It used to be simple for medical practices to advertise their services.
In the past, a simple ad in the Yellowpages and a bright sign out front of the office was enough to attract new customers. But in our digitized world, things have changed.
So, let’s discuss why you need SEO for your medical practice.
4 REASONS YOU NEED SEO FOR YOUR MEDICAL PRACTICE
Before we dive into the important reasons medical practices need SEO, let’s start with the basics. If you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with the extensive world of online marketing and some of the top acronyms like SEO and SERPs.
WHAT IS MEDICAL PRACTICE SEO?
SEO requires understanding your target audience and curating content with search terms and phrases to match their queries. Optimizing your web pages for medical practices has never been more important today.
Here are some reasons why:
- About 80 percent of consumers use search engines to answer their health-related questions.
- Most consumers click on one of the top three search results, assuming these sites are the most accurate, relevant, and reputable.
It stands to reason that medical practitioners, hospital directors, and other members of your target audience are similarly online, searching for medical devices and other products that can meet their needs.
In short, if you’re not investing some of your medical marketing budget in a sound SEO strategy, you’re doing your company (and your customers) a disservice.
WHAT IS LOCAL SEO FOR MEDICAL PRACTICES?
Local SEO refers to using a geographical location within your keywords and phrases. For example, a dentist’s office in Minneapolis might use the key phrase “dentists Minneapolis MN” or “teeth cleaning Minneapolis MN.”
These phrases contain the relative location of the business, which helps attract local patients. Focusing on location-based keywords and phrases helps tailor who sees your web pages, which brings your site to the attention of patients in the nearby area.
Targeting a non-geographical keyword like “teeth cleaning” could pull up blog posts from anywhere! Someone in Hawaii might read your blog, but if you’re in Minneapolis, they aren’t likely to fly in for teeth cleaning services.
Focusing on local SEO is a great way to build your medical practice SEO keyword strategy and ensures you’re focusing your time on keywords and phrases that will give you the best ROI.
1. INCREASED VISIBILITY
Having a solid medical practice SEO strategy will significantly enhance your visibility. We’ve already discussed how most people use search engines to find their next medical practitioner, so if you haven’t already hopped on the digital marketing trend, you’re destined to fall behind the competition.
Choosing the right keywords and utilizing local SEO is crucial. Not only will this help you rank higher in SERPs, but it will also help the people in your community who need your services find you.
When your medical practice pops up as one of the top search engine results, it increases the likelihood of patients clicking on your site and booking an appointment. Most people aren’t bothered scrolling through search results, so having solid SEO and ranking high is the best way to boost your visibility and give your practice a chance to stand out.
2. INCREASED CREDIBILITY
Have you ever gotten an incorrect answer on Google? If you have, it’s rare. Typically, you’ll find the most authoritative, credible answers at the top of a Google result page. And that’s not by accident!
Google, after all, is a business. The best way to retain customers is to appear trustworthy. If users can’t trust the results at the top of their search results page, they’ll find a different search engine to use. That’s why Google’s algorithms place such a high priority on matching the right search terms with the right web pages.
Trustworthiness is a key customer acquisition and retention factor for medical practices too. And, since most users trust search engines to give them the most credible sources right away, appearing at the top of search engine results pages is a must.
Proper healthcare SEO practices will make your website one of the top search results for relevant keywords. This will help patients find you and trust that your practice will provide them with the needed services.
3. INCREASED TRAFFIC FOR LESS MONEY
While this may seem like an obvious result of using best SEO practices, it still needs to be stated. Utilizing SEO will boost the traffic to your practice’s website, which comes with several benefits, including:
- Acquiring more patients
- Making more money
- Spending less money on other advertising options
- Developing and increasing a positive reputation
Patients like to take their healthcare into their own hands and are more likely to choose a practice they feel they can relate to in some way. They’re far more likely to find your business through a specific query online than through a 10-second radio advertisement or a billboard on the side of the highway.
With strong SEO, you can spend less on radio or television ads while attracting more patients, which enables you to make more money.
Also, your medical practice will develop a more positive reputation in the community when it’s easier to find. More people will come to your practice, which means more people will talk about it and leave positive reviews online.
Medical practice SEO is a full-circle marketing strategy. Put in the effort to optimize your site and attract more patients, and those patients leave reviews and tell their families and friends, which helps attract even more business!
4. INCREASED PATIENTS PERFECT FOR YOUR PRACTICE
Setting up an intake with a patient only to find they aren’t a match for your practice is a common but unfortunate part of every practitioner’s journey. When this happens, it wastes valuable resources and time for the patient and the practitioner.
This trial and error method used to be the only way that patients could find a practice that meets their needs, but that isn’t always necessary anymore. Patients can now search for the exact type of service they’re looking for online, and this is where SEO comes into play.
When your medical practice SEO strategy is perfectly tailored to your target audience, patients searching for a specific service you offer can connect with you very quickly. The risk of setting up an intake with a patient who won’t fit your practice is far lower when your practice aligns with their online search.
Not only does this save you and the patient time and stress, but it also saves your practice valuable resources and money. You’ll be able to focus the full extent of your practice on the patients who need you the most, which enables you to do what you do best- giving 110% to people who need care without delay.
OPTIMIZE YOUR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE WITH SNAP
Looking for a qualified digital marketing agency for your medical establishment? Look no further than Snap Agency—not only are we an award-winning company, but we’re also based out of Minneapolis, otherwise known as “Medical Alley.” In other words, we’re immersed in the medical marketing game and devoted to offering a top-notch client experience.