Six Big Changes Every Dental Practice Needs To Understand.

1. Updated Look and Feel

The format of Timeline for brands is quite similar to Timeline for personal profiles. It employs a cover photo at the top of the Page, and the Page is separated into two main columns by a dividing line, which represents the passage of time. This format provides brands with new options for self-expression: They can outline their corporate history with milestones (such as product launches, store openings, etc.) to construct a narrative for their audience.

2. Reduced Tab Visibility

The new Timeline format does not have the left-side panel of links, which could include hundreds of different tabs. While applications still exist, they’ll display differently, in rectangular panels underneath the cover photo. The width of the Timeline and the space allocated for native apps like Photos means that only three tab panels are viewable at any given time. To see more, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box.

3. No Default Landing Page

With the new Timeline Page format, you will no longer be able to set a default landing Page, a favored feature for many savvy brands. The option was one of the primary ways to control the first (branded) impression a user encountered. Since there are no more tab Pages, there is no way to set one as a default. This will drastically change user impressions when they first visit a brand’s Timeline Page.

4. New Way To Feature Content

One major new feature that marketers will love is the ability to “pin” certain posts to the top of the Timeline. Similar to marking a blog post “sticky,” so that it remains at the top of a blog for a specified period of time, pinning a post to the top of Timeline allows it to precede any other content. A pinned post is distinguished by a small, orange flag. Brands can pin only one item at a time, and the pinned item then exists in two locations — as the top item on the Timeline itself, as well as within its chronological place. Once unpinned (which happens automatically when a new item gets pinned, or the item has been pinned for more than seven days), the post remains in the chronology of Timeline posts, but there is no visual history that it was pinned in the past.

5. Current Tab Content and Applications Become Outdated

The new Timeline layout displaces Facebook’s existing Page tab configuration (including a tab’s 520-pixel width), and replaces it with a new 810-pixel layout. As a result, existing Page tab content will look centered in the middle of the 810-pixel layout without any adjustments. All applications that remain on a brand’s Page will need new application icons (the new dimensions are 111×74).

6. Private Messages Between Brands and Users

Finally, brands will be able to send and receive private messages with users. This allows for much deeper consumer interaction, and will also enable Page managers to take extended customer inquiries off the Timelineand into a private message.

Google+ Growth is Accelerating. Passes 75 million users. Adding 625,000 new users per day. Prediction: 400 million users by end of 2012. Read more..

With this kind of growth Companies and Brands don’t have a choice but to adjust their strategy from pure SEO to Google’s SOCIAL+SEO.  Meaning start engaging in Google+

“Search Plus Your World” effect on SEO:

Search Plus Your World is currently optional, meaning you can choose between global search (as it exists now) and the new Google + search. In a nutshell, if you (or your company) opt for Google+, your search results will be influenced by Google+ profiles and pages, most importantly anything shared on your Google+. That means your associations in Google+ Circles will directly influence your search results.

What does “Search Plus Your World” mean to your company?

• Build strong Google+ social followings and optimize content for social sharing
• Content marketing with strong Google+ social media engagement will grow your search and mobile presence
• Ignoring social media makes your company isolated, irrelevant and unnoticeable
• Allocate money to internet marketing in the context of Social Search. Hire informed Google+ (search + social media) expertise to make sure your message has strong web presence

Bottom line – the SEO as you know is changing for good. Your company must adapt to the new SEO which is search + social media by Google

Impact of “Search Plus Your World” on Email Marketing:

Integrate Google+ in your email campaigns, to grow your marketing effectiveness and boost your Google search rank. If your email audience is Social Media friendly, you can get better Google Search Ranking. So, building a Google+ social fan base for your site is going to be important.

Social Media can amplify your content reach by spreading it on your audience networks. You can attain this by:

• Integrate Google+ web pages in your email campaigns
• Include Google+ sharing opportunities for your audience
• Invite your audience to join Google+ Circle
• Market your content (blog) in your Google+ Circles and in your email campaigns

Search Plus Your World and Google Adwords

If you don’t want to drink the cool aid of Google Plus then you are forced to do Adwords to be on the first page of Google. There may be many companies that are not current on Google’s Search Plus and some who don’t want to spend the time on Social SEO. Because of this you might see increased competition in PPC which could cost more for keywords, decrease in quality scores & Click Through Rates.

Companies that are doing PPC and Search Plus might see higher rank for their ads. So if you are not doing Search Plus you might end up paying more to retain your rank.

All in all growth of Google+ will only lead to more personlized searches and this will effect Brand visibility in Searches. Having a Social SEO strategy and making changes to your Email and Adwords campaigns can be a one up over your competition.

