Why Should Dentists Care About SEO?
In nearly every community in Wyoming, people use Google to find dentists more than just about any other business (though realtors do give them a run for their money). Usually, the larger a city is, the greater return you can expect from SEO. So we’ve taken the 10 most populated cities in Wyoming and given them a thorough analysis. Each city’s breakdown will include the number of people searching for dentists every month, the estimated number of new patients you could expect to get from hitting the first page of Google, who is currently ranked at the top, and a brief look at how solid those top competitors are.
As a clarification, when we break down the quality of the Top 3, that doesn’t reflect how we feel about their quality as dentists. Rather, it’s completely based on the strength of their SEO, and how difficult it would be to overtake them and create a new spot in the Top 3.
The Numbers We’ll Use
Any time we’re throwing numbers out there (such as lifetime patient value and conversion rates, for example), we’re going to be using some rough estimates. These estimates will be based on industry standards and will be kept on the lower side of things because we would rather give a conservative estimate (and you may be surprised at how high that conservative estimate is, so read on!)
When we’re looking at how many new patients you could potentially acquire, we’ll use a 2% conversion rate. Just for reference, a 2% conversion rate means that if 100 people see your business in search results, 2 of them will eventually become patients. In most industries, a 2%-5% rate is pretty reasonable if your business is listed in one of the top three map positions – but it is better to err on the low side.
The next number we need to look at is the value of each of those patients. There are varying estimates of the lifetime value of a patient, ranging everywhere from $1,000 to $10,000. Because we’re trying to be conservative with all our estimates, we’ll stick with the lowest end: $1,000 per patient.
Remember, these numbers are low estimates. They could vary in either direction, but it’s likely that actual results will be higher than the estimates put forth here.
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Cheyenne
Search Traffic
Each month, approximately 2,700 people in Cheyenne use Google to search for something dentist-related. Most of these are just generic “dentist near me” type searches, though there are a couple hundred looking for specific services like root canals or teeth whitening. Beyond general dentistry, pediatric dentistry has the most interest by far, with 210 people each month looking for that specific service.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Using our 2% estimate, 2,700 searches should translate into 54 new patients each month. With our estimate of $1,000 per patient, the math is pretty easy, and comes out to $54,000 in value every month just from search engine traffic!
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Advanced Dental Inc.
2. Kincheloe Dental Office PC
3. Granite Springs Dentistry
Advanced Dental Inc is pretty well established in their position, and while ousting them from the top 3 would be a possibility, the process would be quite lengthy. The other two clinics are doing all right from an optimization position, but are on considerably shakier ground than Advanced Dental, leaving them vulnerable to competitors.
Casper
Search Traffic
Approximately 1,127 people in Casper search for dentists in some form or another each month. Aside from the generic “Casper dentist” type searches, there are also quite a few searches for family and pediatric dentists, as well as about 20 for dental implants.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Using our 2% estimate, ranking in the top three should translate into about 23 patients per month. Multiply that by our $1,000 patient value and there is reasonable potential for a dentist in Casper to see $23,000/month from SEO.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Advanced Family Dental
2. Hilltop Family Dental
3. Aspen Ridge Dental
Casper is one of the most competitive markets in Wyoming. All three of these dental clinics have high-quality websites with a decent measure of SEO authority. They are not unbeatable by any means, but it would take a concentrated effort and a decent amount of time to do it.
Laramie
Search Traffic
Despite having a lower population than Casper, Laramie has a higher search volume at 1,600 searches per month. This is probably because the University brings in a lot of new people that then turn to Google to show them dental options.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Using our 2% estimate, 32 new patients could realistically be heading your way each month if you rank in the top three. That makes the estimated monthly patient value around $32,000.
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Laramie Dental Arts
2. Grand Avenue Dental Center
3. Dr. Troy L. Knaub
Laramie is a pretty open SEO market for dentists. Neither of the top two listings are all that cemented in their place since they run off of templated “dental marketing” software that gets spread through hundreds of dentists, leaving little room for individual consideration. And interestingly enough, Troy Knaub is the head dentist at Laramie Dental Arts, so he is currently dominating!
