Think about this for a moment. As little as a dozen years ago, PCs were the only way people got onto the internet. Then, something happened. Smartphones put the internet in people’s pockets, and they’ve never looked back. Today, mobile search ranking for dental practice websites needs to be a top priority. Any dentist seeking to increase production needs a mobile-friendly website that ranks well on Google. It’s that simple.
Websites Have Changed Because of Mobile
Today, more people use mobile devices than they do PCs to access the internet. That bears repeating (and we will later). In short, mobile devices now matter more than PCs in website design. This is an idea so new that many dentists don’t even realize it yet. However, make no mistake… if your practice website isn’t mobile-friendly, you risk having fewer new patients and less production as a result.
To achieve better mobile search ranking for dental practice websites, it’s necessary to consider:
- How the User Experiences Your Website
- Do Technical Aspects Add or Subtract From Your Website?
- The Effectiveness of Your Content
How the User Experiences Your Website
Today, the best websites have been designed to be responsive. They can easily adjust to whatever type of device a viewer is using (PC, smartphone, tablet, etc.). Such smart functionality is an important element of good mobile search ranking for dental practice websites.
For a mobile-friendly web page to rank well on search engines like Google, strive for the following traits:
- It will have larger fonts: no one wants to contend with a lot of small text that’s difficult to see without zooming in.
- Fewer photos: pictures are obviously nice. However, there isn’t room for a dozen of them on a typical page optimized for mobile.
- Fewer buttons and menus: it’s easy to be overwhelmed by design elements when viewing a web page on mobile. Good mobile search ranking for dental practice websites requires wise use of space on the page.
- Bulleted lists are good: sort of like the bulleted list you’re reading right now. Bullets allow you to say a lot with fewer words, which is a good thing for mobile viewing.
- Keep lists short: brevity is your best friend when creating for an audience that views your material on a mobile device.
Do Technical Aspects Add or Subtract From Your Website?
Every decent web developer will talk about why you need good content. However, there’s something else to think about. You have to make certain viewers actually get to your content. That’s a function of loading speed.
Load time is something you should keep in mind for any kind of website. With mobile, however, it’s even more important than for a PC. To achieve more mobile-friendly pages, consider the following:
- Optimize graphic files for the web: a mobile page doesn’t require enormous high-resolution images. Remember that good mobile search ranking for dental practice websites requires a fast load time. If huge images slow down your website’s loading speed, it’s not a good experience for the viewer.
- Using Flash doesn’t automatically make your site look better: “flash and trash” can be overkill (and it can slow down your loading speed if done poorly). Remember also that some mobile devices don’t necessarily support Flash.
The Effectiveness of Your Content
It may be trite to say that your content must grab the reader’s attention. Therefore, please bear with us as we tell you… your content must grab the reader’s attention. As unoriginal as that advice may be, it’s true.
Furthermore, it needs to be precisely what readers are looking for. If it’s well-written and compelling, all the better. This is good advice for desktop or mobile-friendly websites. There are, however, a few things that are unique for mobile-friendly websites:
- Mobile content should be shorter: no one on a mobile phone wants to read a 3,000-word epic blog. However, that hasn’t stopped some companies from posting what seem like novels on their websites. Why post content if no one’s ever going to read it? Many experts now advise bringing blogs and pages in at just under 1,000 words for mobile viewing.
- Create fewer links: there shouldn’t be an internal link every two sentences on web pages. Google advises against doing this, and that’s good enough reason right there.
Better Mobile Search Ranking for Dental Practice Websites – Make It A Reality
The smartest dental practices dived into the internet in the early days because they could see where the future was headed. Similarly, smart practices today know mobile-friendly websites aren’t a luxury but rather a necessity. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly website right now, you need to start thinking about it… and fast.
Mobile devices are now the main method for accessing the internet (there, we said it yet again!). Consequently, better mobile search ranking for dental practice websites takes on greater significance. Without a mobile-friendly website, you’re bound to lose traffic to other practices. That means your production goes down. That’s why you need to work with digital marketing experts to optimize your website for mobile.
As a Premier Google Partner, Dreamscape Marketing’s SEO and web development experience is essential for your success. Mobile search ranking for dental practice websites is of paramount importance today. In fact, your production likely depends on it.
Contact us today at 877-958-9180 or through our Contact Us web page. Isn’t it time to optimize your practice website for mobile?