Google Chrome Browser

Chrome recently surpassed Firefox to become the second most used browser in the world. It’s just a matter of time for it to dethrone Internet Explorer.

Why use chrome:

• Lightweight and extremely responsive
• Integrates well with Gmail and other Google apps you might be using
• Huge collection of extensions to make it very powerful – biggest reason to use
• Both Clicky, Hootsuite extensions are there

Clicky Web Analytics

• Provides real-time info on who is on your website
• In one click you can see the visitors on your website (when used along with Chrome)
• Extremely user friendly compared to Google Analytics and a right fit for Dental Practices

Hootsuite Social Media Dashboard

• No need to login to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more to send Social Messages.
• Want to share a webpage, photo or anything – In 3 clicks you can do with Hootsuite + Chrome
• Dashboard of Hootsuite – effortless to use it even for a newbie, just as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade make you feel about Tango in Scent of Women!

Related articles

• HootSuite Reaches 3 Million Users, 700 Million Sent Messages [INFOGRAPHIC] (mashable.com)
• Google+ Dental Practice Page is a MUST! See why? (sm4dentists.com)

The new “Search Plus Your World,” from Google integrates personal social results into public search listings. Google+ users, and to some degree others who are logged into Google, can see search results that include Google+ social graph and broader web results.

Google+ posts, circles, photos and videos are merged into search results.

Search without social is not possible, and Google’s Search+ re-emphasizes that. Google’s search does not integrate Facebook and Twitter. So, Dental Practices need to create Google+ Brand Page and get active on it.

Google’s Search+ wants your Dental Practice to create Google+ pages just like your website pages. Meaning – Keywords and relevance will determine how your New Patients will find you. Of course, you need to do this in a natural way.

Getting your Google+ Practice Page into as many circles (preferably influential) will be key to grow your social aspect.

Let’s know if you need help in getting a Google+ Dental Practice Page that can integrate Social and Search and bring more New Patients.

Related articles

• 3 FREE tools that could double your Online Productivity of your Dental Practice (sm4dentists.com)

Tips on How to get to Google First Page for Dentists

Here is a great article on SEO by Dr Edward Logan discussing on ways to get your Dental Practice on the First Page of Google Search. It is published in Dentistry’s Business Secrets. Here is the complete article for your convenience.

What Do Dentists Need to Know About Search Engine Optimization?

The importance of appearing on the first page of search engine results was highlighted in iProspect’s 2006 Search Engine User Behavior Study of 2,639 Internet users. The study’s results revealed that 62% of users stated that they do not look past page one for results. Over 90% of users reported that they never look past the first three pages for results. As this study bears out, if your website is not appearing on the first page of results, it is highly unlikely that it will be found by potential patients. Therefore, it is critical to maintain a high ranking with the search engines and this needs to be accomplished my putting in place systems to ensure maximal search engine optimization of your website.

First, let’s explain in simple terms what happens when a potential patient searches for a new dentist online. The patient will choose a combination of words, such as “Dentist in Austin,” and click “Search.” The listings which appear on the results page will generally be in one of three formats:
1. Organic, also called natural listings,
2. Local listings which are found on a map, as well as within the search results and
3. Pay per click, also called sponsored listings.

Organic listings are those that appear in a search because a search engine such as Google determines their website content to be relevant to the words entered into the search query. Pay per click listings, on the other hand, appear because these companies have paid to have their websites appear high in the ranking for specific keyword search phrases. Local listings appear on a Google map, as well as within the list of results returned in a search query. With a recent redesign in how Google delivers local search results, these local listings now appear higher on the first page in many cities. Local listing ranking results from a variety of factors which I have discussed in more depth in an article on Google Local Search for Dentists.

A recent study by the website tracking company Eightfold Logic determined that for the 5,000 companies it monitors, people were 8.5 times more likely to click on an organic listing than they were to click on a sponsored listing. Despite this data, these same companies spent nearly 80% of their Internet marketing dollars on pay per click advertisements and less than 10% on increasing their websites’ optimization and visibility. This to me is a clear display of the backward logic being employed by the marketing factions of these companies. Therefore, if we know that the overwhelming majority of patients searching for you online will be drawn to the organic and local listings they find, it behooves us to market to this area much more than to the area of sponsored ads. We can conclude that making our websites relevant to search engines in a natural rather than a paid manner will provide us the greatest return on investment.

