Risinger & Valls Orthodontics

‍Background

A young orthodontist was stepping into his father's legacy—but with a challenge. His father, a well-known figure in the community, had recently ended a long-term partnership with another orthodontist. As part of the split, the main office they once shared was now under control of the ex-partner, who retained top search rankings for the family name.

The son opened a new practice nearby, using his own name in the brand. Despite the local familiarity with the last name, his office didn't appear in search results for:

• His own last name
• The practice name (which included his full name)
• Or even "orthodontics" within the map pack.

To make things worse, the ex-partner’s office—now a direct competitor—was still ranking #1 for all those terms.

Challenge

• Compete against an established brand using the same last name
• Appear in Google’s local pack for branded and service-based keywords
• Break through entrenched rankings in a relatively small but competitive suburban market
• Quickly demonstrate ROI and visibility for a newly launched location

SEO Strategy

We implemented a hyper-local SEO campaign focused on three pillars:

1. Brand Reclamation
   • Claimed and optimized Google Business Profile with consistent Name/Address/Phone (NAP)
   • Created high-quality branded citations to re-associate the last name with the new office
   • Built exact-match anchor text backlinks pointing to the site and GBP
2. Geo-Grid Domination
   • Ran geo-grid scans to identify ranking zones
   • Focused on improving proximity-based signals using local landing pages and internal linking
   • Built localized content and FAQs to feed Google’s local intent algorithm
3. Keyword Targeting
   • Main keyword target: "orthodontist" and “orthodontics”
   • Secondary targets: branded terms like “[Last Name] Orthodontics” and “[Doctor’s Name]”
   • Cleaned up citations and suppressed duplicates or legacy listings tied to the father’s previous practices

Results: 14 Days Later

Visual results from our grid scans speak for themselves:

Scan 1:

• Keyword: Orthodontist
• Ranking Average Improved: 2.29 → 1.30
• Grid: 13x13 (63.62 square miles)
• ✅ Full map pack visibility

Scan 2:

• Keyword: Orthodontics
• Ranking Average Improved: 18.37 → 1.02
• 🟥 → 🟩 Full domination across entire area

Scan 3:

• Keyword: Orthodontics
• Ranking Average Improved: 20+ → 1.03
• 📍 From almost no visibility to full coverage

Scan 4:

• Keyword: Dr [Last Name]
• Ranking Average Improved: 20+ → 1.99
• 🔄 Took over branded search previously dominated by ex-partner

Takeaway

Small-town campaigns can be deceptively powerful—and fast. With the right local SEO strategy, even highly entrenched competitors can be overtaken in a matter of weeks.

This is a prime example of:

• Why branded search matters
• How powerful localized SEO can be in proximity-based algorithms
• The importance of geo-targeted tracking vs. general keyword tracking

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