To keep this article clear and simple, when talking about SEO we refer to its widely-documented implementation, which consists of the following:

1. Ensuring the content of each page on your website is meaningful and unique.
2. Researching and choosing appropriate keywords/phrases that match what your identified visitors will search for.
3. Removing or re-writing pages with duplicate content, which can have a detrimental effect on your SEO.
4. Removing overly-used keywords/phrases or links, widely known as ‘keyword stuffing’ or ‘link farming’.
5. Placing the keywords/phrases within the text/code of each page.
6. Submitting your website to search engines to be considered for approval.

When looking at your SEO, it is important to correctly identify your intended visitors and attract them with appealing and relevant content, so as to encourage them to click through and further enquire about your products and services.

As part of your marketing strategy, SEO can not only help search engines index your website, it can also strengthen your business presence. It is simple and logical enough, but it is very important to avoid deception and manipulation when deploying SEO. Be wary of companies that guarantee position 1 in Google using manipulative keyword association, especially when presented with impressive SEO reports that don’t actually bring new clients to your business. Scrupulous SEO is commonplace and it can reflect negatively on any business.

Because a client’s first encounter with your business is often through a search engine these days, there has never been a better time to distinguish your business from what Google CEO Eric Schmidt describes as the “cesspool” of websites, by encouraging branding. Internet users have little patience and are increasingly ruthless in finding what they want, with 8 in 10 dismissing anything that vaguely resembles advertising or spam, so balancing SEO with meaningful and quality content is very important in your business marketing.

Was this information useful to you?

If you have any queries about SEO or branding, or want to know more, then please feel free to get in touch with us at info@bluehorizonsmarketing.co.uk

This ceremony was recognising the talents and excellence of dental practices across the whole of Ireland. With industry award’s already being extremely well valued in the UK, it was interesting to see how this kind of event would go down with the Irish market.

The field was exceptionally competitive, but we were extremely proud to be able to support two long term clients who were up for a total of 8 awards between them.

After a fantastic meal and great company (thanks for making it a memorable evening Stuart and Emma Aherne) we got ready for the nail biting awards part. The hour flew by and at the end our client Seapoint Clinic had managed to win Best Website, while Bray Dental came away with Best Marketing.

There is no question that these awards are set be a regular event in Ireland for the coming years – thanks FMC!

How they did it

Although we can’t take any credit for the Best Website (as we didn’t have anything to do with this part), we were integral to Bray’s Best Marketing, having produced the award entry itself as well as creating all the materials that formed their campaigns over the preview 12 months.

I think everyone appreciates that marketing is vital to the success of any business. But for marketing to work it needs to blend the 7P’s to perfection in order to maximise profit from new and existing patients.

Bray Dental have created highly effective marketing campaigns that target the right kinds of patients, through the right mediums with the right message.

For any practice to succeed in this economic climate, it requires an effective brand. Bray Dental’s visual identity stands out whenever displayed and forms a core part of all their dental marketing.

The simple, stylish stationery helps convey a professional approach in all communications. While the chic, quality, informative welcome packs reflect the level of dentistry on offer.

But it’s the practice website that really comes into its own. The site is attractive, uncluttered, extremely easy-to navigate and above-all informative. Its use of simple, easily accessible menus, large engaging images and patient-friendly copy help ensure a pleasant journey throughout. In support, the regular calls-to-action, encouraging visitors to interact, ensure effectiveness from every hit.

Bray Dental understands the importance of communicating with their existing patients and knows that effective marketing begins in the practice.

Patients are kept loyal with bi-annual newsletters, providing information on the services on offer, educating them about the importance of oral health and attending the practice regularly and helping increase treatment uptake.

Bray stays in touch with its existing patients through its Facebook page. This provides additional information and news on new services being offered, as well as tips on maintaining a happy, healthy smile.

Word of mouth referrals are also encouraged after every visit by the provision of an incentivised referral card.

They communicate regularly with their patients and potential patients, so that whenever they decide they need their services, its Bray Dental that springs immediately to mind.

