The easiest way to find a physician in an area is to use a search engine like Google or Bing. That’s why physicians present in search rankings get more and more appointments and referrals.
Generally, people type words with a specific area name and search the physician nearby. The search engine brings multiple results and shows the user. However, people only read the first three results and choose a physician for a health consultation.
How the first three results in search engine ranking appeared on the top? It is not by accident, chance, or mere luck. Those physicians have the best search engine optimization or SEO on their websites. That’s why they are beating their competition and getting all the business from others.
The higher ranking does require continuous monitoring of the website, SEO strategy, authority content, and value addition on the website.
Here you will know more about SEO for doctors, how to implement it, why it is valuable, and all actionable tips to get your website to appear in top rankings.
Keep reading for more.
SEO for doctors: How does it work?
Search engines continuously crawl websites for new content and updates and put them in the stock database.
When a person searches for a physician, then the search engine goes to the database and brings pages from there. However, before presenting results to the user, the search engine ranks them by using several factors, such as domain authority, quality of content, clues in the content, and keywords.
The top results are the most relevant to the typed phrases by the user.
If you want to be on the top of search rankings, then you have to improve the copy of your website and must include keyword phrases in the content and tags. Moreover, your site must be linked to other authority sites.
SEO for doctors: How patients find doctors online?
Patients always type specific medical practice phrases, along with the word “Near me” or “Area name.” This way, they get all the available options for them. For example, if a patient needs a Skincare specialist, then he/she would type “Skincare specialists near me” or “Skincare specialists in (city).”
The search engine brings all the results from that area and shows it to the patient. Then, the patient visits websites and selects one from the result.
SEO for doctors: Why it is valuable?
More and more people are using the internet to find physicians in their area for their health-related problems. If a physician does not have an online presence in search rankings, then he/she is losing a good amount of business.
Here are some other benefits to use SEO strategy for your practice.
Targeted leads
A search engine puts you right in front of people who are looking for you. For example, if you are a child specialist, and 100 people search for you in your area, then they will know your name from their search. Then, they will visit your website, read your content, about your service, and eventually contact you for an appointment.
Lower cost
If you opt for traditional advertising, then you will have to spend more money and resources in order to reach a limited audience. On the other hand, if you devise a good SEO strategy, then it will gain you a broader audience at a lower cost. Moreover, you can also compete for customers by building better offers, services, and campaigns.
Greater authority
If you appear in the top 5 search results, then people will trust you. Having a top ranking means: more people are visiting you and you have more credibility. The search engine always ranks those websites that have quality content and services. And you can do it by improving your websites from all professional angles. This way, you will become a better option for patients searching for a physician online.
SEO for doctors: The best actionable tips
Here are the best guidelines to rank your website better in search engine result pages.
Do local SEO
People love to go to physicians who are close to their location. That’s why you must optimize your website for local searches. For that, you have to include the location of your practice in the copy of your website, tags of your website, and content of your website. Plus, you need to mention your address in the footer of your website. Moreover, you must claim your business in Google maps and other online directories.
Put original content on your website
All search engines rank websites according to the originality of content, the number and type of pages, and the number of visits on the website. For that, a blog is the best tool you can use. It will build your authority because you are presenting your knowledge and expertise. Plus, it adds more pages to your website that have keyword optimization. This way, you will appear in more and more search results.
Build quality links with authority sites
Quality links always affect the ranking of the website in search results. For that, you can do guest blogging on authority websites. It will build the credibility of your website, along with better ranking.
However, you must forbid yourself from buying links. If you do that, then the AI of the search engine will recognize it and degrade your ranking in search results.
Make your website mobile-friendly
The majority of internet users browse websites on their cellphones. If your website is not mobile-friendly, then it will not attract customers because no one does business with low-quality websites.
Therefore, you must make your website attractive for mobile users, along with the best responsive interface.
Increase the speed of your website
Nowadays, internet users do not waste time on slow loading websites. If a website takes more than 30 seconds to load, then the user clicks to another site. Due to slow speed, you lose business. So, do the following for the best website speed.
- Increase the hosting speed
- Eliminate useless coding
- Compress larger files into smaller ones by using tools.
Create more and more content
Update your blog section frequently. It’s better to post thrice a week. Plus, your blog posts must be optimized regarding popular keywords. For that, you can hire medical content writers.
More content ensures more possibilities. Any blogpost can appear in search results and brings you leads. That’s why the more quantity of content provides you with better opportunities, along with better ranking.
Perfectly optimize target pages with keywords
When a patient search for a physician, then he/she sees your page title and snippets description. Then, he/she decides to click on the search result link. So, you must include the target keyword in the page title and snippet description. Plus, the targeted keyword must be present in image tags and URLs.
Moreover, you must also add videos and images to your page. It will enhance your optimization efforts. Keep one thing in mind. Your pages must be in easy to understand language. If you use complex and jargon language, then the patient will bounce from your website.
Build Google my business profile and mention your website
When a patient search for physicians nearby, then Google always shows a map. If you have Google my business profile, then you will appear on the map. Then, a click on you will lead to your website. This way, you get a massive number of clients from your area. So, claim your business on Google maps.
Build social media profiles and pages with your business name
Social media profiles give a boost to your website ranking. It’s because search engines consider Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as authority sites. When you link your social media profiles with your website, then you get better domain authority. This way, your ranking automatically gets better.
Get internet traffic on your website
Search engines rank those websites better that have more visitors. For that, you can opt for the following strategies.
- Newsletters
- Social media posts
- Advertising
Newsletters to your email subscribers can get you solid traffic that will stay on your website for longer time
Social media posts with a link to your website can get you enormous traffic
Advertising on social media and search engines will get you guaranteed traffic.
Use Google analytics
The best way to know the effectiveness of your SEO strategy is to use Google analytics. It will tell you the following statistic.
- Number of visitors
- Source of traffic
- Popular pages
- Bouncing pages
- Most clicked links
The above stats will help you improve in the future.
Always refresh your content and update regularly
By using analytics, you will know bouncing pages and popular pages. It means that something wrong with bouncing pages. So, you must find the mistakes, improve readability, and improve keyword placement in a natural way.
If you refresh your content regularly, then ultimately your content will become evergreen content that will provide value for years.
Final thoughts
Numerous people are searching for physicians in your area, and your site can get patients if it appears at the top ranking in search results. It can only happen if your website has the best search engine optimization considering all determining factors.
If you cannot do SEO on your own, then get an SEO plan. It would be the best action that you will do.
In short, for the best online visibility and presence, contact us for your SEO strategy specifically designed to meet your business goals. Have a great day, and work for your success.