Note from Kevin: This blog is written by Justin Morgan, who is the Dental Marketing Guy. I asked him to write a piece for dental assistants helping them understand their online role in the role. What Justin gives you below is solid information and well worth your time.
If you’re a dental assistant who’d like to get paid more, you need to become a new patient magnet. Here are two easy steps you can implement to convince the dentist to offer you the big raise.
1. Become the online connector.
All local businesses love endorsements. Think of your favorite local businesses, and then meet with your team. Compile a list of local businesses that the dentist and other team members really support. As long as the business has a long-standing website, put together a small testimonial. Have the testimonial link back to your dentist’s website because it references where the testimonial came from (and thus adds credibility).
When you’re able to earn 5-10 of these links, you will certainly see a lift in Google rankings.
Why?
The world wide web is all about being connected with others. Unless you’re connected to other businesses in your area, you’re not part of the “web.” Most dentists just have sites, without being well-connected in the world wide web. Help your dentist create a nice-looking dental website by becoming part of the web through earning links from other businesses in your area.
Google will notice other geographically-relevant websites linking to your dentist’s website and credit the website with being more connected to the web.
Become the connector by starting with those businesses who already know, like, and trust you and the dentist. They will be more cooperative in adding the link. The oral surgeon or other specialist your dentist already refers to is a great place to start.
Use an SEO rank-tracking software like Agency Analytics to measure the rise in rankings for keywords like “dentist [your city]” “[your city] dentist.” If you build enough links to your dentist’s website, you’ll quickly rise in the rankings and attract many new patients. The dentist will have no choice but to consider you a new patient magnet.
2. Become the offline connector.
Dr. Anissa Holmes has a blog and Facebook group called Delivering WOW Hangout, which offers useful SEO advice as well as offline dental marketing advice. Within the Facebook group, you can find this key advice:
Find other local businesses which would like to offer a birthday/anniversary/holiday special to all your dentist’s patients. Free lunch at a local restaurant, or a buy one get one free massage, or any other valuable offer your patients would value.
Provide new and existing patients with the offers. Brainstorm on new marketing ideas that the practice can use in attracting more patients, for instance setting up a Smile Day, planning a monthly free check-up for those who cannot afford the dental services etc.
“I certainly value a dental assistant who is committed to helping us find more denture patients, and new patients in general. Having someone committed to keeping our chairs full is worth compensating at a higher level,” says Dr. Lookhart, a dentist in Anchorage, AK.
Whatever tactics you use, know that on-the-job learning is totally acceptable. The point is that you’re interested in bringing new patients to your dental office.
By becoming a connector, you’ll never be viewed as a “spit sucker,” but rather a valuable part of a team striving for a common goal.
Justin Morgan is the Dental Marketing Guy. Justin created a step-by-step course to help you get your dental website ranked highly on Google through an SEO strategy he calls “The Invisalinks Method.” To find out more, just Google “Dental SEO Course.”
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