Why the Internet is the new real estate to covet for the dental industry.

1. Any change to Google's local search results has the potential to dramatically affect the way a practice appears online. In early November 2010, Google made a substantial change to their search results for local businesses. Prior to the change, most local searches resulted in two entirely separate sets of results. After Google's update, the two results were consolidated into a single result, linking to both the website and the local business page, known as the quot;
Placesquot;
page. This has the potential to drastically affect the ranking of many practices. Since Google now places more importance on the combined presence of your website and local listing, the best strategy for any dental professional is to make sure that both are optimized. <br />This means making sure your website is full of relevant content, specifically mentioning your location, services, and anything else you want to focus on. This continues to be the best way for any search engine to know what your website and practice is about. An on-site blog can allow you to create even more content for the search engines to crawl. HYPERLINK quot;
http://www.sesamecommunications.comquot;
Sesame research confirmed that onsite blogging resulted in 32% greater website traffic, with users spending 38% more time on the site and looking at 30% more pages per visit. <br />For your local listing in Google, you will need to quot;
claimquot;
your Places page and make sure it is as complete as possible. By doing this, you gain the ability to add and change content that appears in this section which can improve your website's ranking for local results. You can also comment on reviews posted on that page, add coupons, and provide links to pictures and videos. <br />Lastly, you'll want to develop an quot;
off-sitequot;
strategy. Google's aim when displaying results is to provide the most relevant, reliable and popular information. You want to have as much presence on the Internet as possible. Some of the best ways involve making use of the social networks like Facebook and You Tube. You should also gain patient reviews through various directory websites as well as directly through your Google Places page. A November 2010 Sesame Communications 6-month research study with 167 practices demonstrated that an integrated strategic online presence with three aspects-SEO, Google Adwords, and social media-resulted in 56 calls into the practice each month on average, with 17 of those being new patients.<br />For more information, visit Sesame Communications at http://www.sesame24-7.com.<br />