Use the category that matches most of your patients, usually Dentist. Add your services and an online booking link. Take photos of the office and the team, not of patients. Ask each patient for a review, and never confirm a patient or mention treatment in a reply.
How customers search for dental offices
These are the searches that produce calls in this trade. Each one has a different value and a different level of competition.
| Search | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| dentist near me | The largest search, and new patients use it. |
| emergency dentist | Immediate intent, high value, and often searched at night or on a weekend. |
| dental implants | The highest value treatment, and patients research for weeks. |
| teeth whitening | High volume, low price, and it brings new patients into the practice. |
| pediatric dentist | A separate category and a separate search. |
| dentist that takes [insurance] | Very common. Answer it in your description and on your website. |
Your categories
Main category: Dentist
A general practice uses Dentist. Add a specialty category only when you provide that treatment regularly. A practice focused on children can use Pediatric dentist as the main category.
Additional categories to consider:
- Cosmetic dentist
- Pediatric dentist
- Emergency dental service
- Dental implants periodontist
- Orthodontist
Use our category finder to confirm, and read the category guide for the method to change a category safely.
The services to list
Add each service as a separate item. Use the words that customers type, not the words that the trade uses. This list covers most companies in this trade.
- Cleanings
- Exams and X-rays
- Fillings
- Crowns
- Bridges
- Root canals
- Extractions
- Dental implants
- Dentures
- Teeth whitening
- Veneers
- Clear aligners
- Emergency dental care
- Pediatric dentistry
- Sedation dentistry
Write one or two sentences for each service. Add a price or a price range if you publish prices.
Hours and availability
Patients search for emergency dental care outside office hours. Set exact hours, including lunch closures, and add holiday hours in advance. An incorrect hour produces a bad review from a patient in pain.
The photos to take
Take these six photos. Each one answers a question that a customer asks before the call.
- The entrance with the sign, from the street
- The waiting area
- A treatment room, empty and clean
- The dentists and the team, in uniform
- The sterilization area
- The parking area that patients use
Add three to five photos each week. Our photo audit shows the gaps on your listing.
Your review system
Ask each customer on the day of the job. Send a direct link in a text message. Ask one time, then send one reminder after three days.
Use our review link builder for the link, and the request template for your trade. Answer each review with the reply writer.
Do not offer a discount or a gift for a review. Do not ask only the customers that you think are satisfied. Google and the FTC prohibit both practices.
Your posting plan
Post one time each week. These are the messages that work in this trade.
January
Insurance benefits reset. Post about new benefit years and scheduling.
Late fall
Post about benefits that expire at the end of the year. This is the strongest booking message of the year.
Back to school
Post about exams and cleanings for children.
All year
Post short answers to common questions, for example the cost of a crown or the time that an implant takes.
Suspension risks for dental offices
These are the mistakes that remove listings in this trade.
- A treatment or a city added to the practice name.
- A separate listing for each dentist when the conditions do not apply. Read the Google guidelines for practitioners first.
- A patient in a photo without written permission.
- A reply that confirms a person as a patient or names a treatment. Federal regulators have penalized providers for this.
- A listing at an address that the practice no longer uses after a move.
Examine your business name with our free name checker.
What your website must do
Google reads your website when it selects the businesses for the map. Three things matter most.
- One page for each main service, with the words that customers use.
- The same business name, address and telephone number as your listing.
- A page for each area that you serve, with real local detail.
See local SEO for your website.
An example of the work in order
A two-dentist general practice. This is an example that shows the order of the work. It is not a client report.
- The practice had a main category of Dental clinic, no booking link, and photos of stock dental equipment.
- The corrections: main category changed to Dentist, 12 services added, an online booking link added, and photos of the real office and the team uploaded.
- The review step: a request sent by text after each visit, and a neutral reply used for every review.
Your checklist
- Main category set to Dentist
- Additional categories added for regular services only
- Each service listed separately, in customer words
- Business name is the real name, with no extra words
- Hours are correct, and they match the telephone that you answer
- Service area covers the places that you drive to
- At least 15 real photos, and new photos each week
- A review request sent to each customer on the day of the job
- Each review answered within 48 hours
- The same business name, address and telephone number on other websites