News

How long does it take for a Website to show up in Google Searches?

Many people ask, why is my website not showing up in Google searches.

There are two ways you can come up in Google searches on topics relating to what you offer. One is that your website shows up organically and the other is through Google Ads that simply look like website listings.

Getting your website to show up organically (not with ads) in key searches is a topic referred to as SEO – Search Engine Optimization (basically this refers to all manner of things that must be done to optimize your website to perform well in search engines, namely Google). In marketing, this is a HUGE subject and big business. People spend thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars over time to get good SEO results.

If your website is less than a year old, your website is simply too new to have gained any traction. It takes a while for Google to index a website, usually several months. If you realize that there are nearly 2 billion websites in existence today, with about half a million new websites added every single day, it helps to understand why it takes time for a website to be indexed and gain any traction at all. But even once it has been indexed, don’t expect any great results. SEO is something that builds over time, if it is worked on, either intensively or consistently over years. Very few websites ever rank on the first page of a Google search within the first year. I know it is disheartening, but it is the truth. That’s why Google Ads are so important, particularly when you are starting something new. It is a way to get you showing up at the top right now.

If you don’t believe me, here is a link to an article where millions of websites were analyzed as to what it took to get start showing up on Google searches: https://ahrefs.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-rank/ Here’s a quote from this article:

Only 5.7% of all studied pages ranked in the Top10 search results (first page) within 1 year for at least 1 keyword.”

There is a LOT of work to be done to get to a point where you are coming up on the first page of Google searches for major search terms such as what you checked for. Most of our clients pay us anywhere from $500 to $2000 per month for SEO over a period of years to get good SEO. It is a lot of highly skilled work.

I would recommend that you invest at least $500 per month into SEO work, as there are hundreds of hours of work to be done to get a website really well optimized and showing up on the first page of key Google searches.

In addition to a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done within your website, setting up listings on important sites such as Yelp, HealthGrades, ZocDoc and the like, as well as social media sites, will help your SEO of your website. This creates links to your website from other sites, which helps in two ways. 1) It gives you more internet presence through these popular listing services and social media sites, and 2) it helps the SEO of your website to have other sites that link to your website (most listings allow you to add your website as a link in the listing).

There is another very major factor in ranking in Google searches and this is competition. To rank in Google searches, you are not only up against local clinics or businesses that similar services, including some that have been around for years, but you are also up against many other huge websites that may offer general information on your key search terms, such as WebMD, Psychology Today, MedicineNet, etc.

You can get a good idea of how much competition there is from the number of ads you see on these search pages. If the competition is very intense, it makes it really tough to get into the first page of Google searches. It also makes your ads run more expensively as many others are bidding against you for these key terms.

We will perform very serious work to get your ads and website to perform. It takes time. As well, not all results happen immediately. Good follow up on every inquiry also makes an impact on your ROI and overall results.

I really advise having a strategy of running Google Ads to show up immediately of the first page of Google, while we continue to strengthen your website to rank better and better through continuing SEO work. If you will keep at it with us, we will get you there, just like we have done with so many of our clients!

High Bounce Rate – Good or Bad?

Since the “bounce rate” of your website is often a major concern, I wanted to provide some information that I feel is very important to understand on this topic.

I am going to try to make this as simple as possible and as short as possible. I am also going to quote from some experts as well (below in quotes) so that you will know that this is not just my opinion, but it is factual.

What does Bounce Rate mean?

Bounce rate refers to the number of single-page sessions compared to all sessions on your website. If five out of every ten people who visit your website leave before visiting a second page, your bounce rate is 50%.

Another reference clarifies this:

If someone performs an initial action, like a site visit, but doesn’t interact a second time (by viewing another page) within 30 minutes, it’s considered a bounce.

Some people really panic when they see bounce rates over 50%.

Most people assume that if a bounce rate is over 50%, it’s their fault. Their content or landing pages just aren’t performing the way that they should. But guess what? It’s not true.

Most don’t even realize that a 90% bounce rate isn’t out of the norm for certain parts of your website.

In other words, your high bounce rate isn’t telling you the whole story.

Here is a chart that shows average bounce rates for different types of sites and pages.