Not wanting to rest on their laurels Bray Dental have created highly successful marketing campaigns throughout the year. Their regular, consistent and integrated approach sets them apart from the competition and has become the benchmark for all practices to aspire to. They really do demonstrate how dental marketing should be done.

Adwords – Google’s online advertising programme whereby you pay to get your site advertised.

Avatar – a graphical image or likeness to replace a photo of a real person.

Banner – a description for the area above or at the side of a webpage (usually used for adverts).

Blog – short for ‘web blog’, is a web page(s) which typically contains entries in reverse order with the most recent at the top. Blogs can contain text, photos, images or videos.

Browser – a browser is a software programme that displays information from the World Wide Web. They include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox to name a few.

Browser cache – when going to a page on a website, your computer will check its cache folder first to see if it already has those images and, if so, it won’t take the time to download them again. This makes for a faster loading of the page.

Code – this is generic name given to computer programming or mark up language used on the web.

CTR – click through rate – a measure of the success of online advertising achieved by dividing the number of clicks on a web page or online ad by the number of appearances of that webpage/online ad (i.e., number of impressions).

CMS content management system – a software system usually implemented as a web application for creating and managing content on a website.

Conversion – referring to the percentage of, for example, visitors to a website who actually go on to purchase something/make an appointment etc.

CSS cascading style sheets – a flexible system of rules that govern the appearance of content on a web page. Most modern websites separate content from style to simplify coding making revisions. 

Domain name – this is a unique name/address that is assigned to a specific machine or IP address (see IP address below). You could think of it as something like a PO Box address pointing to a specific postal address. It’s usually split into three parts.

Part 1: this consists of the 3 ws – www. (which stands for world wide web)

Part 2: this is your unique chosen name – e.g. bluehorizonsmarketing

Part 3: this usually defines either the type of organisation or geographical location of your website e.g. .co.uk or .gov.uk. This is often referred to as the ‘Top level domain’.

When put together, it provides the identifying address of a website i.e. www.bluehorizonsmarketing.co.uk. This can then be used in your browsers address bar to find a website.

Dynamic content – information in web pages, Flash movies, email, e-newsletters, etc., that changes automatically based on database or user information.

Favicon – an image appended to a domain name by a browser to make it stand out (usually a logo or other branded element).

Feed – a stream of updated content.

FTP – short for file transfer protocol – the means by which files are transferred.

Hits – a poor measurement of activity used in Web analytics, a hit is defined as any request for a file from a Web server. If on one page you have four images and two JavaScript items you’d record six hits for every web visitor.

HTML – short for hyper text mark-up language – the programming language that defines how web pages are formatted and displayed.

Hyperlink – a navigational reference to another item or page on the internet.

Impression – the exposure of a clickable advert on a website to one individual person.

Inbound link – Ann inbound link to your website from a different website. 

IP address – short for internet protocol address – a unique 32-bit number given to identify each device (such as a computer, server or router) so that they can communicate with each other on the internet.

ISP – short for internet service provider such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk.

JavaScript – the most popular scripting language on the internet

Keyword – a word which is identified by a website owner as being important for users of a search engine in finding their website.

Keyphrase – a phrase which is identified by a website owner as being important for users of a search engine in finding their website.

Keyword density – refers to how many times a word/phrase appears on a page.

Landing page – A custom web page designed to convert visitors into leads or sales. Email, banner ads and even offline outbound marketing campaigns drive traffic to a landing page to capture information or trigger a sale; also called a destination page, splash page, destination URL, or target URL.

Link building – linking your site to and from other sites in order to improve search engine ranking.

Metatags – are elements within the HTML code of a web page that contain specific data about it.

Microsite – An individual web site or cluster of web pages designed to promote a specific product or service.

Navigation – refers to how you move from one page to another within a website.

Opt-in & Opt-out – choice to opt in or out (i.e. unsubscribe) to receiving newsletters and mailing etc.

Organic search – listings in search engine results pages that appear due to their relevance to the search term rather than being paid for.

Page view – the term used when people have clicked on or viewed a page.

