WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.020 Welcome to Bite Size Dental Marketing. Today, 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:07.099 we are here with the second episode of our Story 00:00:07.099 --> 00:00:10.160 EO miniseries that we're doing. And we have the 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.599 one and only Shimmerin here, who is actually 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:17.399 one of the, I would say, original thinkers. Shimmerin, 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:20.660 is that an accurate statement? You're trying 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:22.780 to make me blush. I think that's the accurate 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:26.210 way to say it. She was in the team along with 00:00:26.210 --> 00:00:29.589 Andre, who in the previous episode, all of you 00:00:29.589 --> 00:00:31.769 met. If you've not seen that one, please pause 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:35.369 this one. Jump back to episode one where we introduce 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:40.490 the StoryEO concept and why it's important. And 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:42.929 in this episode, we're going to hear from Shemran, 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:47.210 who is the head of our SEO department, why as 00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:51.890 an agency we chose this direction. I, for some 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:53.929 of you who don't know, worked in the SEO department. 00:00:54.149 --> 00:00:56.429 I had founded it in pain free many, many years 00:00:56.429 --> 00:01:00.229 ago. And what SEO was for me and what I was focusing 00:01:00.229 --> 00:01:03.689 on five years ago has definitely changed. And 00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:06.650 this is through advancements with AI and how 00:01:06.650 --> 00:01:08.790 search works and the algorithm getting smarter, 00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:12.109 how patients are actually getting smarter in 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:15.629 looking at content you put on websites. So I 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:19.280 know a lot has changed. And I want to understand 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.760 today from your side, what has changed? Why did 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.439 it change? How did we get to story EO being so 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.680 important? And then hopefully we can build on 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:30.739 that to give our listeners and especially the 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:34.439 dentists a great understanding of why this is 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.439 the next evolution of search engine optimization. 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:40.680 Well, I think one of the important things to... 00:01:41.259 --> 00:01:43.680 remember or think about as we go through this 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.260 change is that we're currently in the change. 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:50.299 I like to think of ourselves as story of pioneers 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:53.379 in the sense that this is something that we're 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:57.379 starting and testing the waters of. But we are, 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:00.260 in a sense, figuring it out as we go. And we 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:03.459 are putting trust in the data that we're seeing 00:02:03.459 --> 00:02:06.040 and how users are interacting with the changes 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.960 that we're making. So if we want to recap on 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.259 what Andrea said for anybody who hasn't had a 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:14.139 chance to listen to our previous episode, I think 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:18.039 that the approach of Storio is essentially looking 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:22.139 at SEO from a user's perspective more than just 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:25.199 Google's perspective. For those of you who don't 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:29.400 know, traditional SEO takes a very data -forward 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.699 approach. We look at the numbers, we're pushing 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:35.419 content out in a way that helps push rankings, 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:39.120 and that has always been the primary focus when 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.800 doing SEO. What we've noticed, however... in 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.139 the last couple of years, and I myself have been 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:48.180 in SEO for a few years now, is that rankings 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:51.560 don't always equal, in our case, working with 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:54.439 dentists, new patients. It doesn't mean that 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:56.439 it is a foot through the door for your practice. 00:02:56.780 --> 00:03:00.560 And that is essentially not helpful for the practices 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:04.120 that we are helping. So we wanted to take a new 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:07.360 approach to SEO that could mean that one does 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.000 equal the other. So what you're saying is if... 