Effective, trustworthy healthcare is something every patient wants, but they don’t always have an easy time finding it. So they turn to the place everyone depends on for answers: search engines. By capitalizing on that dependence, your healthcare practice can gain the attention and traffic of potential patients by using search engine optimization (SEO) services.
Search engine optimization is an effective digital marketing approach that can help grow and scale healthcare practices when it’s strategized properly with the right services. If you’re unsure what those services are, we’re here to help guide you through the journey of SEO that can lead you to increased traffic, conversions and patient acquisition.
In this post, we’ll discuss the basics of SEO optimization services for healthcare before diving into the specific recommendations that have been used by experts. We’ll also discuss what to consider when choosing an SEO service provider, such as criteria and potential challenges.
Understanding SEO services for healthcare
Search engine optimization centers on getting your website and content to rank as high as possible on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO can help you increase organic traffic, conversions and brand awareness. Basically, it helps you get in front of the eyes of potential patients who have issues or questions that relate to your healthcare field, therefore providing value and increasing the likelihood of them booking an appointment.
SEO may seem like a broad concept, but it’s important that your SEO strategy is as targeted as possible to reach the right audience. That’s where an SEO service provider, like BURG+CO., comes in. An SEO service can help you:
- Complete keyword research that allows you to target your key demographic
- Create keyword-specific content that drives conversions
- Build credibility and authority in your healthcare field
5 expert-backed recommendations used by SEO services for healthcare practices
Now that we’ve talked about the importance of using SEO in healthcare, it’s time to see how it can be put into practice with an SEO provider. With this marketing approach being around for more than two decades, there have been plenty of tips shared between experts that are worth incorporating into your own SEO strategy with the help of a service provider.
Here are five recommendations for SEO services:
- Prioritize local SEO — When a patient needs help, they want the highest quality of care combined with convenience. It’s important to focus on showing up in searches by people in your community and surrounding areas. When it comes to healthcare, people are likely to add “near me” for many searches. That’s called local SEO. An SEO service provider can see what issues people in your geographical location are searching for, and create content that showcases your value to them.
- Optimize website content for health keywords — Healthcare itself is a pretty broad term, but there are hundreds of common keywords related to it that people may be searching for. Health keywords can cover anything from “common sports injuries” to “persistent back pain.” An SEO service can be sure that not only does your website’s content include those keywords, but that those keywords are likely to rank high on SERPs by using SEO factors like backlinks and readability.
- Emphasize technical SEO for faster load times — People want the answers to their search questions as quickly as possible (and it’s never quick enough). That’s why a page’s load speed plays such an important role in your SEO. If the page doesn’t load in less than three seconds, the user is likely to click off, causing you to lose engagement, conversions and a potential patient. By using technical SEO tools, such as an audit, you can find ways to decrease load time, such as optimizing images.
- Prioritize content features that increase healthcare website readability — Healthcare is an expansive industry that can seem complicated and intimidating to those outside of it, so it’s essential that your healthcare website is as readable as possible. Using content features that promote readability, such as bulleted lists of symptoms and data tables comparing similar diagnoses, can help users find the information they need without feeling overwhelmed by paragraphs of medical jargon.
- Utilize online reviews and testimonials — The opinions of current patients in your community play an essential role in appealing to potential patients. That’s why online reviews and testimonials play a significant part in your SEO success. By working with a service provider, you can determine the best way to use testimonials to bring in new patients, such as including them on your site or in social media campaigns. Responding to all reviews can also help boost your credibility in the eyes of the algorithm.
Selecting affordable SEO services
Learning about the practices that an SEO service provider can implement is one thing; choosing the right provider for you is another. Let’s face it: It’s all about the money.
You want the best bang for your buck in every service that you outsource. In the matter of choosing an affordable SEO service provider, here are some criteria to keep in mind:
- Access to SEO tools and software, such as Semrush
- Experience working with a variety of company budgets and sizes
- Focus on local SEO
- Audits and regular metric tracking included
Challenges and solutions in healthcare SEO
Just like any strategy, healthcare SEO can come with some issues. This is especially true when it comes to the involvement of people’s medical information and history.
There are many strict regulations when it comes to healthcare SEO to ensure that all related businesses are HIPAA compliant. The right SEO provider can optimize your content and, at the same time, ensure that you’re complying with regulations. This includes:
- Patient consent forms
- Encryption protocols
- Transforming data into anonymous forms
Want to attract new visitors to your website with SEO? BURG+CO. is a service provider that can help
At BURG+CO., we know what it takes to get you the SEO results you want and how to navigate the tricky healthcare regulations to get there. With strategies like technical audits, local keyword research and structured data, we want to make sure that you’re approaching SEO from every angle to help move your bottom line.
Contact our team today for more information about digital marketing or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