Gillette
Search Traffic
Gillette has a search volume of 850 searches per month, with a disproportionately large amount of searches for pediatric dentists, which get 30 searches per month.
What Does That Mean For Me?
850 searches at 2% translates to at least 17 new patients per month. 17 new patients with a lifetime value of $1,000 each turns into $17,000 worth of new patients every month!
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Gillette Dental PC
2. Big Horn Dental Clinic
3. Synergy Dental Center
Gillette’s top ranking dentists are an interesting story. I have more to say about them than the dentists in any of our previous cities. The top position is held by Gillette Dental PC, who uses the same template company as #2 in Laramie, and is thus vulnerable to the same pitfalls. What makes them such a strong competitor is that they have a relatively huge amount of authority coming in from the Basin Radio website because of some interesting advertising plays. This could either put them in a remarkably powerful position that would be difficult to beat, or could land them in some trouble with Google in the long run. Only time will tell, but for the moment, they are probably holding solid in the #1 spot.
Big Horn Dental Clinic is a lot less stable in their ranking, but they also have an interesting relationship with Basin Radio. The authority signals being passed from the radio website are strong, but there are significantly less of them.
Synergy Dental is definitely less cemented in their position, and doesn’t even rank in the top three for many searches. With a strong SEO plan and a little bit of time, a competitor could easily movve into that position.
Rock Springs
Search Traffic
Despite having nearly 10,000 less people than Gillette, Rock Springs has nearly double the amount of searches for dentists, coming in at around 1,500 each month. Like many of Wyoming’s other cities, there is a specific interest in pediatric dentistry, with 50 searches per month.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Keeping with our estimate of 2%, those 1,500 searches should translate into about 30 new patients. Using the $1,000 patient value estimate, that turns into $30,000 of monthly value.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Sweetwater Dental
2. Hunsaker Dental
3. White Mountain Dental
Rock Springs is ripe for the picking. The top two websites are either quite old and using outdated software, or use one of the previously mentioned “generic dentist template” type services. White Mountain Dental has a nice website, but none of the top three have a whole lot of authority, or any particularly compelling SEO content.
Evevry dentist in Rock Springs should be looking at the SEO potential in their market. It would likely only take a month or two to usurp one of these top three spots and start getting a lot of new patients.
Sheridan
Search Traffic
Sheridan has a remarkably strong dental demand for its size, with roughly 1,020 searches monthly. Most of these searches are just for general dentistry, with no real outliers for specific services. There are a handful of searches for tooth whitening, implants, etc. but nothing greater than 10 searches per month for any of them.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Rounding down, our 2% estimate will yield roughly 20 new patients each month, giving them a total monthly value of $20,000.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Sheridan Wyo Dental
2. Grinnell Street Dental
3. Whitney Plaza Dental
Much like Rock Springs, Sheridan is an open market for SEO. None of the top three clinics listed have a whole lot of SEO power behind them. Grinnell Street Dental is implementing the best practices of all, most likely courtesy of a dental consulting firm they’ve hired. Even considering that, it would likely only be a matter of a few months before they could be overtaken.
Green River
Search Traffic
Green River is where the lower population really starts showing decreased search results, with only 370 searches per month. Maybe the proximity to Rock Springs leads people to go there for dental work. Regardless of the reason, the numbers are relatively low, though still significant.
What Does That Mean For Me?
With 370 people searching for dentists each month, our 2% estimate yields 7.4, which we’ll round down to 7 new patients. Compared to some of the other communities on our list, that may seem insignificant, but that still equates to an extra $7,000 in value every month, which would cover the marketing expenses of getting there five or ten times over.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Birch Family Dentistry
2. Dr. Donald C. West DDS
3. West Family Dentistry PC
This top three is really just a top two, because Donald C. West and West Family Dentistry are the same practice. Both Birch and West have nice websites with the basics of SEO, but neither of them are particularly strong with their off page SEO. Overtaking them would not be too long of a process, and there is a pretty easy opening by taking out one of the two West listings.