In order to help dentists understand what they need to know in order to maximize their appearance online, I have created a Search Engine Optimization Checklist. This checklist is one of the many items you will find in the Practice Management Resources for Dentists CD I have put together over time to help make life easier in my practice. I think you will find these gems quite helpful in your practice as well. Below you will find some of the SEO checklist which can help you start and maintain optimization of your website within search engines. Keep in mind that all applications on the checklist can be performed for you by a consulting company if you elect not to spend your time on these items. It is valuable to consider that many SEO experts agree that the most important aspect of optimization is the building up of quality links to your website.

1. Submit your website to the major search engines: Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Dentistry’s Business Secrets provides links to do so.
2. Submit your Sitemap to these search engines as well. Dentistry’s Business Secretsprovides information on how to do so.
3. Sign up for local business listings on major search engines. Dentistry’s Business Secretsprovides links to do so.
4. Research possible sites which can link to your website. Links from dental related websites are the most beneficial.
5. Research online directories such as www.TheDentistSearch.com, which appear high in keyword searches for a local dentist.
6. Continue to add quality content to your website through the addition of articles or patient case descriptions and pictures.
7. Post comments on dental related blogs and general answer forums, always providing a link back to your website. Some examples include www.DentalHeroes.com and www.Dentistry.AllTop.com.

Related articles

• Social Media and SEO: 5 Ways They’re Working Together (vendio.com)

Twitter Statistics:

• 200,000,000 Registered Users
• 1,000,000,000 Tweets (updates) Posted Every Week, which means over 1,650 Tweets every Second
• Almost 88% of People have Awareness of Twitter and its Existence
• 450,000 new Twitter Accounts Created Everyday, which means 5.2 Accounts created every Second of Everyday
• 1.6 billion Search Queries Everyday, which means that 18,000 Search Queries every Second
  

Those are impressive numbers displayed above and for YOU the reader, it is an amazing opportunity to get plugged right now into an innovative, ground-breaking network such as Twitter.

In today’s Social Media arena, there is no denying the impact Twitter has in relaying instantaneous information and broad influence to a targeted audience. You can call it a micro-blog because of the 140-character limit per tweet that forces users to be mindful of their stream of thought while they send quick updates to their list of followers.

I myself am an avid Twitter user who needs his knowledge fix daily (ranging from culture, technology, business, sports, and current events) and I consider my Twitter newsfeed to be my personal 24/7 on-going newspaper that will supply me with fresh content.

Why is Engagement Important?

To be influential in the Twitter world, engagement is a vital social media trait you must harness and perfect. That is the one reason why Twitter is necessary for your Dental Practice. It puts a face to your Practice and allows past and potential new clients to interact with you. We understand that as a Dental Practice, you value customer service and look to constantly improve it. Engaging with the Twitter community is another means to which you can provide excellent customer service for your Practice.

Be Knowledgeable on New Breakthroughs in the Dental Field

One of the benefits of using Twitter for your Practice is that there are a number of great dental Twitter accounts you may follow to get up-to-date, ground-breaking news in the Dentistry field.

Here are a few useful examples:

https://twitter.com/#!/ADANews

https://twitter.com/#!/DentistryToday

https://twitter.com/#!/TheAACD

Being knowledgeable about what’s going on in your field will help you stay relevant and it will give you an advantage over your competitors. What is cool about Twitter is that if you read a dental article that you think is informative, you can “retweet” it, meaning that you forward that same link to your list of followers and your followers are now exposed to that article which may interest them. Not only that but there is a useful third-party program which allows you to have the ability to simultaneously link your Twitter updates to your other social media sites anytime you post on Twitter. SM4Dentists will teach you how and assist you in cross-channel engagement. Its all about widening your circle of influence and seamlessly promoting your brand to the online web.

Advertising Your Dental Offers to Your Local Community

Another exciting option for Practices whom use Twitter is the ability to announce deals and promotions exclusively to those who follow them. That gives potential clients the urge to follow your Practice on Twitter so they can be automatically updated on any future offers. Some of the most popular business accounts use Twitter solely to tweet deals to their following and by using “retweets”, your promotions can be shared to even more people!

How do I use Twitter to get more Clients in my Local Community?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the ‘Million-Dollar Question’. As a Practice, you want to be able to unleash the potential that is in your immediate local area. With Twitter, there are a number of ways that you can target large numbers of Twitter users around you. One of the ways is to use what we call “hashtags”. Including hashtags in your tweet will categorize it with other tweets with that same hashtag so when used properly, you can connect directly to targeted audiences in your area that may need YOUR services. This is just one of the ways that we can assist you in being known locally; Ask us for more information!

