Track consultation requests by source, consultations that showed up, and treatment starts. Watch Google profile calls and direction requests and online booking volume. If consultations from search are growing and converting into starts, your marketing is working.
In orthodontics, the scorecard is consultations and starts. Use tracking numbers on your site and Google Business Profile, tag online consultation requests, and have your treatment coordinator record how every new family found you. Then follow each lead from request to kept consultation to start. Many practices discover the leak is not marketing but follow up, like slow callbacks or consultations that never get rescheduled after a no show. Fixing that can lift starts without spending another dollar on marketing. Review the numbers monthly with your treatment coordinator.
Look at the mix as well as the count. Track consultations by type: child braces, teen Invisalign, adult aligners, early treatment. If you are investing in adult aligner content, you want to see adult consultations rise. Your Google profile shows calls, website clicks and direction requests, which help reveal trends. Remember the seasonal rhythm. Summer and back to school are usually busier for kids and teens, so compare against the same months last year when you can. Seasonal context avoids bad decisions.
Rankings and traffic are early signals. Climbing for orthodontist plus your town or Invisalign plus your town usually comes before more consultations. If traffic rises but consult requests stay flat, check the site: is the consult form short, are payment options clear, does booking work on a phone. Keep tracking tools set up in a privacy safe way. Give changes at least a few months to show up. Heights Digital reports monthly on calls, forms and booked consults, not just rankings.
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