Call it a crystal ball. Scientific research. Or even just plain common sense.
Velscoping your keywords is the opposite of the traditional approach used by dentists who invest into SEO, which I call the “pay and pray” method of SEO.
The fact is, if you’re a dentist looking to learn SEO or hire an SEO company, you’re probably inclined to do so expeditiously. SEO is something that many claim to be “always changing,” and what wet-fingered dentist has the time to be reading about meta tags and Google algorithms? None that I know of.
Until something dramatic happens, months (or years) after you started paying for SEO…
Turns out, that SEO company’s approach didn’t get you new patients. Their ideas didn’t drive production. And what’s worse is they seem to have no adaptation to the first strategic failure. It’s as if they had a one-size-fits-all SEO approach, but you’re just beginning to find that out after they took your money!
If this has ever happened to you, you already know the drill.
You hit the internet, searching for whatever semblance of consistency you can find regarding the dark, enigmatic art of “SEO.” You learn of the major publications and some of the most prolific thought leaders. You start watching YouTube videos on how to rank a website. You read up on the latest algorithmic changes. Of course, you ask around for references of SEO companies that worked for your colleagues.
Then it hits you like a bag of bricks. You’re no longer practicing dentistry. You’ve literally studied yourself into becoming an SEO “expert.” This is the exact thing you were trying to avoid by using the traditional “pay and pray” model of SEO.
And yet, with each prolix, nebulous article you read, you feel less and less like an expert. You could always just Google “dental SEO expert” to see who pops up, but what guarantee is there that this person will actually garner you new patients (amidst other practice goals you have)?
This is often when dentists give up on SEO, or even start claiming that it’s completely random and no SEO company knows how or why Google serves up some dental website designs over others. Some dentists even wonder if all SEO isn’t one big scam.
And what if you just want more specialty procedures, such as Invisalign or dental implants or all-on-four? Now who are you going to call? Who can guarantee anything in SEO, much less a precise forecast of how your new patients will accept treatment? The doubt grows as you pour over an endless sea of data.
You’ve totally lost your way, haven’t you?
I help dentists like yourself avoid the above pitfalls and dangers involved in selecting an SEO company. Velscoping your keywords (or velscope your keywords) is the phrase I’ve coined to describe the process of examining what SEO means to your practice. We’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how this works, and I’ll walk you through the quick & free version of how you can velscope your keywords, step by step in just a minute.
In the mean time, let’s go over why velscoping your keywords is so essential:
Most dentists hire an SEO company the same way a dental patient will call many dentists in town asking “how much is a crown?” Let’s break down the parallels of why price for both a new crown and SEO can both lead down the road of disappointment and mal-investment:
First, diagnosing a patient over the phone isn’t just plain difficult, it’s unethical. Sure, you can tell them how much a crown typically is (and many dentists may be perfectly astute to train their front office manager this way), but that doesn’t change the many clinical variables involved in diagnosis.
When you velscope your keywords, you are eliminating SEO variables which can dramatically increase or decrease your investment in SEO. These variables are analogous to the new crown pricing phone calls you receive. An initial oral exam is absolutely necessary in order to provide the proper diagnosis (and therefore an exact treatment plan of the cost of this particular patient’s crown).
Second, the dental patient assumes they need a “crown,” much in the same way that a dentist assumes they need “SEO.” In both cases, how can we be sure that either service is truly what’s best for them? Not only is it dangerous to assume SEO will bring you a certain number of new patients, but at least a crown is somewhat tangible. SEO is much harder to identify as real when compared to a small chunk of porcelain-fused-to-metal.
The nebulous, intangible nature of SEO makes it all the more necessary for you to have a firm understanding of what SEO means to you. If you velscope your keywords (the first step shown in the above video), you’ll be in a much more advantaged decision to move forward in the right direction.
Third, whether it’s a call asking you about the price of a crown, or asking many SEO companies for a proposal for the price of their “SEO,” the price is almost always wrong. When it’s the cheapest, it’s often the shoddiest work. When it’s middle of the road pricing, that offers zero indication that it’s any better quality. When it’s the highest price the patient or dentist has ever heard, it shuts down all conversation. This results in many dental patients not getting the treatment they sorely need. And when a dentist contacts me, I insist that they velscope their keywords before cutting any SEO company a check. My philosophy is that you need to be in full control of your SEO, whether you hire a full-service SEO provider or you take the DIY SEO approach.
Much like an initial oral exam allows you to make any variety of clinical suggestions that are appropriate (based on the patient’s needs and wants), velscoping your keywords allows you to assess the SEO variables which dramatically affect whether you get 0-10 new patients per month, or over 100 new patients per month. Whether you invest $0 (and a little sweat equity with your team), or whether you’d be wise to invest over $10k/month in your SEO.
So here’s the bottom line:
When you velscope your keywords, you’re going to shine a light on what you can expect from SEO. Either you’ll be enlightened that you absolutely must invest in your SEO, or whether you absolutely must avoid SEO (due to a low ROI). I love it when you velscope your keywords because it allows both of us to know what you’re getting into.
Velscoping your keywords is based on two major aspects that will determine whether or not SEO is the right fit for your goals. First, we need to know how many prospective dental patients are using Google to find a practice in your geographic area. Second, we have to assess what other dental websites have done in order to rank for the keywords your prospective patients are entering in Google.
In a nutshell, Velscoping your keywords is about answering the ultimate question in any marketing endeavor you consider:
What does success look like, and how do I get there?
There are two types of SEO examinations. The first is the quick & free exam, and this is best for most dentists who are just beginning to look into SEO as a possible marketing option. I go in depth in my Invisalinks Method SEO Course on the comprehensive version of velscoping your keywords, but here’s the quick and free version:
Take this data with a grain of salt, because in my experience there is significantly more search volume than indicated on SEM Rush. That said, if you find there is at least 10 searches per month on Google, it may be a good idea to enroll in my dental SEO course and learn how to perform a comprehensive SEO exam. In my Invisalinks Method SEO Course I show you step-by-step how to velscope your keywords in great depth, so that you can learn the step by step process I use for my website when deciding what strategy to employ in order to rank #1 on Google for many different keywords. For SEO for dentist full services, contact Dental Marketing Guy.
