Medical professionals often assume if they have the latest equipment and best staff members that patients will flock to their practice. Sadly. this is no longer the case. If the practice doesn’t have a successful digital marketing strategy, patients aren’t going to find the practice online, and they will end up choosing another doctor. When the practice doesn’t make it to the top of the search engine results, it is losing business. The doctor cannot show the patient what makes their practice better.
Fortunately, healthcare seo services exist to ensure a doctor’s practice is found. Most internet browsing sessions begin with a search engine, and search engine optimization services help a business be found. Research has shown the top three search engine results receive 75 percent of the clicks. Each visit originating from a search engine is an opportunity to convert the person into a paying client. Search Engine Journal reports approximately 15 percent of all conversions are the product of a strong SEO strategy. Only two percent of conversions originate from other advertising sources.
The Golden Rules of a Successful SEO Campaign
Healthcare practices must remember three things when developing an SEO campaign. They must know who makes up the target audience and what these people search for when online. Content must focus on reaching this audience, and optimization helps in achieving this goal. Once a person arrives on the site, this content must turn them into paying customers. With the help of a strong SEO strategy, every medical practice will boost its search engine ranking and draw in more visitors. More visitors means more conversions. What strategies should every medical practice use?
Keyword Research
Keyword research remains crucial to a successful SEO campaign. This research uncovers information that is needed to grow the business. When conducting this research, the medical practice learns which terms the target audience searches for and how competitive those keywords are. Once identified, the keywords become a focal part of the practice’s overall marketing strategy.
The healthcare practice will use the keywords throughout the website. When used in strong and informational content, the keywords help to build a connection with the target audience. A practice needs to include these terms in infographics, case studies, medical news reports, articles, blog posts, and more. However, when creating this content, the practice must ensure the content is unique and relevant to healthcare. When this is the case, readers see the healthcare professionals in the practice as figures of authority. The audience finds them to be credible in their field.
Background Optimization
Healthcare practices often focus on what the site visitor sees and neglect background tasks that also play a role in the user experience. Search engines use meta tags to determine what a site is about and what keywords it is looking to rank for. These tags sit in the HTML’s head area, and site visitors never see them. However, they help to improve the site’s search engine ranking, so every healthcare practice needs to use them.
Meta descriptions are another way to optimize a site for the search engines while drawing readers in. This description appears under the page title in the search engine results. It tells the user what they will find on the page, so it must be crafted to entice the reader to visit the site and get more information.
Anchor text links allow readers to move around the site easily and may also be used to direct the reader to another site chosen by the site owner. Users appreciate having these links, as the links make it easier for them to navigate the site and the overall web. However, these links must be chosen carefully to let the reader know what they will find if they choose to click on the anchor text. In addition, they must take the viewer to a reputable site.
User Experience
Humans have a short attention span. If the site loads slowly or contains broken links, the visitor will choose to go elsewhere to find the desired information. However, these are only two factors that affect the user experience. The website design must make it easy to navigate to certain sections of the site, and the user must see the site clearly regardless of which device they use. Site security also plays a role in the user experience. If this experience is less than ideal, the user won’t form a connection with the site and ultimately the practice. Keep this in mind and ensure every visitor’s first impression is an amazing one.
Local SEO
Every practice owner must provide users with a mobile-friendly, local search experience. The person searching for healthcare information must have access to accurate contact details and the practice address when they visit the site, and this information must be clearly displayed. Wrong contact information will lead to the visitor looking elsewhere for the information and services they need.
When entering this information, visit local guides to check the contact information there and on other pages where the practice information might appear to make certain the information is correct. Any inconsistencies across these pages will lower the site’s search engine ranking. Optimize the Google My Business page also for better local traffic.
Individuals visit the internet to find information on a variety of topics, including healthcare. When they use a search engine and type in a healthcare-related query, those practices that land at the top of the organic search engine results receive the most clicks. Medical SEO campaigns help move a site up in the results, and the site receives more brand exposure. Site traffic increases and the practice sees a higher return on investment. Although search engine optimization efforts take time to produce results, these results are long-lasting.
The practice finds it spends less money to acquire patients when online marketing campaigns are used instead of direct marketing. The lower cost of patient acquisition improves the practice’s bottom line. Focus on your healthcare SEO efforts and see results in a short time. If help is needed, work with an SEO agency. While calling in the professionals comes with a fee, the money spent pays off when the practice receives more traffic thanks to these search engine optimization efforts.
