Healthcare is all about helping people become the healthiest version of themselves for the highest quality of life. But in order to help people, you need to get them into your practice in the first place. With the right search engine optimization (SEO) marketing strategies, you can appeal to the right potential patients so that they understand how you can make them feel better.
Healthcare is just one industry that uses SEO marketing to help businesses succeed, and it also has a few unique details that may not apply to other industries. There are a few facets of SEO marketing that shouldn’t be ignored by physicians and healthcare specialists.
4 aspects of SEO marketing that are important to know for physicians and healthcare professionals
SEO for medical practices, such as physical therapy facilities and urgent care centers, works to help make sure that your business is put in front of as many eyes as possible. The right strategies can help you increase your patient acquisition, retention and authority. However, SEO in the healthcare industry looks a bit different than it does for other industries. By learning about the unique parts of healthcare SEO, you can ensure that your strategy aligns with the right guidelines and gets you the results you’re looking for.
If you’re trying to figure out the best components to incorporate into your strategy, here are four unique facets of SEO marketing for physicians and healthcare specialists that are worth paying attention to:
- HIPAA compliance — Your patients’ privacy should always be a priority. It’s essential that every SEO effort complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It’s essential that your website is HIPAA compliant for the law, your patients and SEO. It’s important to note that Google Analytics isn’t HIPAA compliant. That means that it’s up to your website to not expose any of your patient data to the search engine through tracking.
- Credibility — Most people aren’t willing to compromise on their healthcare — as they shouldn’t be. They want to make sure that they are being taken care of by someone empathetic and knowledgeable and who has the experience to provide tailored treatment for them. The credibility of your content is essential in SEO performance. The algorithm holds healthcare professionals to a high standard to ensure that people are shown the safest information and resources.
- Strict Google guidelines — Somewhat related to the previous point, the high standards for healthcare professionals mean that Google isn’t willing to risk a negative impact on a person’s life by ranking the wrong websites. Google has “Your Money or Your Life” guidelines, which are used to monitor pages that could affect a user’s happiness, health and safety. These guidelines are stricter for healthcare websites to ensure that they prioritize the user’s well-being, such as verified expertise.
- Reviews — For every type of industry, reviews play a significant role in SEO performance. The algorithm wants to highlight businesses that provide high satisfaction and are backed by previous customers. In healthcare, the stakes for reviews are a bit higher. People shouldn’t be putting their health in the hands of people who have been known to provide ineffective, unsafe or ingenuine care to others. Search engines take patient reviews as a large contributing factor to SEO rankings.
We’re all about the research here at BURG+CO. We know what search engines are looking for when it comes to SEO rankings, and we’ll ensure that every part of your site aligns with that criteria. Even though healthcare SEO may differ a bit from other industries, we’ll make sure that nothing slips through the cracks. We’ll collaborate with your team for a healthcare SEO strategy that takes every unique SEO facet into consideration.
Want to attract new visitors to your website? BURG+CO. can help
Increasing traffic to your website plays a role in increasing conversions and leading to new clients. However, it’s difficult to attract visitors to your site when you don’t know what to do. Fortunately, this is what we specialize in at BURG+CO.
Our team has years of experience in helping businesses improve their digital presence to attract new leads and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more visitors to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help. Contact our team today for more information about digital marketing or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
