Search Engine Optimization (SEO) recovery project:
Cleveland dentist’s rankings on Google vanish after site redesign. Barry Edwards commissioned to get dental practice on Page 1 of Google search results
Dr. Claudia Minadeo-Fox owns and operates Health Inspired Dentistry – a holistic dental practice set in a spa-like setting. Not only a full dental practice, but she also offers Ozone therapy, massages, botox, dermal fillers… all in a mercury-free and mercury-safe environment. It’s the most engaging and friendly practice I’ve ever seen. She has over 60 5-star Google reviews – a truly remarkable practice!
Their website, HealthInspiredDentistry.com, once ranked highly in Search Engine Results Page (SERPs), but the site lost its years of hard-earned Google Mojo when redesigned in early 2019. Dr. Minadeo-Fox was referred to Edwards Communications to recover her web rankings.
Utilizing on-page and off-page SEO enhancements, and executing a high quality Content Marketing/Social Marketing plan, we succeeded in getting the practice back on Page 1 of Google for most of the priority key words/phrases while quadrupling the average weekly site traffic.
Getting started: Keywords
Any SEO engagement starts with finding the keywords (and longtail keywords) with which the site ranks best, and those that competitors rank best with. With these lists in hand, some notes should be made to rank the value of these keyword phrases. To simply chase the most searched keywords with your content is like adding a shovel full of your own sand to a beach – not much of yours will be found.
Finding The Gap: Its best to find a balance of a somewhat highly sought keyword, but its very definitive of your brand or service.
PHASE 1 – On-page SEO
Assessing website structure: Google Analytics/Search Console
One of the first things I had to do was get Google Analytics up and running to get a baseline, then get the site on Google Search Console in order to submit the Site Map, look for web page errors and find our most popular keywords/phrases. I began with measuring September 2019 to establish my baseline.
I was happy to report no major page errors. But our page positioning left a lot to be desired (but we knew that).
FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2019
FULL MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2019
Results to date
Same statistics measured at time of this case study. Nearly 5X our Total Impressions and Total Clicks. We expect better Average Positioning and Click Thru Rate (CTR) as our keywords continue to rise in searches.
FULL MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2020
PHASE 1 – On-page SEO continued
PHASE 1 – On-page SEO continuedImproving page/post structure, contents. Metadata
The next part of the SEO rescue included assessing the nearly 50 blog articles contents. As there were approximately 50 posts, it was quite a bit of work. I performed much of the same process to the Services and About pages.
The most important enhancements were giving images alt data (descriptive search data for otherwise unreadable pictures). And many posts/pages didn’t contain optimized metadata that emphasized important keyword phrases.
Blog posts contained a lot of manual changes to type size and color that Google bots would likely demote as unprofessional. In place, I enhanced the design of the Headings text and unordered lists. I also added internal links to complementary pages (helps Google spiders crawl site) and external links of definitions to highly credible sites such as the ADA.
I also added headings/subheadings where possible with related keywords to enhance optimization.
I have a couple proprietary techniques that I performed on each page as well to enhance Local Search, but I keep those inhouse.
PHASE 2 – Off-page SEO
Google My Business: Letting Google know who you are and what you offer
After any possible penalties are structure problems are taken care of, Google My Business needs to be optimized.
Armed with our descriptive copy and media, I updated our information and added individual Services. Google has recently enhanced this offering greatly, so if you haven’t updated your GMB presence in a while, I highly recommend doing so.
Backlinks: Quality and consistent inbound links are a key measure of your Authority
After this, I embarked on applying for as many quality backlinks as possible and corrected wrong directories along the way. Being listed properly with the mega-directories is imperative, and getting on as many quality directories as well is very important. It’s an arduous process, but very important for Search Engine Ranking Pages (SERPs). Smaller directories pull your information from larger directories, so inconsistencies can propagate if not headed off.
Social media and SEO
Your social media channels ARE additional directories. The profile information also needs updated accordingly, and in this case, I created a couple new channels to ensure a more robust presence.
Being on the appropriate social media channels for your audience is extremely important to your online presence because this is where you entice new audience members, while staying engaged with existing ones.
Timeframe for Phase 1 and 2: Shoring up website content and deploying off-page SEO
This was a fairly time consuming process of about 3 months. The upfront keyword and competitor research typically takes 1-2 weeks. The descriptive content for GMB and other directories was a very smooth process as the client was already well-versed in this phase of her marketing.
Editing blog posts and their metadata is time consuming and best to do in small chunks. The same can be said for shoring up your presence with online directories.
With just these two phases executed well, you should expect a slow increase in your search engine rankings. If you want a dramatic increase, you need to employ Phase 3: Content Marketing Strategy.
Phase 3: Content Marketing / Social Media Marketing Strategy
Phase 1 and 2 are largely reactive measures to be taken to solve problematic search engine ranking problems. As stated, if you’ve turned those problems around, you’ll likely see your existing content slowly rise in rankings.
But Phase 3 is a PROACTIVE approach. It is the process of pushing out new, high quality content onto your website (the Hub or Headquarters of your online presence) and out into mainstream traffic (your social media channels) to generate interest in your products or services.
