by shannon | Jan 4, 2021 | Healthcare SEO
Search Engine Optimization for Healthcare Website
People search for just about everything online, including healthcare and their medical issues. Many hope to find some method of treatment or information about undiagnosed health issues. Some are looking for reassurance from experts and people who have the same issues. While using search engines like Google or Bing, they often begin to seek a place or doctor for their care.
Google and Bing are very competitive places for providing information about doctors and clinics, and your practice needs to rank near the top of the search results to get your share of views that translate into patients coming to see you. SEO, also known as search engine optimization is key to having customers know about your business and expertise.
This article explores some basics of SEO and how you can improve your standing on search pages.
Mobile First
More than half of Internet traffic comes from mobile phones. Many people don’t have a personal computer at home anymore and rely on a mobile phone or tablet for web surfing and social media. Your website and search results need to look good, load fast, and work the same way they would with a larger monitor
- Use more icons than text when possible.
- Simplify menus and make their presence obvious.
- Offer search first, and ensure it’s easily workable. Sites with lots of information need to be searchable.
- Ensure that calls to action and buttons are not too close together. Pushing the wrong button can be frustrating
- Enable click to call. Many mobile phones assume your phone number in the text is dialable, but including an actual phone, icon can help get more phone calls.
Google My Business
My Business is a platform within Google that lets you edit many things your patients would like to know about your practice. Basics include operating hours, address, parking, a link to your website. You can also use Google My Business to tell customers what specific services you offer.
Why should you do this? Many patients will seek a place for treatments promptly after trying to seek information about potential health problems, and they will look locally with phrases like “Chiropractor near me” because they intend to research which place to visit.
You can also make “Google Posts” which are displayed prominently with your practice, often on the right side of the screen, showing recent updates about your business and can include information about current specials or advice.
Asking for reviews also helps your SEO and authority within Google. A well-reviewed practice with a complete Google profile can rank higher than a center that doesn’t list hours or a photo. People want the most trusted places and Google intends to help them find the best result.
Content is King
Search engines rely upon expertise to keep users coming back. People want genuine, expert advice about issues and are more than willing to seek it out, even before contacting you. Make a webpage about a topic you know quite well and present your information in a clear, easy to understand way. Google loves authoritative results and will recognize your efforts for writing results like “How to adjust your posture and chair to make long days at the office comfortable.”
Your content can also help you grow via social media. If your practice is on Facebook or other sites, the people who like your page will appreciate your insights and share them.
Language
You might need extra help with the language. Your patients speak a variety of languages and many websites neglect this need. A person seeking help with back pain will likely search in their own language and have few local websites show up. If your website speaks their language, you have a definite advantage over someone who doesn’t.
Using analytics tools like Google Analytics, you can tell which demographics go to your site, which languages they speak, and what they search for. You can then create content on your site for their particular issues and win their views.
Final Thoughts
SEO is key to business growth in the competitive world of search engines. Ranking among the top results, especially locally, is vital to attracting new patients. Taking full advantage of your new knowledge of technology and search, a doctor or practice can make many small adjustments that make your business stand out to people seeking help.
We hope you find this guide useful regarding SEO and your rank via Google and Bing improves. Many small and large steps are available in the process of making your business known locally.
This article was originally posted at Virtual Surge.
by shannon | Oct 5, 2020 | Healthcare SEO
Successful Tips For Healthcare SEO
On its own, SEO has a lot to do with your skill, as well as factors such as the content you write, the CMS on which the site is built, and more.
That being said, by far the most important dependency is the industry you are in. In the healthcare niche, SEO is remarkably difficult, as well as a highly important task.
Anyone can make a website and you simply cannot afford to be outranked in authority by websites pushing pseudo-science and untrustworthy treatments.
At Vital Surge, our experience has taught us that your SEO strategy is driven by your audience. Imagine a woman in labor, or a person experiencing appendicitis pain. It’s in this moment of crucial need that they turn towards the healthcare professional, or institution they trust.
As a healthcare provider in the digital age, this is the sole reason it is so important for you to have a fool-proof SEO strategy.
These expert-recommended tips will help you perform better than ever before!
Optimize for Mobile
If you’re like most of the healthcare sector clients at Vital Surge, we can tell you that more than 60% of your web traffic comes through mobile phones. To put it simply, every 6 out of 10 patients visiting your website are doing so with their mobile phone.
This is why it is so important for you to make sure your site is optimized for use on mobile phones.
Despite what most ‘experts’ would have you believe, optimizing for mobile means more than just ensuring the site loads quickly on smartphones. It means making the process as seamless and enjoyable as it is on a computer.
Not only does this involve making sure everything fits on the tiny (or huge) phone screen, but also that everything important, such as all menus, action buttons, CTAs, and the search bar are right on top. As a healthcare provider it’s important you make the mobile experience as easy as possible.
