A large aspect of search engine optimisation is link building. Google loves sites which have lots of relevant links pointing to it, suggesting authority in their particular field, and will reward these sites with high positions in the search engine results pages.
However, it looks as if social media could be slowly reorganising the internet around likes, follows and so on. With the introduction of Facebook’s latest innovation, graph search, you can now search for things your friends, family and colleagues already like giving an instant recommendation.
For consumers and small businesses the potential of this is huge, if a patient wakes up with a toothache, would they rather find a random dentist through google or use Facebook to find a dentist that friends already like and trust?
It is well documented that 92% of consumers trust word of mouth recommendations far more than general advertising.
Despite reviews and recommendations being around for years on portals such as dentist finder and nhs choices, if these recommendations came from people that you actually know and trust on Facebook , the majority would be much more likely to book an appointment for the practice they found on Facebook.
Likes therefore, really are the new links. If you would like some advice about setting up your social media pages or would like us to run it on behalf of your practice, give Dental Design a call on: 01202 677 277.