Website content for Local SEO enhancement
Having identified our major problem SEO problem with our content on the blog, we embarked on creating a series of “evergreen” pages and complementary blog posts of original content with proper outbound source linked as well as proper internal links.
Social media marketing for increased Local SEO
I signed us up for a couple additional social networks to make sure we had the best organic presence possible for our audience. My client was great about forwarding potential usable content that pertained to the holistic dental industry (and related fields).
I created blog posts and social media posts from this content. I scheduled the content out a couple weeks at a time. I made sure we posted three times/day and was able to continue to add to the schedule – creating a robust library of reusable, sustainable content.
This resulting in more and more audience engagement and website traffic over the course of the campaign (see below).
Results to date: Site Traffic
We have increased site traffic 6X over the year since the project began.
Before: Our baseline upon starting. We were averaging around 44 users/week
to the website
FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2019
— Click to enlarge —
After: We’re now averaging around
202 site users/week
to the website
FIRST WEEK, DECEMBER 2020
— Click to enlarge —
Results to date: Keyword search results
We had jointly decided on what are the most important longtail keywords (keyword phrases) that promote their most important services. I utilized several on-page strategies in order to raise their rankings in search engine results.
I measured our original rankings and kept track of the progress in order to see which techniques worked best for each instance.
Overall, the results were a DRAMATIC improvement – with many keywords pushing out competitors on Page 1.
Keyword rankings: Before
Keyword rankings: Afer
Dentist keyword search results improvements:
“Dentist”
Like most dentists, my client draws her primary audience from a 10-mile radius. And that 10-mile radius surrounding the dental practice consists of five suburbs – all within the Cleveland municipality.
Its very important that we improve ranking within those suburbs.
Most notable keyword ranking jumps:
- BEFORE: “Dentist, Highland Heights” — August 2019, page 2, 6th place.
AFTER: June 2020, Page One of Google searches #10 - BEFORE: “Dentist, Gates Mills” — August 2019, No ranking.
AFTER: June 2020, Page One of Google searches #6 and 7 - BEFORE: “Holistic dentist, Cleveland” — August 2019, No ranking.
AFTER: June 2020, Page Two of Google searches #9
Keyword rankings: Before
Keyword rankings: After
Dentist keyword search results improvements:
“Ozone therapy”
Ozone therapy is an integral aspect of holistic dentistry and unique to the brand. As such, its a terrific “gap” keyword to promote in our area.
Most notable keyword ranking jump:
- BEFORE: “Ozone therapy, Cleveland” — May 2020, No ranking.
AFTER: June 2020, Page One of Google searches #4 !
Keyword rankings: Before
Keyword rankings: After
Dentist keyword search results improvements:
“Invisalign”
Invisalign teeth straightening is a huge service for dentists right now, and we had very little presence at all.
Most notable keyword ranking jump:
- BEFORE: “Invisalign, Cleveland” — July 2020, No ranking.
AFTER: Nov 2020, Page Two of Google searches #7 ! - BEFORE: Invisalign, Highland Hts” — July 2020, Page 2, #2.
AFTER: Nov 2020, Page ONE, #3 ! - BEFORE: “Invisalign, Lyndhurst” — July 2020, No ranking.
AFTER: Nov 2020, Page ONE of Google searches #5 !
Keyword rankings: Before
Keyword rankings: After
Dentist keyword search results improvements:
“Teeth whitening”
Teeth whitening is a popular entry-level procedure that can result in new long term clients.
Most notable keyword ranking jump:
- BEFORE: “Teeth whitening, Mayfield” — June 2020, Page 4, #10.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page ONE #9 ! - BEFORE: “Teeth whitening, Lyndhurst” — June 2020, No ranking.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page ONE #4 !
Keyword rankings: Before
Keyword rankings: After
Dentist keyword search results improvements:
“Mercury”
Mercury, found in amalgam (silver) fillings is a health issue that must be dealt with by a certified mercury-free and -safe dentist. Thus, it is integral and definitive of my client’s holistic practice.
Most notable keyword ranking jump:
- BEFORE: “Mercury filling removal, Cleveland” — Nov 2020, No ranking.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page Two #2 - BEFORE: “Best holistic dentist near me” — Nov 2020, Page 7, #6.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page ONE #3 ! - BEFORE: “Mercury safe dentist near me” — Nov 2020, Page 6, #10.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page ONE #8 ! - BEFORE: “Mercury filling removal near me” — Nov 2020, Page 9, #6.
AFTER: Dec 2020, Page ONE #8 !
Final thoughts on Local SEO rejuvenation case study
Losing your good standing with search engine results is serious business. It can have a dramatic impact to your bottom line for years to come.
Reclaiming your positions can be harder than starting from scratch, as it would seem to indicate penalties that would need overcome, and no one outside Google knows for sure exactly what their algorithms are. This is what makes creating a web presence tricky business.
If you find yourself in need of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) assistance, or of website development assistance, make sure you simply ask the prospective provider how they measure their progress. This alone will separate most of the charlatans from true professionals.
If you’d like to discuss how to get your online presence found and generating prospects for you, please CONTACT me for a free consultation.
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