In the past, when someone needed to find a doctor, they would rely on a friend’s referral or skim through the yellow pages. In today’s digital age, the vast majority of patients look for a physician or medical service through a quick online search.
If a patient is searching for a physician in your area, will they find your profile or practice? If not, then you probably haven’t spent enough time building your SEO. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital for any business’s success, and especially for medical professionals who practice in such a highly competitive industry.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits of SEO for Physicians and how search engine optimization can help you attract new patients and stand out amongst your competitors.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization, commonly referred to as SEO, is the practice of making your site as relevant as possible to a query or keyword search on search engines like Google. The relevancy of a page is determined by a search engine’s algorithm. Google’s algorithm is comprised of numerous factors but mainly focuses on finding quality content and links from credible sites and presenting them by rank, starting from the most relevant information.
Google essentially grades a website based on how relevant its content is to a specific search term and then ranks – and displays – it accordingly. The more relevant a website is to a search query, the higher Google will rank your site in organic search results.
Now that you know what SEO is, you might be thinking, “Do I really need to implement this? What are the true benefits?” Below are a few compelling reasons how you and your practice can benefit from SEO:
You’ll Rank for Important, Relevant Search Terms and Keywords
A good foundation for SEO is determining the top keywords to use on your site. The best way to do this is to put yourself in your patients’ shoes and think about what they would search for in order to find your website. For example, if you specialize in noninvasive laser aesthetics, you should implement keywords about each service on their respective landing pages.
You need to think about whether someone is simply looking for information about a procedure or if a patient is looking for face-to-face interaction. Both audiences are important, but you’ll want to tailor your keywords and content to include all audiences accordingly. Make sure you use location-specific keywords to let Google and interested potential patients know that you offer “laser skin resurfacing treatment in Dallas, Texas.”
One of the primary ways search engines rank websites is through content. Be sure to write original content that is authoritative, resourceful, and includes relevant keywords. A great way to continue adding fresh content to your site is by integrating a blog. The more pages you feature with relevant, informational content, the more likely you are to attract new website visitors and increase your ranking. It’s important to note that getting visitors is just half the battle. Write engaging content that invites potential visitors to spend more time on your site. Avoid high bounce rates by including internal links, as well as high-quality external links.
You’ll Establish Credibility and Maintain Trust
When it comes to SEO, your end goal should be getting your website to rank on the first page of Google search results. The higher your site ranks, the more likely you are to attract new website visitors, secure new patients, grow your practice, and establish credibility. That’s essentially how Google ranks sites on the first page. They look for trustworthy websites that offer the most credible, relevant information to different search queries.
Potential patients tend to trust a practice that appears higher in search engine rankings, especially those on the first page. When you think about it objectively, how often do you go to the third or fourth page of search results when looking for a service? Almost never.
It’s Cost-Effective and Targeted
Traditional marketing and digital advertising methods can be very expensive, but SEO is cost-effective! Once upon a time, healthcare marketing relied on costly efforts such as radio, print, TV, and radio advertising. Not only are these methods exorbitantly pricey, but they also have no audience limitations and market to the masses. Although mass marketing can help your business reach a larger crowd, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will help you reach a more engaged audience.
Targeted niche marketing like SEO allows you to distribute your message and services to an audience who is most interested and likely to respond. Furthermore, SEO helps you spend less on acquiring new patients rather than pouring money into mass advertising methods.
As you can see from the many benefits discussed in this article, SEO makes all the difference for Physician practices. Regardless of your practice’s size, services, specialty, or date of establishment, SEO is a vital marketing strategy that can help increase your visibility, boost your credibility, connect with interested potential patients, and also reconnect with repeat patients. Once you develop a good SEO strategy, your website will generate the results and reel in the potential patients who are already searching for your services.
For additional tips on how to improve your marketing, download our eBook: 10 Tips to Market Your Aesthetic Practice in 2020.
