This is the first article in a short series, in which I hope to explain how Australians search for dentists and dental services, and what types of results are presented to them by the search engines. In this series of articles you will learn about:
- How Australians search for dentists and dental services online (this article)
- How Search Engines make search work
- Types of results that appear in searches for Dentists
- Why just having a website may not be enough
How Australians Search For Dentists and Dental Services Online
When Australians are specifically looking for dentists or dental services, they will often follow a fairly predictable method of searching in the Google Search Engine.
Note: Google is the only Search Engine that is mentioned during this whole document: that’s because it IS the primary search engine used in Australia. However, the information shared in this document, especially about how people search and how to get your website visible, applies just as much to the other search engines as well.
When they are online, people often search for dentists and dental services by:
Name
If the searcher knows the name of your practice or one of the dentists in the practice, they may search for you by name: Inner City Dental, or Joe Smith Dentist
If your website generates a lot of traffic via a search of your names, this is a good indication that your Word Of Mouth advertising is working well, or that you have a successful print campaign that is making people think of your practice when they are looking for a new dentist.
Location
Some people start their search using ‘Dentist’ matches with their location. This may be by City or Suburb, and may be close to their home or workplace.
Examples of this type of search are:
- Dentist Canberra
- Dentists Sydney
- Dentist in Melbourne
- Brisbane Dentists
- Perth Dentist
- Dental Surgery Adelaide
Service Type
People may do a search for a specific service- for example ‘Teeth whitening’.
Often the searcher will modify a search of this kind by adding a location, since the initial search may produce too much information on the service (how it’s done) rather than nearby dentists who offer it. Thus you might see searches for “Teeth Whitening Hobart”.
Question
Some people will do what we call a ‘long-tail keyword search’, and it’s often a question or a stream of consciousness that pours forth while they try to articulate what they are searching for.
So you might find people searching for ‘can a dentist remove wisdom teeth in the chair?’ or ‘I am grinding my teeth at night’.
KEYWORDS and KEYWORD PHRASES
All of the words in blue on this page are keywords (or keyword phrases). These are what drive the process of searching on the Internet. It’s really important to know what types of phrases your potential patients are using to locate dental practices and services in your location, because this will help you to structure your website and your ongoing online marketing effectively.
In this series of articles you will learn about:
- How Australians search for dentists and dental services online
- How Search Engines make search work
- Types of results that appear in searches for Dentists
- Why just having a website may not be enough