Practice Radar vs a dental SEO agency
An agency gives you people doing the work. Practice Radar gives you the whole picture and the routine changes made for you, at a lower cost and with you in control. Many practices are best served by one, some by both.
Practice Radar shows a dental practice where it ranks against every practice nearby, and does the work to move up.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.
The short answer: a dental SEO agency is people doing the work for you, usually on a monthly retainer, sometimes with a twelve-month agreement. Practice Radar is software that shows you your whole local market, ranks the changes worth making, and on its Growth plan makes them once you approve, month to month. Choose an agency for specialist work such as a new website or earning links. Choose Practice Radar for the everyday work and an independent view of the results. Some practices need both.
We make Practice Radar, and we co-own a dental practice, so we have been on the buying side of this decision. Weigh what we say accordingly.
At a glance
| A dental SEO agency | Practice Radar | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A team doing the work, and a monthly report | Your whole market read for you, and the changes you approve made for you |
| Cost example | One practice we know was quoted £540 to £780 a month including VAT. BrightLocal's managed service starts at $1,299 a month | £249 a month to see where you stand, £549 to have changes made |
| Commitment | Some ask for twelve months | Month to month, first month free, no card |
| What is measured | Often a set list of keywords (ten to fifteen in the quotes we have seen) | Every practice near you and the searches that bring patients, weekly |
| Who reports on results | The agency, which is paid on the strength of them | Measured independently, from public search results and your own Google accounts |
| Control | The agency makes changes for you | Nothing changes until you approve it, and most changes can be put back |
| Specialist work | Content writing, link building, website builds | Not a replacement for these |
See this for your own town.
Every practice competing with yours on one map, sized by the share of local search each one holds, re-checked every week. The sample town shows the whole thing now, with no sign-up.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.
What a good agency does well
A good agency brings people who do this every day. For a practice with nobody in-house, that labour can be money well spent: writing treatment pages that read well, earning links from local and dental sites, rebuilding a slow website, and handling the work end to end. If you want someone else to own all of it, an agency is the natural choice.
The costs are real. One independent practice was quoted £450 plus VAT a month for ten keywords and £780 a month for fifteen, which is one set of quotes rather than a survey. Some agencies ask for a twelve-month agreement, so check how you leave before you sign.
Where Practice Radar is different
When my fiancée Ellie and I took over our own practice, Google hardly knew we were there, Ellie didn't know what SEO was, and the options we found were agencies charging a monthly retainer for a short list of keywords. What we wanted was simple: who is winning the patients searching near us, why, and what to do about it. So we built it.
- You see the whole market. Every practice near you, sized by its share of local search, instead of a report on a chosen ten or fifteen keywords.
- The routine work is done for you. On Growth, approved changes go onto your website (titles, descriptions, local pages and structured data on WordPress, Webflow or Wix), your Google listing, 30 UK and dental directories and your Google Ads.
- You stay in control. Nothing changes without your approval, every change is logged, and most can be put back from the same screen.
- The measurement is independent. Results are read from Google's own public results and, if you connect them, your own Search Console and Analytics, not from the party being paid.
On our own practice, new private patients went from 8 a month before we started in June 2026 to 19 a month since, from the practice's own records. The full case study sets out what changed and what we can and cannot claim from it.
Which should you choose?
- Choose an agency if you need a new website, want links earned for you, or simply want a team to own everything.
- Choose Practice Radar if you want to understand your local market, have the routine changes made, and keep control and your budget.
- Use both if you already pay an agency. Practice Radar gives you an independent read of the results, so the monthly conversation is about evidence rather than assurance. A good agency will welcome it.
For a fuller look at what a practice can do itself and what is genuinely specialist, see our guide to agency or do it yourself.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a dental SEO agency cost in the UK?
It varies widely. One independent practice was quoted £540 to £780 a month including VAT for ten to fifteen keywords, and managed local SEO services such as BrightLocal's start at $1,299 a month. Practice Radar costs £249 or £549 a month, month to month.
Can software replace a dental SEO agency?
For the routine work, often yes: tracking your market, fixing titles and descriptions, adding local pages and structured data, keeping listings right and replying to reviews. For specialist work such as a website rebuild or earning links, an agency still adds something software does not.
Should I keep my agency if I use Practice Radar?
If they are doing specialist work you value, yes. Practice Radar sits alongside and gives you an independent view of the results, so you can judge the agency's report against something you can check.
What should I ask an agency before signing?
Which searches they will measure and why, who reports on the results, how long the agreement runs and how you leave, and what they will change on your website each month. Our agency guide goes through each question.
See your own market before you sign anything
The free audit shows who Google puts first for the searches in your town, and where your practice sits, so the first conversation with any agency starts from evidence.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.