SEO for dentists: what 36 practice websites get wrong
We ran the same checks as our free scan on 36 independent dental practice websites across the South West in September 2026. Here is what came up most, what it costs a practice, and what to fix first.
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The problems that came up most often
Based on 36 dental practices. Each figure shows how many sites it was measured on.
83%of sites took more than four seconds to show their main content on a phone (29 of 35).
Someone searching for an emergency dentist taps your listing and waits. Google counts two and a half seconds as good. By four, plenty of people have gone back and tapped the next practice.
First fix: Start with the large photo at the top of the homepage: resize and compress it, and make sure nothing else has to load before it.
50%of sites had no DMARC record at all, and only 5 of 36 told inboxes to reject fake email sent in their name.
Without it, anyone can send an email that looks like it came from your practice, and inbox providers have less reason to trust the reminders and recalls you do send.
First fix: Add a DMARC record to your domain, start it in monitoring mode, then move it to quarantine once your own email passes.
Check your DMARC record44%of sites did not tell Google they were a dental practice, or even a local business, in their structured data (16 of 36).
Google has to work out what you are from the page text. Structured data states it outright: that you are a dentist, where you are, and when you are open.
First fix: Add Dentist schema to your homepage with your address, phone number and opening hours.
Check your structured data
What to fix first
If you run a dental practice, this is the order we would take these in. Then run the free scan to see which apply to your site.
Make the first screen fast on a phone
Most of your new patients find you on a phone. Compress the hero image and check the result in PageSpeed Insights.
Protect your email domain
Add SPF and DMARC records. It is a one-off job for whoever manages your domain.
Label the practice for Google
Add Dentist structured data with your address, phone and hours, and make sure it matches your Google Business Profile.
About this research
- 36 independent dental practices across twelve South West towns, audited on 25 September 2026 with the same checks our free scan runs. No site is named on this page.
- Homepage plus up to six further pages per site. Mobile speed is Google PageSpeed Insights lab data, measured twice and averaged.
- A site counts as failing a check only when it clearly misses it. Borderline results, such as a DMARC record in monitoring mode, are counted separately and not included in the fail figures.
- Some checks could not be measured on every site, for example when a page would not load. Each figure says how many sites it is based on.
Common questions
Further reading
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Read moreStart with one page. Then let AuditCrow watch the rest.
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