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:14.150 even if you're number one on Google or you're 00:03:14.150 --> 00:03:18.990 in that map pack, it's good, but it's not time 00:03:18.990 --> 00:03:21.090 for dentists to celebrate just yet because it's 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:23.530 not all about the rankings. Do I understand that 00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:26.370 correctly? Yes, that is what I'm saying. You 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:28.849 could be ranking for number one and you may have 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:31.270 people clicking through to your website, but 00:03:31.270 --> 00:03:33.389 that doesn't necessarily mean that they're making 00:03:33.389 --> 00:03:35.969 the call. Now, there are some cases where one 00:03:35.969 --> 00:03:38.969 does equal the other. And I think the primary 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:41.860 reason for that is, because of how they have 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:44.099 exhibited themselves on their websites. Because 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:46.219 you need to remember that once you have ranked 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:48.439 for that number one position and somebody has 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:50.500 clicked through to your website, there's still 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:53.639 an entire journey that they go through and an 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:56.219 entire experience that they have with your website 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:58.419 before they make the decision to contact your 00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:01.979 practice or give your office a call. So our focus 00:04:01.979 --> 00:04:05.900 has instead shifted from rather making content 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.569 that... purely gives you that number one ranking 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:12.150 to rather making content that A, supports rankings 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:14.750 because it is important to get in front of people, 00:04:14.889 --> 00:04:18.129 but also have content that will engage with potential 00:04:18.129 --> 00:04:21.170 users and your potential patients more effectively 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:25.410 so that we can get that call. What we spoke about 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:29.949 in the previous episode was content for the sake 00:04:29.949 --> 00:04:35.709 of content is not valuable anymore. The dental 00:04:35.709 --> 00:04:38.350 industry continues to grow in the U .S. With 00:04:38.350 --> 00:04:41.290 tools like ChatGPT and Gemini and these things, 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:44.069 I can write you literally a Harry Potter book 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:48.490 of content within two minutes. Probably less. 00:04:48.689 --> 00:04:51.329 It depends how fast your internet is. But, I 00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:53.029 mean, it can take two minutes to write a Harry 00:04:53.029 --> 00:04:55.389 Potter -style book of content on your website. 00:04:55.589 --> 00:04:58.029 That does not mean that it's good content. And 00:04:58.029 --> 00:05:02.100 we covered that. What you say and the type of 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:05.199 patient you are talking to, who is your niche, 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:10.639 who is this practice even trying to be, that 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:14.519 is more important. What have you seen in terms 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:21.819 of taking on a generic keyword in Citi and we 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:24.439 treat you like family and the best technology? 00:05:26.230 --> 00:05:29.889 serving the areas of city and city and city. 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:34.209 You know what I mean? Away from that shift, which 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:36.870 I think most dentists probably still see, depending 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:39.050 on the company that they're working with, to 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:41.629 where you are. It's definitely something that 00:05:41.629 --> 00:05:44.949 we still see. But I think what we were seeing 00:05:44.949 --> 00:05:48.389 when our content still looked like that, and 00:05:48.389 --> 00:05:50.290 I'm sure there is still content out there that 00:05:50.290 --> 00:05:53.050 we're managing and sifting our way through that 00:05:53.050 --> 00:05:57.389 does still have Those factors, if I could put 00:05:57.389 --> 00:06:01.129 it that way, a location -based keyword is how 00:06:01.129 --> 00:06:05.089 we refer to it, is that even focusing content 00:06:05.089 --> 00:06:08.329 around those keywords weren't getting the rankings 00:06:08.329 --> 00:06:11.329 that we'd expect it to get. And I think that 00:06:11.329 --> 00:06:13.990 also comes from a bit of a shift that we've seen 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:18.430 in Google and saying the primary phrase that 00:06:18.430 --> 00:06:21.470 everyone uses is content is king and you need 00:06:21.470 --> 00:06:24.310 to... create quality content and it needs to 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:28.230 be authoritative and effective and trustworthy 00:06:28.230 --> 00:06:32.569 and all these things. But that content in itself, 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:36.410 that quality that we're looking for doesn't equal 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:40.430 having lots of content. And I think that as we 00:06:40.430 --> 00:06:43.709 explored the content avenue, we were realizing 00:06:43.709 --> 00:06:49.439 that we're realizing that quantity wasn't equal 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.019 to quantity and it sort of posed the question 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:54.579 of how do we create quality content, which is 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:57.139 what you had mentioned, Nana, and what Andre 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:00.100 has spoken about previously in creating content 00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:02.600 that really speaks to a user's journey when they're 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.560 entering the website. So for us, I can tell you 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:07.399 a little bit more about what that looks like. 00:07:07.899 --> 00:07:12.980 For us as an agency and as the SEO team, it required 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:16.779 a little bit of a shift in our mind because as 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:19.060 you said yourself, Ian, you're coming from a 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:21.819 traditional SEO background. We had to change. 