Search engine optimization [SEO] is a technical marketing strategy used to help get a website to rank on search engines.
It is an excellent way to make your medical practice stand apart from the competition.
Taking advantage of SEO strategies is an excellent way to get your medical office ahead of as many new patients as possible. Now more than ever, SEO for medical practices is crucial because of the overlapping competition in local areas.
Let this be your complete guide for SEO, explaining what it is, why it’s so crucial, and SEO tips and benefits. Follow these essential SEO marketing strategies for your medical practice’s website.
What is SEO marketing?
Knowledge is power when diving into SEO marketing. While a practice’s website may appear insignificant, it is an investment where you can gain rewards if done correctly. SEO is a way for a medical practice to show up in search results and can be key to a practice’s overall marketing strategy.
With 80% of patients searching online for new providers, a medical practice website is crucial in attracting new patients. A medical practice must put forth a consistent and well-planned effort to be found in search. These measures taken to be seen in Google searches are known as SEO.
When someone is searching for a new medical practice, search engines will serve up a shortlist of providers. How a medical practice ends up at the top of search results is what we call SEO.
What SEO ranking can do for you.
With knowledge and consistency, your practice will show up in the Google local top three. So, what would it mean to your office to dominate the local medical healthcare search results for your practice type?
- Increase in new patients
- Overall practice growth
- More high revenue procedures
- More consultations or appointments
The benefits of SEO for medical practices.
Potential patients can locate you quickly if your practice lists among the top three names in search engines.
However, every practice can’t find a place in the top three spaces, so you must educate yourself and invest in SEO practices to become more visible. Some of the major benefits include:
- Rank higher for medically focused keywords
- Improve practice website traffic
- Capture competitors’ websites traffic
- Increase monthly leads and new patient appointments
- Attract new and younger patients
Essential tips for SEO marketing.
Efficient SEO strategies should allow for growth to evolve with the ever-changing healthcare industry.
You can improve lead quality and build valuable relationships while improving your online reputation if you successfully implement SEO best practices. Healthcare practices can also benefit by using SEO to increase their online presence while better understanding their target audience. Some essential best practices include:
- Website design: It all beings with a quality website. Make sure you have a dedicated page that includes your practice name, address, phone, and contact details that will be consistently used on all other listings and review sites.
- Reviews play a massive role: When addressing SEO for medical practices and ranking, first be sure you have a testimonials or reviews page on your website. Reviews are a solid indicator of page rank, so make sure you have some on your website.
- Claim the business page: To rank first on Google, you need to ensure you are listed on Google Business. To do so, you need to claim, verify, and update your listing or create a listing if Google has not already done so.
- Create a Facebook business page: You are behind the curve if you do not have a Facebook business page for your practice. Facebook is critical for first-page search results, and this is because if you search for a practice, their Facebook page will be one of the highest-ranking listings on the page. Facebook carries the ultimate influence in search ranking, and you are losing visibility by not having a page.
- Utilize video content: Video is a powerful way to increase engagement and develop a relationship with your potential patients. Patients have taken research into their own hands, and they want to hear directly from providers they will potentially be seeing. Adding videos into your blog posts or landing pages increases on-page time, another critical ranking factor.
- Perform keyword research for local SEO for medical websites: Quality keywords are the foundation of great local SEO. Many people fail right away by never utilizing the resources available on the web for free keyword research. It is simple to enter your focus keyword, and the tool gives you insights into search volume, top pages, and much more.
- An active content marketing strategy is vital: Content is still king in SEO. Most people think of blog posts when it comes to content marketing. While this is one of the most standard types of content marketing, there are many other types of content marketing. A blend of several styles will work best as different patients prefer variety.
- Backlinks are critical: Backlinking is another crucial portion of a robust SEO strategy to get a medical practice ranking. A backlink is made when a website links to another. The link between the two sites is called the backlink. Every quality backlink is an additional validation point that another credible website gives your practice approval.
Educating yourself about SEO and following these steps will get your medical practice SEO strategy on the path to search engine success. Start with your website design and create a business Facebook page, then seamlessly roll into a solid ongoing SEO strategy for your medical office.
Showing up at the top of search results will not be an overnight process, but it can be done fast if the proper procedure is followed, and consistency is achieved. We hope these ideas help you make the most of your SEO strategy. If you need more marketing ideas for your medical practice, follow our blog page!
Tags: Marketing for Office Managers, medical office management, medical offices, national organization of rheumatology managers, NORM, office management, SEO, SEO marketing, tips for office managers Posted by