Evanston
Search Traffic
Evanston yields even fewer searches for its respective population than Green River, with 290 searches per month. Like most towns with this small of a population, there is no large target for specific services, and vague “dentist” searches carry the majority of the traffic
What Does That Mean For Me?
While those of you who have read this entire list may think that 290 is small, it still can lead to significant revenues. Even with our low 2% estimate, that is an extra 5.8 (rounded to 6) patients per month, which leads to a $6,000 monthly value from SEO efforts
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Arrowhead Dental
2. Dr. Nathan R Lester DMD
3. Francis Dental
Arrowhead and Dr. Lester (AKA Bear Creek Dental) both have pretty modern websites with the basics of on-page SEO, which, in a town like Evanston, is often enough to put you at the top. Their off-page authority is somewhat lacking, but both once again show decent numbers for a town as small as Evanston.
The real surprise here is Francis Dental. While Dr. Francom, one of Arrowhead’s dentists, sometimes shows up in that third spot, he is often beat out by Francis Dental, despite Francis Dental having no website and only one 1-star review.
What this indicates is that if you’re a dentist in Evanston, and you aren’t Bear Creek or Arrowhead, there is $6,000/month of potential within easy reach.
Riverton
Search Traffic
Riverton has the lowest number on our list at 260 searches per month, but that is likely skewed. Because of the large number of cities named Riverton in the US, it can be difficult to get a perfectly accurate number. 260 is a solid guess, but it could be a good 40-50 more than that.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Riverton is going to look a lot like Evanston when it comes to revenue numbers. 2% will still be a weird fraction (5.2), but this time we’ll round down to five new patients each month. Multiply by our patient value and we can look at a potential $5,000 of traffic each month.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Benchmark Dental
2. Guy S Menefee DDS, Riverton Dental Center PC
3. Rendezvous Dental
Benchmark Dental and Rendezvous Dental are on pretty even footing from an analysis perspective. They are getting their off-page authority from many of the same places, and their websites are both pretty solid. Riverton Dental Center on the other hand doesn’t even have a website listed on its maps listing, though they do have one. While Benchmark and Rendezvous would take some work to beat, and honestly are surprisingly competitive for Riverton’s size, they are by no means invincible.
Jackson
Search Traffic
Interestingly enough, Jackson has close to double the number of searches (440) compared to Riverton even though officially it has fewer people. Granted, Jackson is a little bit weird when it comes to population due to the massive amount of tourism and seasonal traffic (though that probably doesn’t affect dentists as much as it does other industries). Family Dentistry is a very popular search, with 50 searches each month.
What Does That Mean For Me?
Jackson’s 440 searches could easily translate into 9 new patients per month (the 2% multiplies to 8.8, so we’re rounding up). If we continue to use our $1,000 patient value estimate, we are looking at $9,000.
Who Is Currently Getting That Traffic?
The search results vary depending on what exact phrase you search, but the majority of the searches yield the following results as the top three:
1. Dental Care of Jackson Hole
2. Elkridge Dental
3. Dr. Scott C Larson, DMD
Despite a pretty significant demand and a generally more tech-savvy culture, Jackson’s dentists might have the weakest SEO of all the cities we’ve looked at so far. The top two listings both use the same “template” website company, who tend to provide basic, but not necessarily sufficient SEO services.
Larson Family Dental (Dr. Larson’s Practice) has a lovely website built by Three Seven Designs. But great design doesn’t always translate into great SEO – though it does make good SEO easier and helps increase your conversion rate.
Key Take Aways
As a whole, the biggest conclusion we can draw from this data is that there is a lot of potential revenue to be made from Local SEO for dentists in Wyoming. That shouldn’t be all that surprising, as it’s the entire reason we wrote this article!
Now, (in the spirit of blatant self-promotion) we would obviously love to help you earn all that revenue and get all those new patients. However, there is a stipulation. SEO is a pretty direct competition, which means we can only work with one dentist in each city. This is decided on a first come, first serve basis. If you’re interested, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