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:25.800 our perspective as well that it's to put a dentist 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.540 in location -esque keyword in content to something 00:07:29.540 --> 00:07:32.740 that we had spent years doing so it was something 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:35.180 that we were very used to and those were the 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.899 golden rules that we were sort of taught to follow 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:41.129 but we are looking to break out of the mold. 00:07:41.529 --> 00:07:44.889 We're not just looking to do what everyone else 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:47.790 is doing and has done. We're looking to break 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:50.670 out of the mold so that we can stand out amongst 00:07:50.670 --> 00:07:54.110 competitors on behalf of our clients. So the 00:07:54.110 --> 00:07:57.910 process that we're trying to follow now is a 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:01.689 little bit more unique. in writing content that 00:08:01.689 --> 00:08:05.170 speaks more to the fears and the desires that 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:08.069 a potential patient may have. And for us, that 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:11.449 really starts with what we dub core pages for 00:08:11.449 --> 00:08:14.930 websites. The first page that somebody is likely 00:08:14.930 --> 00:08:17.350 to interact with when they land on a website 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:21.810 is the homepage. It's the primary hub for how 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:25.009 a user can navigate to every other page on the 00:08:25.009 --> 00:08:27.509 website, or it should be if it's done correctly. 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:31.569 because it's the primary page that people are 00:08:31.569 --> 00:08:34.129 landing on, it's really your first opportunity 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:37.850 to engage with potential patients and start that 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:41.289 conversation to speak to what are their fears 00:08:41.289 --> 00:08:45.690 as a patient or as a user that is looking for 00:08:45.690 --> 00:08:49.830 dental services. And I think you mentioned earlier 00:08:49.830 --> 00:08:53.490 how that shifts from one kind of... dentistry 00:08:53.490 --> 00:08:56.149 to another. If somebody is just looking for a 00:08:56.149 --> 00:08:59.850 general checkup versus looking for cosmetic services 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:03.210 to change the way their smile is, that shifts 00:09:03.210 --> 00:09:07.210 from user to user. And we need to know how to 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:11.490 use content to speak to those desires and really 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:14.990 grab their attention so that they will follow 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:18.570 the way sort of through the funnel and get in 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:21.759 touch with the practice. i want to get more into 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:26.259 your process and i also want to get a bit into 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:29.399 certain types of dentistry which i think our 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:33.559 listeners would appreciate but when we take over 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.220 a client and it's still rooted in that traditional 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:40.480 way i know we touched now on the the dentist 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:45.250 in city type of keywords but beyond that What 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:47.649 are some signs that you very quickly pick up 00:09:47.649 --> 00:09:50.190 on knowing what you know about StoryBrand, knowing 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:52.309 what you know about StoryO and these things that 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:54.090 you can share with dentists to go like, hey, 00:09:54.129 --> 00:09:56.789 if you read through your homepage again, if you're 00:09:56.789 --> 00:09:59.009 seeing these things, it's time to think about 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:01.549 it. I think there are a couple of things that 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:04.210 come to mind. Obviously, the first one being 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:14.090 the dentist in location type of keywords. an 00:10:14.090 --> 00:10:16.850 agency working with traditional seo you can see 00:10:16.850 --> 00:10:19.570 that sort of littered across a home page and 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:23.029 not only is it an indicator for us that that 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:25.129 approach or that traditional approach is being 00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:28.590 taken but it's also an eyesore i you don't need 00:10:28.590 --> 00:10:31.730 to be an seo expert to look at the words on that 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:34.230 page and realize that something feels unnatural 00:10:34.230 --> 00:10:37.210 and our minds pick it up our minds do pick it 00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:41.779 up for sure. It definitely does. A user or potential 00:10:41.779 --> 00:10:45.059 patient may not know that that is an SEO practice 00:10:45.059 --> 00:10:48.139 that is being used to try and rank higher on 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:50.000 Google, but they are going to look at it and 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.019 feel that something is off about it. And I think 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:56.299 in a world where AI is so prevalent and we're 00:10:56.299 --> 00:11:00.799 so aware of things that don't seem natural, we're 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.480 constantly picking up on whether an image is 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:08.019 created by AI and now even AI in content generation, 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.460 I think our eyes are even more trained to pick 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:14.019 up abnormalities in text. So that is sort of 