, include comprehensive information about each treatment option, including duration, maintenance requirements, and expected outcomes. Use video content to demonstrate procedures.
- Visual Galleries: Showcase before/after photos organized by treatment type and complexity, helping potential patients visualize possible results. Include progress photos to show transformation stages.
- Timeline Expectations: Create interactive timelines showing treatment progression, similar to how you use progress photos to demonstrate movement. Include milestones and adjustment schedules.
- Financial Information: Provide transparent cost breakdowns, insurance information, and financing options, just as your treatment coordinators would. Update regularly with current pricing.
- Maintenance Protocols: Detail post-treatment care requirements, including retainer wear schedules and cleaning instructions. Provide troubleshooting guides for common issues.
- Patient Testimonials: Share detailed patient success stories with treatment progression documentation.
- Frequently Asked Questions: Compile and answer common patient questions about treatments, recovery, and maintenance
Social Signals and Online Reputation
In addition to your site, social signals are becoming a more important part of SEO. That’s because social content is now being indexed in search results, as well as pulled into Google Business profile listings. Here are a few thoughts to consider when building a social media strategy to support your Orthodontic SEO strategy.- Social Media Content Strategy
The most important aspect of social media for SEO is to actively post on social platforms, but with your content also optimized for priority keywords.
- Platform Strategy: We’d recommend prioritizing meta platforms – Facebook and Instagram first. If you have the ability to produce video frequently, then TikTok and Youtube would also be worth exploring.
- Connect to your Google Business Profile listing: Google Business Profile allows practices to provide links to social platforms, and will pull the latest posts into the search engine results.
- Content Calendar: Plan and schedule posts to maintain consistent engagement. We recommend posting 2X weekly. Make sure your content includes the Orthodontic keywords you want to prioritize.
- Visual Content: Share high-quality before/after photos and treatment videos. This is the content that potential patients would like to see the most. It helps paint a vision of success for the future.
- Community Management: Make sure to actively respond to comments.
Measuring SEO Success
Lastly, it’s important to monitor your progress. But remember that SEO is a long-term strategy. For most practices it will take a minimum of 6 months to begin to see results, and like any other marketing strategy, it will improve as you optimize and adjust over time.- Key Performance Indicators
We recommend looking at the following KPIs for your Orthodontic SEO strategy.
- Ignore Rankings: Rankings aren’t a KPI. You can rank #1 for a search term, but if it has no traffic, or the people searching have no intent to book, then that ranking is worthless. Yet many SEO agencies will use rankings to deceive clients into believing that ranking is a primary KPI. It’s not. Traffic is what matters.
- Traffic from SEO: Monitor overall organic traffic growth from search. Remember that qualified traffic is the most important result you’re looking for from SEO. Use Google Search Console to see this traffic. Monitor traffic increases and decreases to see what keywords or pages are responsible for changes.
- Local Search Visibility: Track the traffic you’re getting specifically from your Google Business Profile listing. You can do this by adding tracking into the website URLs in your GBP listing. In addition, we recommend tracking your visibility through local map “grid” report to see how well you’re ranking within the area you draw patients from.
