When it comes to digital marketing in the healthcare industry, gaining visibility on localized search results is more critical than ever. As consumers become increasingly dependent on the internet for everyday tasks, your medical practice likely won’t cross their minds if they don’t see it online first – even if they regularly drive by your facility.
If you want to increase the number of people walking in your door, they have to know you exist.
According to a report by Social Media Today, 72% of consumers who search for local businesses end up visiting stores within five miles of their location. As a result, Google has prioritized local results on its search engine results pages (SERPs), and search engine optimization (SEO) is on the rise.
Keep reading for tips on how to improve SEO for medical practices.
Optimize your website content with on-page SEO
When consumers perform an online search for medical services in their area, the top rankings are likely not there by accident. The providers seen on the first page have invested time and resources into boosting their organic search engine rankings.
In digital marketing for healthcare providers, local SEO is all about your website’s relationship to search engines, especially Google. Google aims to deliver the best and most relevant websites first for each search performed to best serve its users. For example, Google knows when pages are not built well or load slowly, and those sites are unlikely to achieve any prominent search ranking.
Other standard best practices to improve website ranking include:
Boost your off-site presence with link-building
Local link-building is the process of getting backlinks from relevant local websites. These links can be from brand mentions and references from other business websites. Every quality backlink serves as an additional validation point that Google considers when ranking local searches.
Think of a backlink as a positive review – a “thumbs up” from another credible website. Getting backlinks from local websites with high domain authority (DA) works as proof to the search engines that your website is a valuable resource in terms of local searches.
Publish valuable content on your website
– Creating high-value content will increase your chances of getting other sites to link back to your pages.
Register in local directories and forums
– Directory listings that include your full practice name, phone number, physical address and website address can result in quality backlinks.
Tap into local newspapers and other media
– Create a press release about your practice, add a link to your local SEO landing page or website, and send it out to local publications.
Claim & verify your Google My Business listing
Your Google My Business (GMB) listing is to local SEO what a phone number was to the yellow pages. It’s the easiest way for people to find you and get the information they need about your practice. Fortunately, claiming and verifying your GMB account is simple and free.
After signing up and claiming your listing, you will need to provide the following information:
- Name of practice
- Address
- Phone number
- Email address
- Hours of operation
- Photos of the practice
- Short description of the practice
The idea is to bring the GMB listing to life by providing complete information about the practice to potential patients. To optimize a GMB listing, make sure that you frequently update it and answer questions that people may have.
Ask for patient reviews – and respond to them
Considering that 84% of patients use online reviews to evaluate healthcare providers, testimonials have become a non-negotiable part of digital marketing in the healthcare industry. Having numerous positive reviews indicates to Google that your business can be trusted to deliver on its promises. This also means consumers are more likely to choose you over competitors.
However, Google recently updated its stance on business reviews, saying that negative reviews can be just as valuable as positive ones. According to the Google Business Profile Help page, a business that doesn’t have any negative reviews is not as trustworthy as one with a mix of positive and negative reviews.
Whether it’s a positive review filled with compliments and praises or a negative review, you should make it a point to respond to them all. This reflects well on your business and shows that you care.
The takeaway
If you want better rankings on Google – and more patients – it is crucial to ensure you have a healthy SEO strategy to boost your organic search engine ranking. While showing up at the top of local search results is not an overnight task, it can be done quickly with consistency and the right approach.
In addition to SEO and SEM (search engine marketing) services, Hyport Digital also offers a full spectrum of other small business digital marketing services that can be utilized to gain a strong competitive edge over your local competitors.
Reach out to us today!