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:17.240 the first thing, and it speaks more to how content 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.360 feels unnatural. When content feels unnatural 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.679 and it feels generic, that is sort of the first 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.259 red flag that I see in my mind. Another thing, 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:32.250 another big thing that we look at is when a homepage 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:34.429 specifically, but this is obviously something 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:37.909 that carries out throughout a website, is all 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:40.570 about the practice. And that seems odd because 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:43.850 if your website is for your practice, surely 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:46.309 it should be about your practice. But it kind 00:11:46.309 --> 00:11:48.970 of goes against the grain of what you want your 00:11:48.970 --> 00:11:51.429 website to do, which is attract new patients. 00:11:51.769 --> 00:11:54.629 And if you have a website that's all about you 00:11:54.629 --> 00:11:57.029 and all about your achievements and all about 00:11:57.029 --> 00:12:02.909 the services that you offer, isn't conveying 00:12:02.909 --> 00:12:06.230 the message in the best way. People are very 00:12:06.230 --> 00:12:10.740 selfish for... Frankly, we're focused on ourselves. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:14.179 As we should be when we're spending money. As 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:18.620 we should be. Exactly. As we should be. And we 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:21.980 want to know how things will benefit us. And 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:25.039 a lot of practices aren't using their websites 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.019 and their content to do that. And that is something 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:31.220 that we are changing in the way that we write 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:33.559 content on behalf of our clients. And it's something 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:36.279 that usually needs to be changed when we're taking 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.139 on new clients. I think another thing is, and 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.200 this is something that sort of happens in the 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.679 background, even with clients that we do work 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.279 with and make big changes for, I think it's something 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:53.120 that can go unnoticed. But because we are Storio, 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:55.740 it's not just that we're trying to create content 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:57.919 that is more authentic and content that speaks 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.460 more to the user, but we are actually creating 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:04.820 a story. We're building the brand. creating something 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:10.740 that feels engaging and stories have flows. They 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:13.419 start in one place, they have a good chunk in 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:15.559 the middle and they tie everything in a neat 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:18.399 bow at the end. And we want the pages that we 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:20.960 work on to do that same thing. So when we're 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.639 working on a homepage or any other page, we have 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.019 an idea of what that page should look like and 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:30.220 what the best outline is to take. a potential 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:33.080 patient through. When they're landing on a page, 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:38.419 you want to engage them with that hook line and 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:41.679 think, hopefully we grab their attention fast 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:43.960 enough. But if they don't, we need to think about 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:46.559 what is the next best thing to show them? What 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.659 pulls them through the page? What gets them reading 00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:52.860 more? And what will they think about next that 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:55.440 we can preemptively provide them information 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.639 for or answer a question for? That's also something 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.980 that we have a look at. Which we know at this 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:08.500 point, we have a pretty good idea about what 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:11.639 these patients are thinking about. We've done 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:14.659 a lot of research through calls we listen to, 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:18.279 through data surveys, through what we hear from 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.279 our dentists about what people are asking. So 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.389 that's so spot on. Think about what you're putting 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:25.529 on these pages and the story, as you said, that 00:14:25.529 --> 00:14:28.129 you're telling. If it's introducing the team 00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:30.529 and feeling safe with the doctor or the reputation 00:14:30.529 --> 00:14:33.110 of the doctor or how am I going to pay for this 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:35.809 or what are other people saying? If these things 00:14:35.809 --> 00:14:37.789 are not being represented in the story that you're 00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:43.169 telling, you're going to struggle. And I want 