With technology at our fingertips, we can meet our digital and communication needs with a laptop, tablet, or phone. Search engines and results make watching your favorite movie, finding a new restaurant, and even finding medical care simple and portable. While the Internet has been the preferred standard for finding entertainment and dining options for quite some time, many users are starting to use search engines to find a doctor and make healthcare decisions. Studies show that nearly 50% of medical patients have used Internet search results to connect with a doctor or find medical information.
As more of our daily activities become digitized, more patients will begin to use the internet to locate medical services, information, and contact forms. By leveraging medical SEO, physicians can optimize their practice websites to increase visibility and engagement with patients and other healthcare providers. Here, we will take a closer look at how SEO impacts the medical industry and how you can increase your traffic and visibility.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a strategy that involves optimizing a website's content and structure to increase its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). Unlike paid ads, SEO brings organic traffic to your website by improving your website rankability. As many businesses compete to earn the highest-ranking positions in the SERPs, visibility becomes the key to success.
Studies show that about 75% of online users never scroll past the first page of Google results. If you’re not ranking well, the chances of search users discovering your practice are slim. Search engines are continually redefining their ranking practices, making it difficult for practices to break out of the noise of their competitors. A robust SEO strategy and utilizing up-to-date practices help you earn rankings and climb to the top of the SERPs for a fraction of the cost of paid ads.
SEO in the Medical Industry
With more and more people turning to the internet for healthcare information, medical professionals are tailoring their approaches to reach patients looking to utilize their practices’ offerings. From surgical specialists to aesthetic services, medical professionals are refining their digital marketing strategies and using the benefits of SEO to share their expertise with search users and potential patients.
Optimizing medical websites, content, and overall user experience is the first step in boosting your practice’s rankings. Think of your website and content as your medical office — the more inviting and welcoming it is, the higher the likeliness of patients referring and recommending your practice to others.
In SEO, the changes that make your website more inviting and welcoming show search engine algorithms that your practice is worth ranking. Positive interactions with your content offerings and overall user experience rank well in the eyes of search engines, showing that your practice is credible, authoritative, and worthy of being shown as a helpful result for search users.
Tips for a Successful Medical SEO Strategy
Developing and implementing a successful SEO strategy can be daunting without the help of a medical SEO agency. As search engines evolve their ranking structures, SEO becomes increasingly important as medical professionals strive for online web visibility. A few fundamentals of SEO success include:
Website Quality: First impressions matter—cleaning up your website quality to make it easily navigable allows search users to schedule an appointment or reach out for contact easily. Aesthetics and design consistency are essential, as they keep users interested in your website offerings. If your website does not appear to be of the highest quality, patients may be easily deterred, and search engines will penalize you for low-quality material. Medical practices should provide the same high-quality information and services online as in person.
User Experience (UX): Consider enhancing your UX when developing your website and optimizing for SEO. Easy navigation, page speed, and readability are extremely important in ensuring that users stay on your website and engage with your website content and offerings.
Content Quality: As medical professionals, the information offered on your website must be accurate, ethical, and within medical standards. Focusing on content quality and ethics allows search engines to determine whether your practice is a qualified and credible search result, allowing your practice to climb rankings as an authoritative source.
Keywords: Keywords are a fundamental aspect of SEO. When users enter their queries into search engines, they use specific words that help Google match them to the most relevant results. SEO experts use keyword research and analysis to better understand which keywords users are searching for and how to incorporate them into your SEO strategy for better visibility.
Backlinks: Search engines constantly evaluate ranking factors and look for indicators of authority and approval from websites. In SEO, backlinks are essentially a badge of approval from other authoritative websites, telling search engines that your website is an excellent source of information. Therefore, in determining ranking, search engines assign higher value to your website as a recommendation for quality information.
Peaks Digital Marketing — The Experts on Medical SEO
As technology rapidly evolves, medical professionals must choose between falling behind or leading the way. It’s becoming more important than ever to consider how your practice is ranking and how it affects your organization, your patients, and your credibility as a medical or healthcare professional.
Cultivate your reputation as a high-quality healthcare provider. At Peaks Digital Marketing, we specialize in developing the highest-level medical SEO strategy and getting your practice to the top of the SERPs. As the experts on all things SEO, our experts strive to deliver the best possible results and provide the latest updates on evolving SEO trends. For more information or to get a free proposal, visit our website or call us at (720) 432-7115.
