One of the first places many patients look when they want to find a doctor is Google. This is why you want your website to appear near the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages) so that people are more likely to click through and schedule an appointment with you. If your website isn’t there, it means that your competition is. This can cause you to lose out on new patients which is why SEO for doctors is so important. Fortunately, there are some strategies that’ll help you out here.
Use Appropriate Medical Keywords in Your Medical SEO
When you’re optimizing your content for medical SEO you’ll want to make sure you target the right keywords. The best place to start is with the medical services you offer since this is what most people will be searching for. From there you can use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to find the best keywords.
Once you find your keywords you don’t want to “stuff” them into your content since Google will quickly catch onto this and penalize your website for it. Instead, you’ll want to use long-tail keywords in your content in ways that are relevant and natural.
Add Numerous Content Pages
Good SEO for doctors requires you to include a lot of high-quality, keyword-optimized information on each page. This information should strive to make your patients’ lives better. It can include a detailed description of your services or blog posts that target a search query but it should always keep medical SEO in mind.
Optimize Visual Elements
Since videos are popular, causing people to spend more time there, Google sends these web pages more traffic since they see there’s valuable content there. This is why when you’re working on SEO for doctors you should make sure you include as many videos as possible.
Besides videos, you’ll want to include images and infographics to make your website more engaging and interactive. This will also help increase your traffic. Make sure these contain appropriate alt text so visually impaired users and Google crawlers can have a better understanding of your webpage.
Optimize for Website Speed, Security, and Mobile Use
Other factors that also impact your medical SEO include speed, security, and mobile-friendliness. Websites that take more than three seconds to load will cause many people to leave and go elsewhere. If you have good medical SEO but a slow site, you won’t be penalized by Google.
Your website’s security is also important. You’ll want to make sure you have an SSL certificate to ensure that your visitors’ information is safe. Not having an SSL certificate will negatively impact your medical SEO since you’re accepting sensitive patient information.
Another important consideration is mobile-friendliness. This is important because most people use mobile devices to go online. Here you’ll need a responsive design – one that automatically changes to fit the screen it’s being viewed on.
Consider Off-Site Factors
Off-site indicators are also important in SEO for doctors. One of your main priorities here should be social media even though it isn’t a direct ranking factor. The content that’s found on your social media page will significantly impact if patients choose your practice. This is why you’ll want to make sure to keep it updated and relevant.
You’ll also want to make sure there aren’t any spammy links leading to your website as they’ll also hurt your SEO for doctors. Take some time to disavow any unwanted links to improve your website’s ranking in the SERPs.
Local SEO for Doctors
Make sure your Google My Business page is kept updated. This will ensure your website shows up in Google’s local pack (the group of 5 businesses that appear above the organic search results).
When it comes to SEO for doctors you’ll also want to take a look at your local citations (online mentions of your business’ NAP – name, address, phone number). This information typically comes from numerous sources.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there aren’t any guarantees when it comes to medical SEO, but there is a company that can help you improve your website for the search engines. Local SEO Company in Tampa, FL is here to take care of your website for you while you focus on what’s truly important: taking care of your patients.