00:14:43.169 --> 00:14:46.409 to, for the dentist or listeners in general, 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:50.090 I know I keep saying dentist, but if you're listening 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:52.679 to this and you heard what shimmer and said now 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.299 about don't make it about yourself it needs to 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:58.659 be about the patient or about the user and you're 00:14:58.659 --> 00:15:01.000 thinking but okay but how do i tell them what 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.879 i do and what it is if i don't talk about my 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.960 practice or talk about my experience and as you 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:09.919 said that shimmer and i thought about an example 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:12.860 of if you let's say it's a traveling company 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:16.179 and you want to book a trip to italy okay we're 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:21.809 going to tuscany join me to tuscany and all that 00:15:21.809 --> 00:15:24.470 this travel brochure says is you will fly with 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:29.149 this metal plane that has these jet engines and 00:15:29.149 --> 00:15:31.950 you're going to meet this captain who has been 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:34.289 doing this for so many years and then you will 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:37.889 take this taxi and that taxi will take a year 00:15:37.889 --> 00:15:40.750 and it's a great taxi the taxi is very fuel efficient 00:15:40.750 --> 00:15:43.889 so you don't have to worry and first of all i'm 00:15:43.889 --> 00:15:45.990 not paying for the fuel i'm paying for the meter 00:15:45.990 --> 00:15:48.330 so it does like this is very and this goes on 00:15:48.330 --> 00:15:53.600 versus What would you feel like if I told you 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.860 that I can get you the fastest trip to Tuscany 00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:59.820 where you will experience the countryside and 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:02.120 you won't have to worry about getting from the 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:05.600 airport to your Airbnb because there'll be someone 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.840 waiting for you where it's going to be affordable. 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:11.820 And immediately you hear the difference in I'm 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:14.480 painting the picture. I'm telling you why that 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.639 taxi matters. I'm telling you why that plane 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.899 matters. We're still telling the patient on the 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:22.080 homepage, back to dental now, we're still telling 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.500 the patient about the practice, about the experience, 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:27.919 but you need to think about what does it actually 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.700 mean for them? And then as you said now, Shem, 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:34.159 how does it fit into the story that we're trying 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.899 to tell to actually address the needs of these 00:16:36.899 --> 00:16:39.820 patients? And it's shocking how many dental practices 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:43.620 we see that just miss this mark. It is shocking, 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.700 but at the same time shocking, but not surprising 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:50.120 almost, because it seems obvious that the experience 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.179 is something that you need to focus on. But when 00:16:53.179 --> 00:16:55.460 we're looking at dentistry and the things that 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:58.419 we or the things that dentists would typically 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:01.340 want to showcase, it's difficult to do that. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:05.180 You do need an expert by your side to make dental 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.759 technology sound exciting for a patient. It's 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:14.029 just one of those things. differences across 00:17:14.029 --> 00:17:19.910 types of dentistry if i'm a periodontist or a 00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:24.069 cosmetic dentist or a pediatric dentist or orthodontist 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:28.009 like does does the core of it remain the same 00:17:28.009 --> 00:17:30.029 to you and the story just needs to be adjusted 00:17:30.029 --> 00:17:33.650 or how have you approached it when you deal with 00:17:33.650 --> 00:17:37.589 these different types of dentistry i would say 00:17:37.589 --> 00:17:40.170 or argue that outside of just different types 00:17:40.170 --> 00:17:42.730 of dentistry, it honestly differs from practice 00:17:42.730 --> 00:17:46.490 to practice. We may have a framework that we're 00:17:46.490 --> 00:17:50.450 following for each and every practice, but practices 00:17:50.450 --> 00:17:53.970 are unique. You will find different dentists 00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:57.470 from one practice to the next. At the end of 00:17:57.470 --> 00:17:59.430 the day, you could go anywhere to get the dental 00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:01.849 service that you need. You're really choosing 00:18:01.849 --> 00:18:04.009 the practice and you're choosing to stay there. 00:18:04.230 --> 00:18:09.230 And while we don't want to focus on the team 00:18:09.230 --> 00:18:11.750 in a way that puts them at the forefront and 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:14.349 not the patient, they are really who we're selling. 