Keep it Multilingual
It doesn’t matter what nationality or region your patients belong to – everyone needs medical attention some time or the other. This is why it’s important to make as much of your site available in different languages, as possible.
This serves an important dual function. First and foremost, your traffic gets the answers they need in their language. After all, they’re there because they have a worrying health-related question, such as what to do if you step on a nail, or your blood pressure drops.
Secondly, this helps bring in traffic who might not be searching in English. Not only does this help rank your site, but makes it one of the few that are available in different languages, making you available to a much larger audience. Not to forget, this also establishes your authority as a trusted site.
To find out which languages you should optimize for, use your site analytics. Observe the demographics of your audience and decide on the top 3 (at least) languages you need on site.
Optimize for Local
Google is by far the most popular search engine used by people to look up the nearest hospital or clinic. In fact, most people search for their closest hospital right after looking up their symptoms online.
As a healthcare provider, it is your moral obligation to be there when patients need you. In the virtual world, it means showing up when they search ‘hospital near me’.
The best SEO trick for this is to update and optimize your Google My Business, and no, we don’t mean just updating your visiting hours.
It includes providing all sorts of information about you, such as the services you offer, the facilities you have available, and what kind of patients you can cater to.
Additionally, you can Google Posts to let users know about anything special happening at the clinic or health notices such as seasonal flu warnings or the importance of wearing face masks and good hand hygiene.
Remember to ensure that all the content you put out there is useful, valuable, and easy to understand language. Not only will this help future patients and the community take better care, but it will also improve your rankings and authority.
At the end of the day, just remember your values and keep true to them in all your online activities. It’s just another way of speaking to your patients after all.
Too busy saving lives improving your SEO? We have your back!
At Virtual Surge, we are the experts in healthcare SEO, Analytics, and Paid Search, and are always happy to help out. Reach out today!
by admin | Mar 31, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Healthcare SEO, Local SEO
Modern SEO Practices To Promote Your Health Care Website
We know there is a lot to learn about healthcare SEO. In fact, the staff of Virtual Surge is continually learning, so they can stay current on modern SEO practices. Today, we would like to talk about one aspect of healthcare SEO strategies that we will use in making sure your patients can find your practice on the web. Let’s discuss title tags, meta descriptions, and headings.
Keywords
We have already discussed how essential keyword research is for your SEO strategy. Our staff at Virtual Surge are experts in evaluating what keywords and phrases you should use in your healthcare website. For example, we know how to measure the difference in traffic between “Washington DC SEO” with “SEO services in Washington D.C.” We can also tell you about related words or topics you may want to use on your website to drive traffic.
Once we have completed our keyword analysis for your practice or business, we will then use those keywords in strategic locations throughout your website.
Title Tags
One reason you should hire an SEO strategist for your healthcare business in the Baltimore area is that they are familiar with the inner workings of your website. For example, you may or may not be familiar with the concept of a title tag.
When a person completes a Google search to find a doctor in his local area, a list of websites will appear from the search. The website’s name that appears in blue is called the title tag.
When Virtual Surge creates your website, we will make sure your title tag is formatted correctly and includes the best keywords and phrases to win traffic to your business’ page. We know how many characters to include and how to phrase the keywords naturally.
Meta Description
Underneath the blue text, searchers will find a meta description. This text, of course, is fully customizable by the owner of the site, but Google reserves the right to change it and use content from the page if the original description is not deemed accurate.
You want to be in charge of your own meta description, and Virtual Surge will show you how to make this happen. We know how long the meta description should be and how to format it. We will also make sure that the keywords in the meta description are used within the text of your actual website — as title pages or headers.
Headers
Finally, Virtual Surge will use headers throughout your content to help Google and other search engines know what content is included on your website. These, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6 tags will enable search engines to scan the site to quickly determine what information will be helpful for the person searching for information.
Headings within your content will help your reader as well. Most online readers do not look at each word. Instead, they scan through the material, looking for the phrases that are most important to them at the moment. Using appropriate headers throughout the text will assist readers in finding the relevant information.
Let Virtual Surge Help
While this article was not meant to offer instructions on how to complete your own SEO for your healthcare website, it is intended to illustrate how complicated and essential the process is. You are the best doctor for your patients, and your nursing home is the best place for the aging members of the community. The people who need you won’t be able to find you if you ignore this part of your business operation. Let Virtual Surge assist you with your healthcare or nursing facility website.
Our staff is practiced in improving the Google rankings for our clients. We are experts in keyword research and website development. We can even provide professionally-written, original content to help improve your website’s rankings.
Even though we are based in the Washington DC area, our healthcare and nursing home clients are scattered throughout the country. We are happy to provide you with reviews from satisfied clients who have increased business as their Google rankings have improved.
