There is a common phrase in digital marketing: “content is king.” In fact, you’ll probably see it on most websites that concern themselves with anything related to SEO and marketing in general. This is for good reason, as it is absolutely true. Content is the cornerstone of any SEO strategy, which, in turn, is the foundation of digital marketing as a whole. This is all to say that your website needs to have high-quality, original content on both its static main pages and also on regularly published blogs. Yes, you will have to write new posts consistently in order to rise in the rankings on Google search results.
We understand that running a successful dental practice doesn’t leave much time to focus on content creation or digital marketing in general, so working with an adept, knowledgeable marketing team is beneficial. At MDPM Dental Marketing, we have the expertise to establish and maintain your online presence, as well as continually produce high-quality, original content that will positively affect your SEO. Although our team of experienced writers can handle all of your marketing needs, it is still important for you to have an understanding of what constitutes good content and how it can affect your digital marketing efforts.
What Is Considered Content?
At its core, content is audio, text, images, or video that users consume in some way. It can be entertaining, educational, or enlightening — it needs to provide some form of value to those engaging with it. Content should be useful, and while that is subjective, it must serve a purpose. After all, Google’s mission is “…to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This is the guiding principle of any successful content strategy because its ultimate purpose is to satisfy Google’s standards in order to gain visibility on the search engine. This practice of ranking highly on Google — and other search engines, to a less extent — is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and it is essentially the driving factor of digital marketing. Most aspects of the field tie back to SEO and its best practices, so it is crucial to have a solid understanding to maximize your efforts.
How It Affects SEO
Before diving into what informs high-quality content, it is important to have a grasp of SEO. As noted above, it is a field within digital marketing that concerns itself with google rankings. Essentially, if someone searches for “best dentists in my town,” you want your practice to be one of the first results that show up. These rankings are not random, and there are myriad factors that influence them. SEO consists of adhering to the elements that Google values and considers to be important. This, in turn, shows the search engine that your website — and web presence, overall — is valuable for internet users and should show up when they search for information about your field. There are lots of components of effective SEO strategies, but producing and showcasing high-quality content is among the most important.
What Does High-Quality Content Consist Of?
The quality of an article is dependent on your audience; if you are a pediatric dentist, there wouldn’t be much value in writing blog after blog about dentures. With that said, there are certain general standards that you should adhere to. Content should be useful, credible, engaging, audience-focused, and ideally more valuable than other websites within your field. Although a big purpose of this content is to rank higher on Google, the search engine’s standards are based on what users need and value. This is to say you need to be writing with actual searchers in mind.
Your content should be answering potential questions your audience is asking. Most searches involve how, what, why, when, and where questions, so your pieces should reflect this. For instance, if someone searches “what is a filling?” you would ideally want to have a blog or page answering this. If you do, there’s an increased chance that they show your page as a higher search result. This leads to a user visiting your website and seeing your practice as a trusted source. From there, they are more likely to schedule an appointment.
Before you start writing, you want to have a grasp of the keyword you are focusing on. This should be your overall topic, and you should adhere to it. Using the above example, if your keyword is “dental fillings,” your goal should be for your post to show up when people search for this topic. This means making sure you mention the keyword throughout your piece but be sure not to overdo it, as search engines can think you are purposefully stuffing your blog with the keyword, making it less valuable. By the time you are done writing, you should have mentioned the keyword about seven times.
It needs to be well-written and engaging, as well. If your piece is full of spelling errors and mistakes grammatical mistakes, readers will take notice and will likely view you as less trusted and informed. Furthermore, your information needs to be correct, so as not to lead visitors astray. If you are referencing a study, you should link to it and properly cite it.
Finally, your content needs to be original. Google can tell if you are duplicating your pages, and it will cause you to rank lower. Again, your content needs to have value for users and if they can find that exact value elsewhere, you aren’t adding anything new to the overall knowledge collection that Google so highly values. Of course, duplication can happen organically as you might have pages with similar content that include identical links, but you should never purposefully reuse a page you’ve either already written for your own site or plagiarized work from elsewhere. Google expressly warns against this, so you are encouraged to avoid it. As stated earlier, we know that writing new posts frequently is time-consuming, so having a dedicated marketing team to help out is essential. At MDPM we can not only write blogs for you, but we can also create custom websites that encompass all the value points we have mentioned.