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:19.390 And their expertise, their experience, and frankly, 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:21.970 their personality is what we're trying to let 00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:24.609 shine through. And that's the kind of thing that 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:27.990 I think speaks more. authentically to patients 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:32.529 because it's intrinsically human so it's don't 00:18:32.529 --> 00:18:35.730 think of types of dentistry think of who are 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:39.529 you as a practice or who is this practice and 00:18:39.529 --> 00:18:43.289 how are we going to tell their story and the 00:18:43.289 --> 00:18:46.769 services that they want to push not cookie cutter 00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:51.650 It isn't exactly kikata because if it was, anybody 00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:54.009 could do that and that's something that anybody 00:18:54.009 --> 00:18:56.910 could offer, any dental practice. We're trying 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:00.269 to find what makes a practice unique and make 00:19:00.269 --> 00:19:03.750 that be what helps them shine. However, if we're 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:06.869 looking purely at services they offer, I think 00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:09.309 there is sort of a recipe for success that we 00:19:09.309 --> 00:19:11.369 can look at when we're trying to market certain 00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:14.670 services, especially on a website. So while we're 00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:18.960 trying to highlight what is uniquely that practice 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.880 on the core pages, like I mentioned, that typically 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.599 encapsulates the homepage, the about page, which 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.140 is truly all about the team and the dentists 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:31.119 and what their first visit experience is like. 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.359 We do have a list of service pages that we rely 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.259 on to build our online visibility. And on those 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:42.259 pages, There are certain things that we can always 00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:47.960 accept as true. If you are looking for a dentist 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:51.500 to help alleviate a dental emergency, the kind 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:53.700 of content that you would put on that page would 00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:55.960 look vastly different from if you're looking 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:58.640 for a dentist to help. take out your wisdom teeth. 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:01.660 While emergency dentistry would require a sense 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:05.500 of urgency, wisdom teeth removal doesn't necessarily. 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:09.380 Maybe some element of urgency, but not quite 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:12.099 the same. And the way that we structure our content 00:20:12.099 --> 00:20:15.700 and the sort of the elements that we include 00:20:15.700 --> 00:20:19.359 in the actual information is vastly different 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.900 from the one to the next based on that. So I 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:27.259 guess my next question for you is, I'm a dentist 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:30.180 and I say, okay, I'm buying into the idea of 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.660 story. I get it. We can't just have a bunch of 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:36.759 keywords on a page. It's about the story. It's 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.200 about making it about the patient. We want them 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.299 to feel that we truly understand them. We're 00:20:43.299 --> 00:20:47.539 showing social proof. I'm with you. But if you're 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:49.319 going to be taking away all of these keywords 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.299 or at least lessening it, is that not going to 00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:57.089 hurt my rankings? Have we seen that there's any 00:20:57.089 --> 00:20:59.210 significant drop in these changes we've been 00:20:59.210 --> 00:21:02.349 making? What can you tell us in terms of risk 00:21:02.349 --> 00:21:05.369 management and results that we've seen when we've 00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:08.750 changed our ways? Because a lot of the industry 00:21:08.750 --> 00:21:10.750 would probably tell you, no, it's going to hurt 00:21:10.750 --> 00:21:13.250 your rankings. So that would be interesting for 00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:16.190 me to know. Yeah, I get that. We can't just say. 00:21:16.670 --> 00:21:19.650 trust us and then expect everyone to give us 00:21:19.650 --> 00:21:22.130 a big thumbs up and a smile. So I understand 00:21:22.130 --> 00:21:25.190 that uncertainty and we've received some of that 00:21:25.190 --> 00:21:29.589 pushback even within our own agency from clients. 00:21:29.630 --> 00:21:31.970 It is a concern that we see and with good reason. 00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:36.109 We come from years of doing SEO in a traditional 00:21:36.109 --> 00:21:40.150 way where we are also told to follow the steps 00:21:40.150 --> 00:21:44.509 that give us good rankings. But if I haven't 00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:48.369 mentioned it already, Rankings do not necessarily 00:21:48.369 --> 00:21:51.809 equal new patients. And if we are working with 00:21:51.809 --> 00:21:55.710 a practice, our primary goal is to get them new 00:21:55.710 --> 00:21:58.190 patients. Our goal is to not necessarily give 00:21:58.190 --> 00:22:00.630 them rankings. Now, if one equals the other, 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:03.529 then we're just, I suppose, winning. But one 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:06.269 does not always equal the other. So what we've 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:08.609 seen so far, if I can share a little bit about 00:22:08.609 --> 00:22:10.690 that, because we've been on this journey now 00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:13.670 for close to a year of changing the way that 00:22:13.670 --> 00:22:17.869 we look at SEO and changing the way that we work 00:22:17.869 --> 00:22:21.470 on content and anybody who is familiar with SEO 00:22:21.470 --> 00:22:24.670 will know that change takes time. It always takes 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:28.390 a couple of months for things to really hit Google 00:22:28.390 --> 00:22:31.650 and for us to see the effects of that. But we've 00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:35.450 actually not seen any crazy dives for our clients. 