SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic (natural) search engine results. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves strategies, techniques and tactics that help attract more prospective clients to a business website by achieving first page ranking positions in major search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo.

The way consumers research, find and choose a business, product or service has changed dramatically in recent years. Years ago, when someone needed something they would have asked for a referral from a co-worker, family member, business associate, neighbor or friend. This type of referral is called a “warm market” lead. Warm market leads can be people you already know, individuals that already know you or people that have been referred to you by someone that you know. Making a sale to or doing business with a warm market lead is much easier than selling to a cold market lead. Warm market leads are the people with whom you have already established some level of trust, either directly or indirectly via referral. Warm market leads are great, but there is a downside. In the case of most businesses, warm market leads eventually diminish over time and, if you are looking to grow your business, you must expand your lead generation strategies to include cold markets. One way to do this is with search engine optimization. Your website’s primary purpose may be to sell products or services, generate qualified leads, develop brand awareness or to serve as a marketing or recruiting tool for your organization. But let’s face it, regardless of your site’s primary goal; if people can’t find it easily on Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other major search engine, you are not maximizing its potential or effectiveness. This means if you run a business and want to generate new client leads, much of your success hinges on whether or not you can be found in Google search.

A great website is a very powerful tool, but your website needs to be marketed and promoted in order to perform to its full potential. You have a website for one reason; to increase your business online, period! When properly developed, managed and maintained, a business’s website and SEO campaign can be one of the organization’s largest sources of targeted new patient leads. Businesses need professionally developed websites because the way that consumers find products and services has changed over the last decade. No matter what business you're in, your website is the central hub for your search engine optimization strategies. Organic Search Engine Optimization improves search ranking, develops website authority and enhances your overall online presence so you can get found, engage prospects and acquire new client leads.

For most businesses today, SEO is the marketing expenditure that has the highest potential ROI. The benefits it can provide far exceed the value of other marketing approaches – direct mail, broadcast advertising, print advertising, online ads, etc. No longer do businesses decide whether they need SEO services. Instead, they decide how much they’re going to spend. As long as they choose a quality SEO agency, their decision should result in more targeted website traffic, increases in revenue, enhanced brand awareness, improved client retention and more lead generation than ever before. A professional SEO agency will manage the short-term and long-term tasks of monitoring your business’s online presence. If your organization doesn't have the in-house resources, the time or expertise to implement and maintain an SEO campaign, you need a dental SEO company.

A lot depends on where you are starting when compared to those dental practices ranking above you. If you have a brand-new website and your competitors have been actively marketing their websites for years, you should be prepared to accept that you have an uphill battle and have some catching up to do. Depending on the strength of the other players in the market, the investment of time and resources that you make into your strategy, catching up to your competitors could take several months, or even several years. If you already have an established website with good traffic and decent rankings, the time to see results will definitely be reduced. If you have an experienced dental SEO partner, you can generally begin seeing results within 3-6 months.

This is the $64,000 question that everyone wants the answer to. In general, most reputable US based SEO agencies charge $125-$400 per hour. How many hours your project will need each month to meet your online marketing expectations and lead generation goals will depend on a variety of factors, including on how competitive your industry is, the size of your target market and where you currently rank in search. SEO for local businesses start at approximately $3,000 for less competitive service areas in smaller markets; however the cost will be more depending on the geographic location and practice areas you are targeting. For example, SEO for a cosmetic dentist or orthodontist in Chicago will be substantially more expensive than a general dentist in Mount Dora Florida.

Comprehensive local SEO campaigns typically include local SEO audits, Google-My-Business (GMB) listing optimization, on-page optimization, as well as external elements like link building and citation optimization, press releases and other advanced GMB strategies. In addition, most local SEO campaigns included monthly reporting, so you can see exactly where you started and easily track your progress. If you want comprehensive local SEO services from a reputable US based agency, you should expect to pay $1,000 to $2,000 per month.