PPC – short for pay per click – the advertiser pays when a user clicks on the ad.

PPI – short for pay per impression – the advertiser pays each time the ad is displayed to a user.  Rates are usually per 1000 impressions.

Podcast – an audio or video recording which can be downloaded and played later (popularised by Apple).

Rank – how a web page performs compared with others is called its page rank.

RSS – stands for really simple syndication – a system that enables people to receive ongoing, constantly updated information collected from various sources through a simple reader.

Search Engines – help us search for information on the World Wide Web – Google, Bin and Yahoo are examples of search engines.

SEM – stands for search engine marketing – the process of marketing your website via the search engines. It includes search engine optimisation, directory submissions and paid-for advertising.

SEO – stands for search engine optimisation – modifying web pages and websites so that they rank highly on search engines.

Search engine submission – literally submitting your website to the search engines.  However, most search engines find websites all by themselves (see spider)!

SMO – stands for Social media optimisation – using social media such as Twitter and Facebook with the intent of driving traffic to your website.

Spam – a term used for unwanted or junk emails and adverts.

Spider – automated software that trawls through websites to index pages for the search engines.

Style Sheet – this refers to a file that determines the look/feel and style of the site separate from its content.

Syndication – the distribution of blog content across a network of websites.

Tags – labels or tags used to describe content on a webpage.  They provide a useful way to organise, find and retrieve information.

Unique visitors – website measurement that records unique IP addresses as unique visitors.

URL – stands for uniform resource locator – basically a web address to help your web browser find a site i.e. http://www.bluehorizonsmarketing.co.uk/

Web host – the provider of memory, storage, services and connectivity to ‘host’ the website.

Hindsight is such a fantastic thing isn’t it?!  As we come to the end of the year it’s the ideal time to reflect back on the year that’s passed and focus our attentions to the year ahead. 

Previously, I had always been taught to use ‘feedback’ in a managerial capacity, particularly when dealing with employee performance or reviewing client relationships.  However, this year my mentor suggested using ‘feed-forward’. 

Feeding forward is so much more productive than feeding back. Use this simple grid to help you learn from the past and focus on a positive future.   We can’t change what has happened but we can learn from it.

FEED FORWARD 

1. People take feedback personally.  Regardless of how positively you try to deliver it, human nature dictates that we are defensive towards what we feel is criticism.  Negate the need to ever say “don’t take this personally but…”  as you remove the focus from the individual to the task/situation in question and how to positively feed it forward.
2. Feedforward is very well suited to high achievers/successful people.  Generally successful people tend to be self-determined and as such often reject ideas that they feel forced into.  They will however accept and adopt ideas that they have been a part of and that they feel are aimed at helping them achieve their goals.
3. It’s more productive to help people to learn to be right than to prove that they were wrong.  Focus on solutions and not problems.
4. Who honestly likes being criticised whether or not it’s constructive?!  People listen, absorb and respond better to feedforward.  Feedforward removes the hierarchical element as it does not imply superiority of judgement.  Rather than feel like a parent/child dynamic it encourages an adult/adult dynamic.
5. We can’t change the past but we can change the future.  Sportsmen and woman are trained on the concept of feedforward.  Rather than visualising a failed past they are taught to focus on the visualisation of success; scoring a goal, being first over the line, serving an ace.
6. Feedforward enables us to dispel the negativity associated with the self-fulfilling prophecy.  Rather than focus on feedback that reinforces negative behaviour (just accepting it  that is what someone is ‘like’), feedforward enables us to focus on the possibility of change. 

 If you have any comments, suggestions or feedforward on this, or any of our other blog posts we’d love to hear from you.

To provide further information and advice, Clear Vision have just launched a brand new blog all about the business of dentistry. Their specialists will be providing guidance on everything from best practice and marketing to financial news and leadership – plus everything in between.

We’d recommend you check it out for yourself www.clearvisiondentalblog.co.uk

Happy reading.

