The ProSites AdvantageA complete website solution that makes it easy and affordable for you to grow your practice.

Attract New Patients

Get Found Online

Educate and Engage Patients

Increase Demand for Services

Get a Free, No-Obligation Trial!

Introduction

Prior to 2013, the big buzz in search engine marketing was all about building backlinks

(links to your website from other websites, also referred to as inbound links or incoming links). As

it turned out, having a large quantity of backlinks was one of the quickest ways to ensure a top

spot on Google’s search engine results pages. Because of this, most SEO firms started flooding

their clients’ websites with backlinks, causing websites to rank well for queries unrelated to the

content of the website. Google has since caught on to these SEO tactics and with their latest

algorithm update (Penguin 2.0), have been slamming webmasters who don’t create natural,

legitimate backlinks.

So how does this affect your website? As the webmaster of your site, you have the ultimate

power and control to create a backlink portfolio that will solidify your website’s credibility to

search engines, while potentially improving your ranking in Google’s search results pages.

Why You Need Links

Search engines take many different factors into account when ranking websites in their results

pages. Your link portfolio is one of the many factors that search engines analyze when determining

your website’s authority, and the more quality backlinks you have, the better chance you will rank

well in the search engine results pages.

Different Types of LinksBefore discussing how to build a strong backlink profile, it’s important to understand the

four primary types of links your website could acquire:

• Internal – An internal link is any link within your website that sends visitors from one of your webpages to another page on

your website. For example, directing visitors from your Cosmetic Dentistry page to your Before and After Gallery via a link within

the page’s content is known as an internal link. These links help create user-friendly navigation by allowing visitors to quickly

access your webpages that discuss similar topics.

While internal links don’t have a significant impact on the strength of your link profile, they can improve your site optimization

by engaging users for a longer period of time, thus increasing the amount of time visitors spend on your site.

• External – External links are links on your website that direct users to completely separate websites. These links allow you

to refer visitors to other sources of helpful, relevant information online. For example, sharing a link to the American Dental

Association’s website is an external link that provides your website visitors to obtain more information about dentistry.

• Inbound – Inbound links are links on other websites that direct visitors over to your site. These types of links are the most

sought after and authoritative, as quality inbound links improve your page authority and impact your ranking on Google’s

search results pages. Inbound links will help your search engine ranking when the linking website has quality content that

relates back to your practice’s website.

• Paid – Paid links are inbound links purchased from a link retailer. While this may seem like a good idea, paid links are not

always quality inbound links and are generally frowned upon. With Google’s latest algorithm, paid links are almost guaranteed

to hurt, rather than help, your search engine ranking.

Additional Dangers of Buying Links

Most paid link services sell thousands of links, all of which stem from a single domain name. When Google’s spiders crawl your website and see thousands of links coming from the same source, it raises a giant red flag.

A solid backlink portfolio consists of a variety of inbound links from different websites, each with different page authorities. For example, you want links from high authority pages that receive a ton of traffic and have many credible backlinks (like the ADA’s website) and you want backlinks from less authoritative websites, such as the websites of your network of referring doctors.

When building backlinks, a general rule of thumb is “quality over quantity.”

One of the toughest issues facing search engine marketers and webmasters today is how to build quality links without getting hit with a penalty.

Building a solid backlink portfolio takes time and effort; you can use the following strategies to collect quality inbound links to your website:

How to Get Inbound Links

By joining your local chamber and the BBB, you can obtain a high-authority, quality backlink, simply by asking to claim your listing on their website. Additionally, some local libraries will also link to your website. When inquiring, let them know that your website provides educational content.

Join your local Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau (BBB)1

Complete Directory Submissions

Submitting your website to online directories is one of the most common methods of acquiring backlinks.

While there are thousands of online directories, you still want to be sure you are submitting your listing to quality

sites. We recommend submitting your information to DMoz Directory and Patch.com. Other directories you may

also want to consider include:

• 1-800-Dentist - Patients use 1-800-Dentist to find a provider and review patient feedback.

• Checkdent – Allows patients to search for local providers, ask questions, and view educational videos.

• DentalCenter.com – Submit your practice to allow local patients to research your services and read

patient reviews.

• Dentists.com – Sign up to allow users to search for your practice and make an appointment directly

from the business listing.

• GeoDentist – Add your listing to the site to allow local patients to contact your practice.

• National Directory of Dentists – Find your listing, claim, and optimize it to let patients search for your

services by city or zip code.

