One incredibly important aspect to understand about internet marketing, especially as it applies to dentists, is the difference between ‘long tail’ and ’short tail’ keywords.

The basic concept is that an internet search containing more adjectives (describers and modifiers) results in a much more targeted and qualified visitor.

In dentistry, the traditional way to target keywords is by using the old formula of occupation and location, meaning the term most targeted is typically ‘YourCity Dentist.’

But any webmaster who evaluates search trends will tell you that while those top terms do bring in more traffic than any other single keyword, MOST of the site’s traffic is generated from the many long keyword combinations that only receive a few hits a month.

That’s because people who are looking to improve their smile cosmetically, those who have a broken tooth or restoration, or those who are looking up symptoms are not just searching for YourCity dentist, they are doing research and searching very specific, very long keyword strains like ‘dentist in YourCity who can fix a broken bridge.’  For example, over a period of 30 days a Vail Dentist had 104 different keywords that resulted in hits to her site, and all but 10 of those were long tail keywords.

So if we know that long tail keywords account for more traffic than those “top earners”, how is it that they are actually more valuable as well?  Well this can be understood, and is especially applicable to dentistry, because long tail terms produce traffic that can be assigned a quantified value.

Think about the difference in what a patient might spend after searching ‘YourCity dentist’ (which could be any procedure), and one who typed in ‘dental implants in YourCity’.

Undoubtedly, a dental implant case is much more valuable than just an ordinary dentist search.

Specifically targeting long tail terms based off procedures and services you offer is an easy way to generate much more traffic to your site, and is also the most powerful way to make sure that traffic is targeted and qualified.

PatientScout has made long tail optimization for dentists easier than ever before, and in fact there is likely a PatientPortal in your location that already ranks for hundreds of these terms.  When you lease a PatientPortal these terms are then customized to your practice and all leads generated are diverted to your office.  Contact PatientScout today for more information on leasing a PatientPortal in your location.