I’m amazed by the amount of people I know with a Smartphone but who don’t use apps (whether through ignorance or just by choice).  My iPhone and more recently iPad apps have become indispensible in making my life, work and personal, more manageable and more enjoyable.

Yes, there is a fair amount of useless dross out there but there are also some fantastic apps to really help.  Here is a roundup of my personal favourites:

To keep me organised

Evernote – I LOVE this app.  I create notebooks for almost everything and love the fact that whether I’m at my desk, at home or on the go, I can access Evernote on all my devices.  It is almost like a virtual filing cabinet/scrap book where you can house ideas, scans of documents, webpage clippings, photos etc.  With the keyword and tag tool it’s easy to find things too (much better than jotting things down on scraps of paper that get lost in the depths of your handbag!)

Toodledo – there are so many ‘to-do-list’ apps out there.  I find this one easy to use but also good for personalising to your own requirements and way of doing things.

To make work life easier

Drop Box – a useful tool to store and share files via cloud storage with others.  Negates the need to keep emailing files back and forth!

Cam Scanner+ – converts your iPhone into a portable scanner so that you can scan almost everything; so useful when you’re out and about or need copies of important documents.  You can scan business cards, whiteboards, receipts and invoices and even create PDFs.  You can email, fax, upload or send to other apps such as Evernote or Dropbox.

Instapaper – It’s a tool for saving web pages to read later offline as it strips out all the fluff leaving you with just text.  With so much content out there this app takes away a lot of the stress; you can file the useful stuff away and then read it later ensuring you don’t get distracted.

Percentages – need to work out the percentage of a part value, work out how much a value has increased by, work out what the original value after a percentage was deducted?  This app makes percentages a breeze!

TweetDeck – enables to you manage multiple social media network accounts such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn via an easy to use dashboard.  You can schedule updates, monitor trends/topics and lots more.

To make home life easier

Momento – a journal app that allows you to tag contacts, attach photos and even link to social media feeds.  An easy way to record those precious moments that can easily be forgotten.

Ocado – I’m a big advocate of Ocado.  This app makes doing your grocery shopping a cinch!

To entertain my daughter

My daughter is coming up to four and the following have proved invaluable particularly when trying to keep her quietly occupied when out in a restaurant!

Pocketphonic – fantastic interactive learning.  It has certainly helped both me and my daughter ensure we form our letters correctly.

Postman Pat SDS – good value considering how many games there are.  A really nicely designed app that is both fun as well as utilising different skills.

To de-stress

LoveFilm – rent DVDs/Blu-rays by post (and also watch online).  A fabulous service and a great little app to manage your rentals and search for films to watch.

Camera+ – there are dozens of camera apps out there.  This one is a good all-rounder enabling you to edit photos and add some funky effects.  The crop function is really useful to resize your photos ready for printing.

Yoga Free – a great reference to practice those difficult yoga poses.

I like these apps because  almost all of them are true applications, not just mobile versions of websites.  The functionality of some of these apps is quite astounding and for minimal expense you can arm yourself with some great tools to improve your effectiveness and efficiency both at work and at home.

Tell us what your favourite apps are – we’d love to know!

Colour is a powerful psychological tool:

Black

Black is a sombre colour that represents stability, authority and power. It is also associated with elegance and sophistication. In the western hemisphere black is often associated with grieving, while in other parts of the world it is sometimes associated with evil. 

Black can be a useful accent colour, but be warned – too much can have a dampening effect on mood. 

 White

White is the colour most closely connected to purity, innocence and cleanliness. It is also used to project the absence of colour, or neutrality. White is a compression of all the colours in the spectrum, and is sometimes associated with creativity (whiteboards, blank canvases, etc). In some eastern parts of the world, white is associated with mourning.

 Incorporating areas of white space in your marketing materials can help to create a feeling of space and calm and a welcome reprieve among a mass of facts, figures and information.

Grey

Grey is considered practical, timeless and reliable. Grey can be chic and classic, but be warned – it is sometimes associated with ageing, death, and a lost sense of direction. Grey can work well in conjunction with stronger, brighter colours, such as olive or lime green, or hot pink. Silver – closely connected to grey – is often associated with class and prestige.