The Bottom Line

If you have no experience with Twitter or find it confusing, let SM4Dentists teach you the ways of the ‘tweet’. We will train you so that you will be a Twitter ninja and proficient in reaching your targeted market. If used correctly, Twitter can be an invaluable resource for your Practice in learning, connecting, and branding. SM4Dentists can help you begin the process of engagement and marketing your Practice so that you attract new clients to your doorstep! Ask us about our FREE Twitter lessons on engagement!

Read this interesting article titled “How Small Businesses are using Social Media”

Check out our website to learn more about our Twitter Package

Related articles

• How To Use #Hashtags (seopositive.co.uk)
• Tuesday Tips: Harnessing the PR Power of Twitter (crenshawcomm.com)
• HOW TO: Customize the Photo Gallery on Your Twitter Profile [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
• HOW TO: Space Out Your Tweets Without Being Online All Day (mashable.com)

Image via CrunchBase

Overview

Digital video is emerging as the fastest growing form of interactive content being distributed and consumed online. Statistics say that New Patients spend a lot of time viewing and sharing online video. YouTube is the leader in online video and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide. Researches also prove that memory retention is tripled when the information shared engages more than one sense organ. With the videos we create for your dental practice, you will be able to feed the visual and auditory senses. This will certainly improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Video as an Effective Medium

Video is one of the most dynamic and effective ways to communicate to your potential New Patients. Many of them expect to see video and if your site does not provide video, they feel that something is missing… Just creating video is not the only step to effective marketing. We craft a video that responds to the wants and needs of your patients. We make dental videos on YouTube engaging and compelling enough to encourage sharing. Great content brings patients to your channel and your videos; engaging them once they arrive is another challenge.

Professional Videos

All videos created by us are subjected to strict quality control checks so that Dentists get the best output. All the videos created are suitable for web use, optimized for fast loading. This will minimize the time taken to play each video online. Today video marketing is the top-rated marketing strategy because it is very powerful in convincing your New Patients.

Some of the Highlights are:

• The number of visitors frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339 percent since 2003.

• There are 87 percent more online Social Media users now than in 2003, with 883 percent more time devoted to those sites.

• In the last year alone, time spent by Visitors on social networking sites has surged 73 percent.

• We source music and pictures based on the nature of your visitor traffic including age and other demographic data.

• Videos embedded with targeted keywords can increase your search engine rankings

• You can showcase your services to patients in the most effective way.

• You can retain visitors on your website for a longer duration with professionally created, impressive motion graphic videos.

Like Facebook and Twitter, YouTube can be a fertile ground for interacting with your Patients. Its features and content may differ, but the basic principles for interaction remain the same. Keeping this in mind and taking a savvy approach to YouTube responses can help your Dental Practice make the most of this incredibly popular social space.

Related articles

• HOW TO: Get Started Marketing on YouTube [VIDEOS] (mashable.com)
• Americans Spend Nearly 3.5 Hours Per Week Watching Online Video [Data] (hubspot.com)

Social Local Mobile Dental Marketing

Mobile Social Marketing can help your Dental Practice reach New Patients when they need to consult with you. Socially integrated Mobile content with Local Reach can boost Dental Production.

 

Stats:

• 400 percent increase in Mobile searches in last 12 months

• 63 percent of web users use Mobile search before purchasing a product or service

• One in three Mobile searches are Local

• 59 percent of Mobile users share content with their friend

Rise in Social, Local and Mobile Convergence - Your Dental Practice needs to engage in Mobile friendly Social content marketing to increase the likelihood that you will reach the right New Patient in your neighborhood at the right time with compelling reasons to click. Social Engagement combined with Local Reach would translate into Dental Marketing power to drive nearby New Patients to your Dental Practice.

Social is essential to generate your Dental Practice awareness, Mobile Marketing reaches New Patients when they are considering Dental options and Local targeting helps reach nearby New Patients.

 

Social Local Mobile Dental Marketing is NOW! – There is room for your Dental Practice to gain early adopters’ advantages. We at SM4Dentists believe that this integrated marketing approach – “SoLoMo Dental Marketing” is the immediate wave of growth, especially for Dental Practices that are snowed under strong competition and are located in metropolitan areas.

Request a FREE copy of Social-Local-Mobile-Website Audit for your Dental Practice. Fill out the form on Right Side of this article and we will provide you with Assessment data and a presentation.

If needed, one of our experts will gladly spend 30 minutes during your lunch time to explain the significance of the findings at NO CHARGE to you!

Optimizing your Google Places listing is very much like optimizing your Dental Practice website. Your goal should be to give as much helpful information as possible that will benefit New Patients and to outperform your competition.