We know that reputation management is one of the primary concerns for doctors and healthcare facilities. We understand that you work with people when they are in a highly emotive state. Sometimes patients and families look for someone to blame when their loved ones are ailing. Virtual Surge will monitor the review websites for positive and negative feedback, and we will assist you in how to respond to it.
Please fill out our contact page on our website, and our staff will get back to your ASAP. We want to help your patients and clients find you.
by admin | Jun 20, 2018 | Healthcare SEO
Why Healthcare Businesses Need SEO
In the world of healthcare today, almost 60% of internet users seek information regarding healthcare online. People rely on the internet for quality advice and guidance about medical providers, symptoms, suggested treatments, and surgical procedures.
Your medical or healthcare practice should populate in the top rankings of natural search engine results. This means that your business will standout when users are searching for businesses in your genre.
Being that healthcare is an extremely competitive market, do you know how to ensure that your business or agency tops the rankings when searched?
Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies or campaigns for medical or health practices work to target potential clients or patients. It does so by helping your business to populate higher in the pages of search engine results when searched (SERPS). Searches that include health or healthcare generated terms will likely trigger your site. Healthcare SEO has become extremely helpful due to the increasing popularity of health-related searches and medical references utilized in online search engines. Almost every industry has increased in popularity because of the advancements of technology. SEO is an important tool that contributes greatly to these advancements.
Understanding SEO
SEO operates to bring improvements to websites. It enables the various search engines to rank your website when search results are generated. There are several steps involved in an SEO strategy or campaign. These strategies ensure that the content of your site generates in front of your targeted audience. Medical and healthcare SEO can carry specific stimulations, based on the provisions and services of the business and the search request of the potential patient or client.
SEO campaigns also ensure that your healthcare website is aligned with all the changes made by search engines. These changes effect the way that information is displayed to users. If your site is not implementing SEO practices, its visibility could be negatively impacted. Your competitors will then have the advantage of reaching potential clients or patients as they advance in the search engine results rankings. Therefore, ongoing SEO campaigns are necessary for medical practices and healthcare agencies. A one-time SEO approach is not enough to maintain consistency in positive search engine rankings for healthcare businesses.
SEO Benefits for Medical Practices and Healthcare Agencies
Your goal may be to increase the number of clients or patients you see. There is also the potential to expand the number of procedures that your practice does. Both of these can be successfully accomplished with a proven SEO healthcare campaign. This also helps to improve the ROI for the business.
More than 75% of potential patients or clients utilizing SEO results before they schedule a consultation or appointment with a medical practice or healthcare facility. Therefore, it is essential that your healthcare website is visible at the top of the ranking results, regardless of the size of the practice or agency. SEO affords you the opportunity to rank among the top businesses in SERPs for particular terms or location searches, such as “Baltimore medical centers.”
The Importance of Quality Content
Quality content on your healthcare website helps your agency or business to have an authoritative position in the industry. Videos, blogs, interviews, testimonials, informative articles, and research reports or scientific breakthroughs provide quality information that potential patients seek from healthcare providers.
SEO campaigns help to ensure that the information provided on your site goes beyond the basic. Most patients search for medical conditions and their symptoms online prior to visiting a medical care provider. Providing this information on your website motivates visitor conversions. The quality of this content engages the readers by providing detailed information that is related to their search activity. It also aides in assisting Google to identify the context of your website and why it should be ranked among the top of search engine results for healthcare.
Local SEO Strategies for Healthcare
It is important to implement local search strategies in your healthcare or medical practice SEO campaign. Local SEO assists potential clients or patients in finding related material for the area of which they are inquiring about.
In addition, the local SEO campaign should launch a new, or improve the current, Google Places profile. This method helps your local listing to populate among the top rankings for results of a specific location.
How Virtual Surge Can Help Your Healthcare Business with SEO Campaigns
At Virtual Surge, we understand the demands of the healthcare industry and how challenging it may be for businesses to manage their own SEO practices. This is where we come in. We can manage each aspect of your healthcare SEO campaigns to include content development, local optimization and website performance. Our goal is to implement quality and effective SEO strategies while you focus on the area of the business that is most important: the patients.
We offer years of in-depth internet marketing experience, which can help deliver successful rankings on internet searches. Our approach involves competitor research, reviews of the existing rankings of your business, and identifying your target audience prior to developing a strategy or campaign for the business.
Our SEO campaign packages for healthcare businesses and agencies are designed to help websites advance with increased traffic. The strategy includes the development of a mobile-friendly site, addition of quality content, and informational resources via site links, articles, blogs and other site access points for patients and healthcare professionals also. Contact us for a free video analysis today!
This article was originally posted on Virtual Surge, LLC
Photo Copyright: oez / 123RF Stock Photo