Red

Red is dynamic, hot and exciting, and is often used to draw attention. Red is associated with energy, movement and excitement, and is often used to represent love, life and passion.

Use red to attract attention, but avoid overuse, which can stimulate anger as demonstrated by the expression “seeing red”. 

Pink

Pale pink is the most calming of all colours, and has been proved to drain energy and calm aggression. For this reason, dangerous criminals in the US are often housed in pink cells, and some sports teams paint the changing rooms used by the opposing team pink. Often considered feminine, pink is associated with romance, affection and softness. Hot pink is often considered warmer, more passionate and exciting.

Blue

Blue is often cited as being the most popular colour, perhaps because much of the natural world is blue, from the oceans to the sky. Some shades of blue cause the body to produce calming chemicals, while cooler shades can feel cold and unwelcoming.

Blue is a conservative colour, often associated with trust, wisdom and loyalty. Many financial services companies use blue to identify their brand, using the colour to help project an air of responsibility and reassurance. A blue environment can help to improve both focus and productivity.

 Green

Green is the colour of nature, and is considered calming and peaceful. Synonymous with environmental issues, green is often adopted by businesses looking to portray a caring attitude to the environment. Hospital wards are often painted pale green because the colour helps to calm anxious patients, while guests waiting to appear on television sit in ‘green rooms’ to help them relax.

Green is also associated with envy, good luck and generosity, and is the colour of peace, harmony, and nurturing.

Yellow

Yellow is an optimistic, energising colour, associated with laughter, happiness, sunshine and good times. It has a proven feel-good effect, as the brain releases more serotonin when in a yellow environment.

Yellow can speed up our metabolism and generate creative thoughts. It can be overpowering if overused – studies have proved that babies cry more in bright yellow rooms – but used well it can be an effective tool for generating increased sales. Some shades of yellow are associated with cowardice, but more often yellow is a positive and happy colour.

Orange 

Orange is associated with energy, warmth and ambition. A vibrant and exciting colour, it has been proven to stimulate appetite. Avoid orange if you are hoping to create a calm environment, but used sparingly – or in conjunction with a more sophisticated colour such as charcoal grey – orange can be eye-catching and inviting.

Purple

Purple is associated with royalty, wealth, prosperity and sophistication. A favourite colour of adolescent girls, purple is also a spiritual, calming colour that can stimulate the brain’s problem solving ability. Overuse of purple is sometimes associated with putting on airs and being artificial, yet careful use can generate a feeling of mystery, wisdom and respect.

Brown

Brown is associated with warmth, neutrality and stability. An earthy colour, often found in nature, brown is often associated with wholesome, natural or organic produce. Darkest brown can be used effectively as a softer alternative to black, and is a good colour for definition. In India, brown is the colour of mourning.

For more information about colour psychology and marketing please see our full article here: http://www.bluehorizonsmarketing.co.uk/why-choose-us/articles/2011/03/01/colour-mind.html

The main objective of a patient newsletter is to increase your profits. This regular communication can help you do this by:

• Encouraging patient loyalty and making your patients feel valued. Patient newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your patients. They will be pleased that you have taken the time and effort to keep them informed. You should make sure all your patients receive a copy of the newsletter either by posting them out and/or giving them out at the practice.
• Attracting new patients. You can increase awareness of the practice by distributing newsletters to homes in the local area. New housing developments are a particularly good target. You may also like to try distributing newsletters to local businesses where potential new patients may go such as health clubs, hair salons and beauty clinics.
• Promoting new and existing services. Make sure patients know about the wide range of treatments that you offer. Well informed patients are more likely to ask for additional services. Case studies are a good way to show patients how their smile can be transformed. Use a newsletter to promote special offers to increase treatment uptake.
• Promoting dental plans and interest free/low interest loans. Make patients aware of the options that are available to them to make their dental care more affordable. They are more likely to attend regularly and have additional treatments if they can spread the cost over several months rather than paying one lump sum.
• Increasing patients’ awareness of preventive dentistry and educating them about the benefits of good oral healthcare. You may not get time to tell them everything you want to during their check-up appointments. You can use the newsletter to keep reminding them why their oral health is so important and why you are the best practice to help.
• Reactivating dormant patients. We recommend keeping a database of dormant patients and sending a copy of your newsletter to them. You could include a covering letter letting them know you would like to see them again no matter how long since their last appointment. You can inform them of what is happening at the practice and remind them of why it is important to attend.
• Encouraging referrals from existing patients. A patient newsletter can be an excellent way of getting your patients to refer their friends, family and neighbours to the practice. A short article in each issue of the newsletter is a good way to keep reinforcing this message. The success of this could be increased by including an incentive such as offering the referring patient a £20 M&S voucher when their friend attends their first appointment.
• Winning over potential new patients. A professionally produced newsletter can create a positive image of the practice and impress anyone enquiring about your services. Patient newsletters can be used instead or as well as a brochure or welcome pack to help people decide that your practice is the one for them.

In today’s ever increasingly competitive market it is vital for your success to be able to differentiate yourself from the competition. 

Let’s go back to the beginning and look at your brand.  Branding isn’t just about having a nice logo and plastering it everywhere; it is so much more than that.  Your brand is the source of a promise to your clients/customers/patients and demonstrates your business’ entire philosophy about what you can do for them. 

It should start with defining who your target market is as your brand position resides more in their hearts and minds than it does yours.  It is your prospects/clients/customers/patients’ experience of your brand and how they perceive you to be that counts.  What you want to do is persuade, and then reaffirm that by choosing you they have made the right choice. 

You have to be client/customer/patient centric in your approach.  Everything else should feed to and from this.  Constantly ask yourself “what do my prospects/clients/customers/patients’ want?  What do they need?  What do they expect?  What is their perception of the value of what I provide?  How can I do better?” 

A good, strong brand:

• Clearly and consistently delivers a clear message
• Affirms & confirms your credibility
• Makes an emotional connection with your target prospects
• Creates a motivation for the buyer
• Establishes, encourages and maintains loyalty 

Are you ‘on brand’ in all that you do?  Are you getting the right message across?  Look at the following: 

• Visual identity and marketing communications including social media
• You & your entire team – do not underestimate the importance of good personnel.  You need everyone within your organisation to be a brand ambassador.
• The prospect/client/customer/patient journey.  Literally ensure that every touch point of your business is ‘on brand’. 

Get your brand’s personality across in all that you do.  Consider bespoke photography and video, using real testimonials and real people.  Yes, we live in an amazingly advanced digital age, but at the end of the day we are still human and as emotional beings we need to feel a connection.

Instead of thinking of your marketing agency as merely a supplier, treat them as a partner.

Trust is crucial

Like all relationships, ‘it takes two to tango’ and there has to be commitment from both parties in order to get the best outcome.

To do great work your marketing agency must be informed. The agency needs to have a sound appreciation of your business strategy, how the business is performing, the good, the bad and the ugly! Marketing isn’t (or rather shouldn’t be) just superficial fluff , it serves a vital function within the business and as such should be seen as a priority. The Chartered Institute of Marketing define it as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably”.

As well as being honest and sharing information you also need to have faith that your agency knows what they are doing.  They are professionals and as such there has to be a level of mutual respect from both parties. 

Give them your time 

A marketing agency cannot perform miracles on your business on its own.  In order to get the best results you need to communicate openly, honestly and constructively. 

Take the time to answer your agency’s questions thoroughly.  If they’ve asked you for feedback on a creative, substantiate your feedback.  “I don’t like it” isn’t particularly helpful – explain what it is you don’t like in specific terms. 

The inherent nature of all things creative means that it is subjective, after all life would be dull if we all had the same viewpoint!  However, the important thing is that a difference in opinion is effectively communicated and constructively worked through in order to reach a solution. 

A good marketing agency will be working with your business’ best interest at heart.  Work with them as a team effort and you’ll reap the rewards.