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:38.640 There have perhaps been some fluctuations in 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.900 rankings, but nothing that has been a major cause 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:46.019 for concern. If we look at the pure data on Google 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:49.539 Search Console, for example, visibility is stable. 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:53.279 In many cases, it's up. So we're actually reaching 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:57.039 more eyes than we expected. And we are still 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.880 very much in the process of making the changes 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:02.200 that we are making on behalf of our clients. 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:07.519 So far, it's looking good. Another thing that 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:14.480 I thought about was insurance officers, HMO, 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:18.660 PPO, fee -for -service officers, your officers 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:21.460 that want even higher -end treatment. I'm talking 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:28.059 about a $40 ,000, $50 ,000 full -arch case. I 00:23:28.059 --> 00:23:32.579 can imagine that as you move up on the cost, 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.160 of treatment and the type of practice you are 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.680 what you're telling us here becomes more and 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.019 more and more important because if i think of 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:47.000 like a watch the entry level watch is it tells 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.700 you the time and it will go this far into the 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:52.359 water and that's great and it will cost you maybe 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.599 two hundred dollars a rolex that's associated 00:23:56.599 --> 00:24:01.089 with the masters is said that Like this is the 00:24:01.089 --> 00:24:04.869 type of watch that Tiger Woods would wear because 00:24:04.869 --> 00:24:08.470 he's a champion. And this brand is associated 00:24:08.470 --> 00:24:10.609 with it. So people are willing to spend that 00:24:10.609 --> 00:24:12.210 money because they're associated. Do you see 00:24:12.210 --> 00:24:14.349 that in dentistry too where this, what you're 00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:16.269 saying with StoryO becomes more and more important 00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:19.849 as you go up on that pay scale? Yes, for sure. 00:24:19.970 --> 00:24:21.890 That's definitely something that we see. And 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:24.589 I think that is where the essence of creating 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:27.349 a story on behalf of our clients is so important. 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:31.519 We've spent a lot of time as a team considering 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:37.799 how we can create content and truly make content 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:41.599 unique in a way that speaks to what these practices 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.920 are hoping to achieve. For practices that do 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.420 offer services that are more on the high -end 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:53.140 cost scale, we need to create an atmosphere, 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:56.539 almost an environment through their brand and 00:24:56.539 --> 00:24:59.119 through their content that speaks to that. If 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:03.579 you're comparing a cheap watch that you have 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:06.980 bought off the road compared to Rolex, you really 00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:10.799 want content that is sleek and professional and 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.480 gives you confidence in the services that they're 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:18.839 offering versus something that is dental specialist 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:22.779 in location and the content looks generic and 00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:24.740 they're not telling you anything about the practice 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:28.619 or why that practice and that specific specialist 00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:31.539 is the best for your needs. So it is something 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:34.859 that we've needed to take into account and decide 00:25:34.859 --> 00:25:38.799 how we can structure content and actually write 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:41.079 content and create the feeling that we're hoping 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:47.480 to. So to end off, I want to ask you if I'm a 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:50.200 dentist or a practice manager, hygienist, someone, 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:53.299 I'm listening to this now. And I just want to 00:25:53.299 --> 00:25:58.059 take the initial first steps of trying to judge 00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:01.819 if we need this, if we're doing it right. What 00:26:01.819 --> 00:26:05.920 are some initial steps that I can take on my 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:10.140 current website to identify these things and 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:14.440 to start making changes? I think the quick... 