How to Optimize Your Medical Practice for Local Search
By 2033, the US is expected to experience a shortage of 21,000 to 55,000 primary care physicians (PCPs). So if you’re planning on still being a practicing physician in the next decade, then you might be feeling optimistic.
However, even with a demand for doctors, patients can be picky. And it’s not guaranteed that they’ll even know your medical office exists. If you don’t market yourself, then residents will opt for doctors who do.
You can fix this by employing local SEO for medical professionals. Read on to see how you can do this effectively.
Create a Google Business Profile
When people want to find a new doctor, they’ll most likely ask for recommendations from their social circle, then go online to search for more options. This means that if you don’t have a Google Business Profile, they won’t find your practice.
Make it your top priority to claim your address and business on Google. Then fill in as much information as you can, including your:
- Website
- Phone number
- Business hours
- Services offered
Google will reward you for providing accurate and up-to-date information. So you should update your Business Profile if anything changes, as that’s the best practice when it comes to SEO for medical practices.
Build Local Citations
In addition to creating a Google Business Profile, you’ll want to build local citations. This is where your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are mentioned on other websites, platforms, and directories.
You can help this along by creating consistent and accurate citations on relevant local directories. You can try healthcare and local business directories, as well as professional associations.
To maximize your medical SEO efforts, ensure your NAP information matches the data on your Google Business Profile.
Get Online Reviews From Patients
Contact your current patients and encourage them to leave reviews for your practice. Positive reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades can improve your online reputation. As a result, this will increase your local visibility.
In addition, respond to all reviews, both positive and negative. This will show that you value patient feedback, and users will see how professionally you handle criticism. This is your chance to really shine and demonstrate your ability to handle any situation.
Optimize Your Website for Local Keywords
One of the most important things you can do for healthcare SEO is optimize your site for local keywords. After all, you want to attract people who live close by, so relevant keywords will do exactly that.
Focus on ones that include your location and services. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your content, including your page titles, headings, and meta descriptions. They should also be used throughout the body of your pages.
Be careful not to overuse keywords, as Google will punish you for doing so. This is called “keyword stuffing”, and it’ll be obvious that you’re trying to game the system and boost your site on search engine page results (SERPs).
Implement Local Scheme Markup
Schema markup is a code that helps search engines understand your site’s content better. So as you can imagine, implementing this code can only benefit you.
Make sure you mark up your contact information, business hours, address, and other relevant details. Once you’ve done so, search engines can display rich snippets in the search results to make your practice’s website more visible. For example, Google might display your star ratings, which will get you noticed quickly if you have stellar reviews.
Create Locally-Focused Content
Once you’ve picked prime keywords, you can boost their efficiency by creating locally-focused content. Craft high-quality and informative content that’s relevant to your local audience.
Two of the best types of content to create include blog posts and articles. These can inform both potential and current patients about healthcare topics specific to your area. You can address common health concerns within your community too.
These efforts can help you attract local website visitors and display your expertise.
Ensure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
More and more people are using their smartphones to perform searches, so not having a mobile-friendly site can be a death knell to your medical office. If users can’t load up your site to find out vital information, they’ll definitely click back and find a doctor who has a better website.
You should optimize your site’s design and layout to ensure it’s responsive. That way, you can provide a seamless experience across various screen sizes and devices.
Optimize for Voice Search
Another thing you need to optimize for is voice search. Many people enjoy using home voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, which has changed the way users use search engines.
Optimizing your site for voice search queries can vastly improve your local SEO efforts. Keep in mind that voice searches are often more conversational and involve questions, so focus on long-tail keywords and natural language in your content.
Monitor and Analyze Your Results
SEO for doctors is the same as for everyone else: you need to monitor and analyze your results to ensure you get the best return on investment (ROI).
See what’s working (and what’s not) by checking website traffic, rankings, and online reviews. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can give you insights into your site’s performance, and they’ll enable you to make data-driven decisions.
Don’t be afraid to test and tweak your SEO strategies. The worst thing you can do is stagnate and keep everything the same for years to come, as the SEO and marketing world is constantly evolving, so you should too.
Use Effective Local SEO for Medical Professionals
Effective local SEO for medical professionals is essential if you want to attract more patients to your practice. These efforts can show users that you’re knowledgeable, and that you value your patients and will take care good care of them.
So don’t discount marketing efforts, as medical practices are also businesses at their cores. Invest some time and money into this area, and you’ll see it pay off in no time.
Find more marketing tips by checking out our other blog articles now.