Optimizing Your Content
Once you have a post or page written, you need to make sure it is optimized for both search engines and for users. Again, SEO best practices all have the user in mind, so creating content that keeps human readers in mind will inherently help you rank higher. At its core, optimized content is easy for users to digest and interact with. The primary principles you need to keep in mind are having shorter paragraphs, relevant headers & subheaders, attractive visuals, links to relevant content, and a generally focused narrative. All of these lead to a better overall experience for those who come across your page.
Shorter paragraphs are easier to read, and users are more likely to stay engaged than they would if facing a giant wall of text. Similarly, those on your pages should be able to follow and understand what you’ve written. If you are writing about teeth whitening, you should stick to that and relevant, related topics. Don’t include a paragraph on dental implants, as this is likely not of interest to those reading about cosmetic dentistry.
Similarly, your content should be broken up with headers and subheaders. This makes your information clearer and easier to digest for readers and provides a focused flow. Including relevant, related images also breaks your article up, making it seem easier to read. Pictures can also provide helpful context for readers to help guide them through what you’ve written. They also provide an opportunity to link to other pages, which can make users engage more with your website, overall. This is also an opportunity to utilize any branding and logos you have. Every page of your website and blog posts should have consistent branding, so readers are reminded of where they are and that you are the one giving them their information. Additionally, including interactive features can make your content more engaging and valuable for visitors.
Your content should also include several links to both other pages on your website and to external pages. By including backlinks, readers will be able to access other information on your website, engaging with you more than just reading your post. This is an opportunity for someone reading your page to then click on a contact button and subsequently schedule an appointment. When you link to external pages, search engines see that as providing value, as you are directing users to more helpful information. You can also use this time to link to external pages that your practice runs, like social media sites and your Google My Business page.
Search engines value all of these elements too because they place a premium on offering a good user experience. By optimizing your content in the aforementioned ways, you are also inherently adhering to necessary ADA compliance measures. These ensure that those with visual or auditory impairments can still consume your content. The following section will delve more into the elements that can help those with disabilities in addition to improving your search engine rankings.
What To Do Once It Is Written
Once you have your content written, your job isn’t quite done. You have already done the creative part, but now you need to focus on the technical side. It is actually quite straightforward but is still crucial. For starters, you need to optimize your title, while this may not seem like a big deal, it is primarily what people will see when your page comes up in their google search. You want the topic to be clear and focused. If you write a blog about the importance of dental cleanings, your title should reflect this. Something like “Why Dental Cleanings Are Important,” would be sufficient because searchers know exactly what they are going to be reading about. Additionally, this title has under 60 characters, so nothing will be cut off in search results. You also want to avoid stuffing too many keywords into it; again, just stick to one topic, so your post will come up in relevant searches.
You will notice when you are searching on Google that there are short descriptions underneath titles. These are called meta descriptions, and they provide a concise overview of what your content is about. This can entice readers to click on your page, which ultimately nets you more traffic, which can then increase your rankings. These descriptions should be no more than 160 characters because anything beyond that will be cut off. It should also include relevant keywords because they will be highlighted in searches, which draws the reader’s attention to them.
Finally, you need to make sure that your URL is clear and informative. You don’t want it to be super long and abstract; this can scare users off because they won’t know what your page is about. On publishing platforms like WordPress, you can set up your URLs so they always follow the same pattern and adhere to similar naming practices. Overall, if you write a blog titled “How To Brush Your Teeth Properly?” your URL should look something like “http://yourdentalpractice.com/how-to-brush-your-teeth”. This will change based on the structure of your website, but you want the topic and your message overall to be clear.
Content’s Overall Importance
As you can see, high quality is extremely important for your digital marketing strategy. It is what gets brings users to your website via their searches, which then, in turn, increases your visibility. Of course, the ultimate goal of all of this is turning your increased ranking into new patients.
A great part of making content part of your marketing strategy is that it continually adds to your overall brand; once you write and publish something, you own it forever, and it will be accessible to anyone searching for relevant topics. You are also adding to the overall conversation of a topic you are professionally invested in. Overall, there is a lot of value in publishing original, high-quality content, and we are here to help you achieve your goals of seeing your dental practice thrive.
Contact Us To See How We Can Create Your Original Content
At MDPM Dental Marketing in Dallas, TX, we understand that focusing on your practice, team members, and patients is your main priority, so we are here to create and publish your original content. Whether you need a new website written or want us to write blogs for you, we have the expertise to handle it. If you have any questions or would like a free analysis of your website in addition to your social media and online presence, we invite you to contact our office at (972) 781-8861 today.