SEO is often associated with e-commerce and other businesses. Doctors and healthcare professionals rarely think about having an SEO plan. However, in today’s competitive healthcare industry, every doctor and hospital needs a functional website and a strong SEO plan. This is because the majority of people are using the internet to find the best doctors.
People are no longer using directories or searching through the yellow pages to find a healthcare provider. Most patients are using Google or Bing to find doctors. So, if you want patients to find you; search engine optimization (SEO) is a must. Many dentists and physicians believe that building a website is sufficient to have an online presence. However, the key to getting found online lies in SEO.
When someone types “doctor near me”, dozens or even hundreds of doctors available in the geographic area appear on the search engine result page within seconds. Now, do you think the searcher will click on all the results? The majority of the internet users click only on the top 3 or 4 results. It means that if your website is on the second page, then your potential patients will fail to find your website when they search. If you’re still wondering what exactly SEO is and why your hospital or clinic needs it, read further to find out!
What is SEO for Doctors?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a digital marketing technique used to improve the search engine ranking of a website. It includes several tactics such as using specific keywords and optimizing the site’s technical aspects to help the search engine find and index a website. SEO is used to gain organic (non-paid) ranking on the search engine result page (SERP). Both on-page and off-page SEO is used to improve the site’s visibility and increase website traffic. SEO for doctors or medical SEO includes the same practices that are used for any other website. However, here the goal is to rank the website in the search engine results for medical treatment searches related to the doctor’s specialty. Medical SEO helps doctors and hospitals to get more website traffic and patient by improving their organic search rankings.
Benefits & Importance of SEO for Doctors
Do you know more than 70 % of patients use the internet to find a doctor? They search for specialists in specific geographic locations and your online success depends on ranking at the top of the Google search results. Ranking on the first page will increase your chances of getting more patient bookings. All this helps in increasing web traffic and bringing qualified leads and patients to your medical practice. Let’s find out more benefits of SEO for doctors and healthcare services.
- Increase Online Visibility
If you search for any product or service online, do you ever visit the results on the second or third page? The majority of people rarely make it through more than 1-2 pages of results. This is because searchers trust results on the first page of Google. It means that appearing on top of a search listing will increase your online visibility on search engines and help you get more patients. Ranking for specific healthcare treatment requires SEO. Without proper SEO techniques, you will always end up missing out on website traffic. Using the right keywords that include your location, specialty, and health conditions and procedures will help people find you online.
- Reliable and Credible Image
When it comes to healthcare, people want to find the best specialist. The top organic search results on Google are trusted by the users. Whether a patient wants to book an appointment or needs online consultation, the healthcare providers on the top always get first preference. Medical SEO helps in increasing organic rankings that will boost patients’ confidence in your facility. It will enhance the credibility and reliability of your hospital or clinic. Some people tend to dig a little deeper by searching reviews about the physicians. A carefully planned SEO strategy will ensure that your potential patients find you and get a favorable image of your medical practice.
- Increased ROI
In today’s digital era, digital marketing is considered more cost-effective than traditional methods such as newspaper, radio, or television advertisement. SEO is one of the most effective online marketing techniques that help you reach your potential patients. It is an inbound marketing strategy that helps in gaining qualified leads that have an interest in your services. Medical SEO for doctors provides a higher Return on Investment or ROI than paid advertising solutions.
Elements of Medical SEO
SEO for doctors is the same as regular SEO. It involves optimizing the physician’s website to allow the search engine spiders to understand what your website is all about. A robust SEO strategy includes three different elements: off-site SEO, on-site SEO, and technical SEO. Off-site SEO includes techniques that are not directly associated with the website such as setting up a Google My Business page, listings of your practice on online directories, reviews, guest blogging to get quality backlinks to your website.
Another element is on-site SEO that focuses on optimizing your website. It involves keyword research to find out what search phrases your potential patients are searching for such as “Dermatologist in Toronto”. Keywords are added in the content, page headlines, meta tags, and more. The third aspect is technical SEO that improves the speed and functionality of the website to ensure a smooth user experience and allow search engine spiders to scan and index your site.