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.680 sort of surefire way to identify if your website 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:22.940 has fallen victim to a lack of story is how I 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:26.460 could phrase it. It's similar to the things that 00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:29.460 us as a team would look out for. If you've opened 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:33.799 up the homepage of your website and it's littered 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:37.579 with content that feels odd because of location 00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:41.259 -based keywords or sentences that just don't 00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:45.630 quite have the right structure, That is one way 00:26:45.630 --> 00:26:48.269 to tell if you need a bit of a story or approach. 00:26:48.609 --> 00:26:52.950 Another is that if your homepage is sparse, if 00:26:52.950 --> 00:26:56.930 it isn't telling a potential patient why you 00:26:56.930 --> 00:27:00.210 are different from your competitors and why they 00:27:00.210 --> 00:27:02.230 should reach out to you versus a competitor, 00:27:02.490 --> 00:27:04.750 that's something that you really need to look 00:27:04.750 --> 00:27:08.109 out for. And if it is telling your patients that 00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:10.789 Where is it telling that? Is it sharing that 00:27:10.789 --> 00:27:13.569 information the moment you land on the page or 00:27:13.569 --> 00:27:16.170 do you have to scroll for two minutes before 00:27:16.170 --> 00:27:18.829 you can actually find out that bit of information? 00:27:19.470 --> 00:27:21.710 Two things that come to mind as you say that 00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:25.549 is, number one, there's limited real estate. 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:28.910 So as you were saying, how far are you scrolling 00:27:28.910 --> 00:27:30.549 if you're trying to communicate something? So 00:27:30.549 --> 00:27:32.670 if you're looking at your website and your patient 00:27:32.670 --> 00:27:35.230 testimonials or your in -house membership plan 00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:38.660 or the reviews saying how amazing you are, is 00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:42.279 sitting two minutes into me trying to get to 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:44.319 the bottom of your page, and I'm exaggerating 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:48.680 now, but understand what I'm saying, then that 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.960 is not something that's going to help your practice 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:55.500 get new patients. And the second thing I want 00:27:55.500 --> 00:27:58.839 to mention is, what Shimran mentioned there now 00:27:58.839 --> 00:28:01.960 is making yourself stand out, being unique, how 00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:04.859 you stand out from someone else. Treating you 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:08.779 like family, and we have a new cone beam, latest 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:12.960 this and online scheduling is nice, but a lot 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:16.720 of people are starting to do it. You will root 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:23.200 it in tradition. These are all terms that as 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:25.960 consumers, our minds have become so trained to 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:29.619 just kind of gloss over these things because 00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:32.220 it's such an old way of looking at things. We 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:35.519 treat you like family, modern dentistry. No. 00:28:36.409 --> 00:28:38.789 look at your homepage, read it, and then understand 00:28:38.789 --> 00:28:44.390 why am I modern dentist? What is it? Is it that 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:47.269 the turnaround times are a lot quicker? Is it 00:28:47.269 --> 00:28:52.150 that I'm open on weekends too? Is it that with 00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:55.009 my new scanner, you can sit at home and send 00:28:55.009 --> 00:28:57.349 me a picture instead of having to come in and 00:28:57.349 --> 00:28:59.710 I can just ship you your next set of trays? Like 00:28:59.710 --> 00:29:02.410 that is what matters to people. So go and look 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:04.630 for those things and then truly try and differentiate 00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:08.369 yourself. in valuable ways not just by saying 00:29:08.369 --> 00:29:12.309 you will feel at home that is not that is not 00:29:12.309 --> 00:29:16.049 differentiated no that's you've you've summed 00:29:16.049 --> 00:29:18.430 it up perfectly and i think that is what we could 00:29:18.430 --> 00:29:21.789 classify as a bit of a dental cliche for content 00:29:21.789 --> 00:29:27.009 so on that note shimmerin thank you so much i 00:29:27.009 --> 00:29:29.890 appreciate you coming to share with us um stay 00:29:29.890 --> 00:29:32.450 tuned we have the third episode of the series 00:29:32.450 --> 00:29:36.059 coming on where we will talk to our paid media 00:29:36.059 --> 00:29:40.319 specialist and he will be sharing how what shimran 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:43.680 has shared with us today also plays a role in 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:46.180 your paid advertising and the ads you put out 00:29:46.180 --> 00:29:48.920 there because that is still you representing 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:52.140 your brand to the world um you can't have it 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:54.680 right on your website and then your ads and your 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:56.359 social media and these things still have that 00:29:56.359 --> 00:29:59.220 bad generic type of wording it all works together 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:01.579 as an ecosystem so we look forward for that one 00:30:02.170 --> 00:30:03.910 Shimran, thank you so much. It was great having 00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:05.690 you. Thank you, Ian.