1. Before creating (or claiming) your listing it is important that you do thorough research. You should know what keyword phrases you want to rank for and what your competition looks like for the terms you intend to target.

2. Fill out every field completely. There are approximately 20 fields to fill out when completing your Place Page listing. It is imperative that you fill out each and every field as the omission of even one can negatively affect the ranking of your Places Page.

3. Utilize every available category. Google will suggest one category specific to your Dental Practice and require you to use it. However, you can also add more categories and it is important to do so

4. You’re allotted ten photos — use ‘em. Google allows you to use up to ten photos and I encourage you to use every one of them. You can also enhance your optimization efforts by renaming your images to include your keyword phrases before uploading them.

5. You’re allotted five videos — use them too.

   1. As it is a bit harder to create videos than photos, you’ll frequently find that your competitors fail to use their entire allotment.

   2. You’ll need to upload each video to YouTube.com before you can add it to your listing.

6. Understand citations and build as many of them as possible

   1. A citation occurs whenever an online reference is found for your Dental Practice and services. In Google’s eyes, it’s a validation that your business truly exists and that it offers the type of services you list on your Places page.

   2. It’s important that your citations closely match the information found on your Places page. You can create your own citations by submitting your information to a variety of online directories including Yellow Pages, Super Pages, CitySearch, Insider Pages, Yahoo Local, Localize and a number of others.

7. Ask your existing Patients to post a review of your Dental Practice on Google Places and if necessary, offer them some form of bonus for completing the task.

Advanced Tips:

1. Pay close attention to your “on page” Search Engine Optimization. This includes the keywords/keyword phrases you are targeting, all standard SEO practices, and ensuring that your Dental Practice name, address and phone are listed exactly on your site as it is in your Google Places listing.

2. In addition to building backlinks to each page of your site, it’s also a good idea to build backlinks to your primary “citation” references (usually found on directory sites like Yelp, InsiderPages, CitySearch, etc.)

3. Build backlinks to your Google Places page itself. As most won’t do this, this will give you an added edge.

4. Do some social bookmarking of both the pages where your citation references are found as well as your Google Places listing itself.

5. Use a phone number with a local area code for your primary number. If you’re currently using a toll-free phone number, I recommend you get a local “virtual number” and use that instead. You can list your toll-free number as a secondary number.

6. Instead of uploading your images direct to your listing, choose to add them from the web. I recommend you upload your images to either Flickr and make sure to “geo tag” your images with your businesses’ address/location information.

7. As with your images, it’s wise to “geo tag” your videos as well. This causes your videos to play a dual role… they increase your ability to rank because you’ve chosen to add them to your listing and because they are now considered to be a citation as well.

Request a FREE copy of Social-Local-Mobile-Website Audit for your Dental Practice. Fill out the form on Top Right Side of this article and we will provide you with Assessment data and a presentation.

If needed, one of our experts will gladly spend 30 minutes during your lunch time to explain the significance of the findings at NO CHARGE to you!

Google is the world’s most popular search engine. Over 65% of all online searches are conducted using Google. One of the best places on Google for New Patients to learn about your Dental Practice is within Google Places.

Google plays a significant role in a Dental Practice effectively leveraging the Internet to attract, retain, and grow. A well optimized Google Places profile for your Dental Practice can take advantage of the local traffic Google will send.

1. Claim your listing in Google Places

The first key step to establishing a stronger local search presence on Google is to claim your listing. Claiming your place page not only allows you to update information about your Dental Practice (e.g., hours, specialties, promotions, etc.) on Google, but it also gives you opportunities to out-rank competitors by optimizing your Practice listing for targeted keyword and geographic areas.

2. Google Places likes Fresh Content

Having a regular stream of reviews flowing to your Practice profile can earn you points. An easy way to grow your Dental Practice review response rate is by customizing your Thank You Emails with a friendly, personalized note. Let your Patients know why it’s so important that they submit feedback.

3. Optimizing your Dental Practice Website is Paramount!

A well-optimized Dental Practice website will better support your local profile, and integrating your SEO strategies for both organic and local allows you to present a consistent Dental Practice image on Google. Please read more about it on our “Google First Page Ranking” Page.

Google Places recently removed business reviews from third party syndicated sources (like Demandforce, doctoroogle, ratepoint, Yelp or TripAdvisor) which could make Dental Practices worry about their Google Places Ranking.

Request a FREE copy of Social-Local-Mobile-Website Audit for your Dental Practice. Fill out the form on Top Right Side of this article and we will provide you with Assessment data and a presentation.

If needed, one of our experts will gladly spend 30 minutes during your lunch time to explain the significance of the findings at NO CHARGE to you!