Many websites are constructed in such a way as to create funnels, certainly this applies to all of our current clients. Most of the key pages on these websites have been set up as “landing pages” or “sales pages”. This is done for each of the main services that a client offers. Google ads then drive people to those key pages. If you go to one of these landing pages, you will see multiple blocks of information about the topic, including symptoms, testing, benefits of treatment, etc. Then there is info about each of the providers, info about insurance, and a strong push to call the New Patient Coordinator for a free consultation (or send in a written inquiry at the bottom of that page), who can explain how it all works and answer your questions so you can decide if this is right for you.

The idea of a landing page is that all of the information is laid out succinctly in one page, with encouragement to call or write in throughout the page, with the purpose in mind of channeling the visitor to contact the client or call in to our call center.

Most of our websites are not set up in such a way as to encourage people to go through other parts of the website, because our focus is to channel people into inquiring.

Bounce rate can be a confusing metric. When you hear “high bounce rate,” it immediately triggers anxiety in most digital marketers. But it shouldn’t always. Here’s why… In some cases a high bounce rate can actually be a sign of good user experience.

So to understand the implications of high bounce rate, you have to assess it based on page type. On landing pages, the average bounce rate is between 70 and 90%.

In short, all I am trying to say is that looking at bounce rate is not black and white, or as simple as high is bad and low is good.

When you are talking about landing pages, which is mostly what a website constructed to procure new clients or new patients or sell products would consist of, a high bounce rate is not a bad thing. What is important is whether or not it generates inquiries or leads and ideally bookings or new business.

I just wanted to give you a better understanding of this topic and help to clarify this topic.

Medical Website

We were very proud to help Dr Scipio launch her new medical practice in Greer SC. She is a very talented and highly trained medical practitioner, including having Board Certification. Her new website was completed very rapidly and was part of our Free Medical Website Program. There was no charge for this website, and we wish Dr Scipio all the best for her future success.

Custom Advertising Websites

Sometimes when we are trying to get a real understanding for advertising in an area, we need a lot of control over our pages and rapid changes in text and format. Rather than constantly messing with our clients existing website, especially if he or she is already happy with the way it looks, we will create a custom website that we use just for the advertising. This look a bit stripped down, but allows us to create pages exactly as we want them and push people who are searching for dental or orthodontic services to those pages. We actually do a lot of work on the website we create in this way, because we want these sites to make visitors feel comfortable and we need to present a level of professionalism. Sometimes a client might have a website that is controlled by another marketing company that is using a system where every change has to be done through them – that can slow down our response to advertising and cause problems – so we have to go ahead and create a website. Also through years of research we have found that landing pages that prevent people from browsing are not ideal, a full site inspires more confidence which is important for a medical professional.

Website and Logo Graphic Design Questionaire

When starting out creating a new dental practice or orthodontic practice, it is a great idea to use a Graphic Design Questionnaire. This allows the client to clarify for himself what he is looking for, and to the pass that information to you. These are the questions we normally ask when we start out with a new client to help with that clarification process.

What is the name of your business?

Does your business have a tagline (eg “Johnson Orthodontics, Making People Smile” or something of this nature.)

Please describe what you feel are the important attributes of your business (eg friendly, competent, modern, or whatever you feel encapsulates your core business foundation).

Do you have a company slogan or mantra?

What is the overall message you wish to portray with your brand? What should people feel when they see or think of your brand?

Now summarize your above answer into 5 descriptive keywords. eg. competent, professional, warm, considerate etc.

Do you have any color preferences, or any existing colors you’d like to use?

What is your personal favorite color?

This is a very important question– Do you like any existing logos/websites, and if so, why? (Please provide link to logos/websites). If you have seen a logo or website you like and you can give us a link to view and explain why you like it, this is probably more important that anything else. This is especially true if you find a logo or website that you really love. Give us some links and tell us what you like and what you dislike about each logo or website. That allows us to see through your eyes.

Here are some words that can describe a logo. Pick any words that you feel should describe your logo:

traditional or modern.?

simple or ornate?

Sterile?

Professional?

Bright?

Alive?

Earthy?

Grounded?

Or any other words that might capture what you are looking for.

Who is your demographic types? Eg low income mothers with children or whatever it might be. Try to give us an understanding of who will see this logo and respond to it.

Who are your competitors and how do they position themselves. (Please link to anyone you feel is an important competitor).

How do you differ from your main competitors

If you have any specific graphic icons. symbol or image that you would like to associate with your brand, please also list them or attach them.

Anything else you want to say?