Dentist Finder Websites Are Sweet Tooth of Local Search Industry

[arob]

I live in Toronto Canada and where there are so many local search engines set up to help consumers find a local dentist, it boggles the mind...



Everyone is in on this game up here. I wrote a piece called find me a dentist on Dr Archer's website here in the city, to celebrate and share my findings. After I published it, I keep finding more services to include... Beyond Yelp and Gigpark and OurFaves etc there are a dozen more local dentist indexe websites. Some finders are powered by popular Canadian dental associations, and some are really smart pieces of mobile software that have sprung up to help phone users find dentists, and some old school websites are still using yellow pages data ...

Broadly speaking, why is the search for a dentist so meaningful to the local search industry? any thoughts? And for the record, I really like DentistFind.com and I hope they survive.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for sharing Rob!

 

[MiriamEllis]

Hi A Rob,

Broadly speaking, why is the search for a dentist so meaningful to the local search industry?

You know, dentists are just a classic local business. Everyone understands what a dentist is and how he operates. He works out of an office, is generally reasonably funded and has very decent basic opportunities for building a persuasive site and marketing it through all normal channels.

I love working with dentists. Wish I had more local dentist website design clients. I find them to be a pleasure to serve.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

With so many dentist-specific search engines, how does a consumer know which one to use? For me personally, I would never think to search for any business on an industry-specific directory - except maybe for a lawyer. Doesn't everyone just use Google these days?

Travis Van Slooten

 

[Linda Buquet]

You know, dentists are just a classic local business. Everyone understands what a dentist is and how he operates.

AND everyone NEEDS one!

Plus they have lots of higher end elective treatment like various cosmetic procedures that are very lucrative so they are typically a little more marketing oriented than some small businesses are.

One of the reasons I picked the Dental niche, is not only that I have lots of background in that industry (author, speaker, etc.) but Dentists for the most part are just really genuine, honest people and usually a pleasure to work with.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

I agree...but I ALWAYS have issues with the dental assistants. Even though I've had perfect teeth all my life I always get lectured to by the dental assistants Sorry...a little off topic but I had to chime in...

Travis Van Slooten

Dentists for the most part are just really genuine, honest people and usually a pleasure to work with.

 

[MiriamEllis]

Travis, your last comment cracked me up

I have ended up using medical directory sites when Google doesn't have information about a specific doctor. The problem is, I don't really 'trust' the sites. Maybe it's different else where, but these sites are very neglected looking in my local area...a paucity of information with all of these places to leave reviews that no one is leaving. It's kind of odd.

However, what I'm usually trying to get is an address or phone number, so as long as they supply this, that's pretty much the end and beginning of my usage.

 

[arob]

What Travis says is the #1 argument against these sites , ie you have to use Google to find the dental finder websites , so why bother ?

But what Miriam says is the big counter argument, ie Google doesnt have it all.

DentistFind.com will survive because its friendly, memorable, easy to use and is GREAT for mobile phones and gadgets .

Linda Buquet - thanks for being so accommodating here, and I would congratulate you on being such an icon in local search discussions; you help us all.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

But again...does the average consumer know about DentistFind.com? Like you said, if they do it's probably because they did a search on Google.

When I'm looking for anything, I always use Google. Then if I find a directory that I like, then I'll bookmark it for future reference. However, I'll likely forget about the directory and simply do a Google search again in the future

I just think it's important for dentists, in this example, to be on those directories that rank on the first page of Google.

Travis Van Slooten

DentistFind.com will survive because its friendly, memorable, easy to use and is GREAT for mobile phones and gadgets .