• eDentist.com – Upload practice photos, share the services you offer, and let searchers obtain direction to

your practice.

2

Well-known bloggers are often stretched for time and have difficulty creating enough content for their sites. Guest blogging enables you to write and publish an article on their blog site. See if any bloggers in your industry have guest blogging opportunities, as most guest blog posts link to your website, giving you a credible backlink while increasing your online exposure.

Write A Guest Blog On Another Site3

Publishing articles that highlight innovative services you offer or events you’re participating in can get picked up by local, national, and global news sources. Once the articles are published, they can generate thousands of high quality links to your practice website. Some well-known press release services include: PRWeb, PitchEngine, PRlog, and Marketwired.

Publish Press Releases4

Answer Questions

Question and answer websites (such as Yahoo! Answers and Quora) allow users from all over the world to seek answers to their questions. You can offer your expert advice by responding to questions that relate to your services. By answering these questions, you can build credibility as a provider, and generate a backlink by letting users know they can find more information on your website.

5

Sponsor a local event or charity

When you sponsor a local event or a charity, it’s likely that your practice will get some sort of PR via newspaper article or online press release. Additionally, most charities and organizations will list their sponsors and partners on their website. When making your donation, simply ask if the organization is willing to provide a link to your practice website.

6

Fill out your social profiles correctly

Search engines have begun to place a higher emphasis on social networking activity within their algorithms. Ensuring your social media profiles include a link to your practice website will show search engines your social involvement while giving your website another link.

7

Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Vocus, a major marketing firm, offers a free service known as Help a Reporter Out (HARO), that can provide you with big (free) link opportunities. HARO sends you daily emails, connecting you with local and national news sources that need help writing their articles. As an expert in your industry, find reporters seeking your knowledge and get publicity for helping out. It’s that simple!

8

Speak at an event

When you volunteer to speak at an event, the organization will often announce your involvement on their website. Ask the event committee to link to your practice website so attendees can learn more about your expertise. It’s a winning situation for both parties.

9

Most Internet marketing companies or print marketing services want to share case studies with their prospects, to show just how successful their services can be. If you’ve achieved marketing success through one of your partner agencies, ask them if you can volunteer for a case study in exchange for a backlink.

Volunteer to participate in a case study10

If you want high-authority links, sponsor a scholarship. By running scholarship contests, you can generate links from tons of local colleges and universities who are willing to advertise your scholarship on their website.Search the following query in Google to find schools that will provide a quality do-follow link to your site:

Query 1 - site:.edu “scholarships”

After you’ve found local schools that you want to offer your scholarship through, contact the administration and request they advertise your scholarship and link to your website.

Sponsor a scholarship11

Often, alumni associations will link to the webpages of their graduates to highlight what their former students have accomplished. If you are a member of your alma mater’s alumni association, request that they link to your website.

Contact your alumni association12

Link Anchor Text

When displaying a link online, there are two ways to go about it: a link with anchor text and a link without. For example:

Link - Visit our blog at www.prosites.com/blog. Link via anchor text - We would like to invite you to visit our blog.

While both of these links go to the same webpage, the link with anchor text associates the keyword “blog” with the link. Whether creating internal links or trying to generate inbound links, use anchor text wherever possible, as they can help your ranking for anchored keywords/phrases.

No Follow vs. Follow Links

When generating links for your website, the inbound links you acquire can be classified as either no-follow or follow. Follow links are crawled by search bots and are taken into account when determining the rank of your website. No follow links are hidden from search bots, thus cannot impact your website’s authority.

Most search engine marketers prefer to accumulate follow links. While follow links are important, no-follow links can also improve your search ranking, as they still drive targeted traffic to your website. Being so, it’s important to obtain both follow and no follow links.

Conclusion

While backlinks don’t have the supreme power to get your website to the top of

search results pages as they once did, they are still a huge factor in search engine

ranking algorithms. Creating a solid network of credible and relative backlinks can prove

to search engines that your website is the best result for your prospective patients’

search queries.

We encourage you to try these backlink strategies and see how they improve your

search ranking.

Marketing Your Practice OnlineEndorsed by 12 elite associations nationwide, we have helped over 6,500 doctors attract

new patients through professional website design and Internet marketing services.

Want to learn more? Talk to an online marketing expert about your website needs, and

they’ll help you decide what you need to get started. Call us at (888) 932-3644.