According to a post on Think With Google, 77% of smartphone owners use their devices to find local health services. So if you are a medical practitioner or owns a medical website, it is important to make sure that it is ranking well Otherwise, you could lose potential patients to your competitors.
Why Invest In Medical SEO?
How we do things is not quite the same ever since the digital revolution.
Patients these days are looking for hospitals, clinics, treatment facilities, and medical professionals online using a mobile device. If you are not investing properly in SEO, you are basically giving your patients away to other doctors.
You can avoid that by doing these six tips to boosting your medical website’s search engine ranking:
1. Plan Your keyword
One mistake a lot of people make is that they think they know the keywords that patients use when looking up for a medical website.
Think of it this way: A surgeon will not conduct an operation without checking the patient’s condition first and without running some tests. The same thing goes for medical SEO.
That said, you can utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner to check:
- What patients are typing on searches
- How much traffic a particular keyword gets
- How competitive a keyword is
- How relevant a keyword is to your practice
Additionally, you can utilize Google Search Console to know what are the words that people are using when searching for you online.
2. Use Local Search Listing
Google Local gives you the ability to build doctor profiles that show up on the maps of the search engine every time someone searches for someone like you locally.
By claiming your local search listing, you could better position yourself or your clinic on Google maps and local search results. Just remember to verify and update your listing. Otherwise, you can create one if Google has not done so in your specific practice.
After you have claimed your clinic’s local listing, complete the verification process because it will receive your updates live on Google. Not to mention that it can help you unlock important analytics.
In addition, you can amplify your digital marketing efforts by employing SEO services in India. Doing so allows you to be more relevant to patients who use “near me” search queries.
3. Encourage Online Reviews
We cannot emphasize this enough. You need to encourage and collect online reviews from satisfied patients.
Google uses reviews as one of its ranking signals. Thus, having a solid 5-star review allows your practice to rank well on local search results.
In addition, reviews serve as social proof to search engines and prospective clients, telling them that people in your area are satisfied with your services. As a result, they will be encouraged to book a consultation with you.
Great reviews are highly useful for your digital marketing strategy. Thus, you should also strive to implement adequate measures to create an amazing experience for your patients. Only then can you attract a high rating or a positive review.
4. Produce Relevant Content
A lot of healthcare providers think that as long as they have listed the details about their services, they do not have to write about anything else. But if you want your brand to stand out, not only do you need to create content that establishes trust with your patients, you also have to educate them along the way.
Focus on creating case studies, blogs, patient testimonials, current medical news, interviews, infographics, and you and your staff’s achievements. You also need to show them your skills and expertise in your private practice.
Moreover, any photo or video that you will add on your site should be top-quality, straight to the point, and concise.
5. Consider Social Media
If any page on your website is being shared on social media, search engines will consider this as a positive indicator that your content is relevant.
Furthermore, social media’s impact on medical SEO is through link building. This emphasizes the need to create high-quality content, which can be shared on various social media channels.
6. Leverage Analytics To Measure The Results
Using tools like Google Analytics will help you gain insight into what people are doing on your site.
When you understand how people interact with your site, you will know where you will need to optimize your website for medical SEO. You can also take advantage of Google Analytics to measure how well your site is performing.
Here are some of the things that you need to measure to know how well your site is performing:
- Bounce rate: The total percentage of users that leave your site without clicking or doing anything.
- Average Session Duration: How long are people staying on your site.
- The total number of visitors: The number of people that are visiting your website.
Final Thoughts
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most popular and reliable ways that you can use to improve the overall online experience of your medical website. Hopefully, these SEO tips and tricks will help you get measurable results and will improve your Google rankings over time.
