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There are all sorts of ways to look for a physician, but one of the most popular today is search engines like Google.

By typing in a quick word or phrase, it’s possible to find dozens—or even hundreds—of doctors in a small geographic area within seconds. But for most searchers, the only results that receive any attention are those at the top—and the only way your site can get there is with search engine optimization, or SEO.

Physician websites don’t just appear at the top of search results by accident.

High rankings require a regular program of monitoring and refining that can take weeks or even months. Once your site achieves them, though, they can lead to a new stream of referrals and appointments, not just in the short term but over the life of your practice.

Keep reading to learn more about SEO for doctors, like how it works and why it’s valuable. Plus, find actionable tips for launching an SEO strategy for your doctor’s office or medical center.

Call 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about SEO plans from WebFX!

How does SEO for doctors work?

Search engines are constantly crawling the web for new and updated content.

When someone searches on a topic such as physicians, it takes stock of what it’s found and ranks pages accordingly. Some searches are general and bring up millions of results, while more specific ones may only generate a few thousand.

The sites that appear in these results are ranked according to several factors.

The words and phrases in the tags and copy on your site, for example, give clues about the substance of the content and relevance to the search. Each site also has a certain “domain authority” that represents how reputable it is, and sites with higher authority rank better in search results. Some factors even occur off the site, such as links from other sites.

Although your site may display on the second or third page of results for relevant searches, that’s not enough to attract visitors. You need to be on the first page of results, preferably among the top three. Top results not only generate more clicks, but they also reap the other benefits of an effective SEO strategy.

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What do patients search for online?

With SEO for doctors, you need to think about your patients and what they search for online. For example, if your medical practice specializes in primary care versus pediatric care, you will see a difference in what your audience researches on search engines like Google or Bing.

doctor seo search result comparison

When thinking about what your audience searches online, you’ll also want to think about the different intents. Intent can range from informational to transactional, meaning while one user’s learning about a topic another is ready to take an action, like scheduling an appointment.

For doctors, “near me” searches are common across all practices and specializations.

doctor seo near me search result

That’s because most physicians provide their services face-to-face versus virtually. If people need a doctor, they search for a physician near them because they’re going to have to travel to that doctor’s physical location for care.

For the best results with your doctor SEO strategy, aim to target keywords across all intents. This approach helps your practice reach potential patients in every stage of the buying funnel, from researching their medical needs to finding their next physician.

How does SEO for doctors help practices like yours?

More people are turning to search engines to look for doctors in their area, meaning that you need to rank in the results if you want to reach them. In addition to simply ranking well, some other benefits of a doctor SEO strategy include:

More targeted leads

Search for a doctor and millions of results will come up. Search for a doctor in a specific town or neighborhood with expertise in one specialty, and the choices drop sharply. SEO puts your site in front of people looking for exactly what you have to offer. Because these leads are a better fit for your practice, there’s a greater chance they’ll visit your site for more information and ultimately become patients.

Lower cost

Traditional advertising is expensive, and it also has a limited reach and a short life span. This isn’t the case with SEO for doctors. For a lower cost, you can reach more people over a longer period of time. Not only does this lead to a greater return on investment, but it allows you to compete for patients with larger practices that have enough money to invest in big ad campaigns.

Greater authority

Search engine rankings are determined, in part, by how many people visit a website and how they react—either by spending time on the site, or by immediately “bouncing” back to the search engine results to find a better option. As a result, a website that ranks higher on search engines is seen as more trustworthy than one that ranks lower or doesn’t appear at all. As your site goes up, so does public trust in it—a major factor when it comes to choosing a physician.

8 SEO tips for doctors and medical practices

Now that you know what SEO can do for your marketing strategy, follow these SEO tips for doctors and start reaping the benefits:

  1. Optimize for local search
  2. Create original content
  3. Build high-quality links
  4. Conduct in-depth keyword research
  5. Optimize your site for UX, speed, and security
  6. Make your site mobile-friendly
  7. Get active on social media
  8. Encourage patients to leave online reviews

1. Optimize for local search

People would prefer to go to a doctor located nearby, so their search terms may include a particular neighborhood or town. Use local SEO to optimize your site for these kinds of searches, and your practice will reach more potential patients.

local search results for "allergist dover de"

Include your location in text, title tags, and other site copy. Make sure your address is in the footer of the page. Also, make sure your address is the same on every site your practice appears, including social media, Google Maps, and online medical directories.

2. Create original content

Search engines consider several factors when ranking websites. Freshness and relevance of content, number of pages, and visits are among them. A blog addresses all of these factors.

Write a new post each week to ensure your site is always updated.

This adds more pages to the site and attracts new visitors who may not have heard of your practice otherwise. When writing, focus on the topics that are getting the most attention, using the keywords that people use to find advice and information.

webfx seo services

Above all, be sure that your content is unique and genuinely interesting to potential patients.

3. Build high-quality links

A service provider whose content is referenced on other sites has more credibility and ranks higher as a result. The same thing will happen to your practice if reputable sites are linking to your content. One way to build them is to produce unique content, such as infographics and interactive tools.

Increase your exposure by writing guest blogs or participating in online discussions. This may take time to produce results, but regardless of how frustrating it may be, never try to buy links. This can result in penalties from search engines, which will ultimately damage your rankings and reputation.

4. Conduct in-depth keyword research

Arguably the most important part of any SEO strategy is your keyword research efforts. When it comes to SEO for physicians and doctors, keyword research is crucial to helping you effectively target local and long-tail keywords.

related keywords for "shin splints" in Google's People also search for tab

Also, your keyword research efforts can help you uncover related keywords to help you supplement your targeting strategies for different pages. For example, maybe you want to target more than just the term “shin splints” on a page. Something as simple as scrolling to Google’s “People also search for” will give you ideas for additional queries to target, like “shin splints treatment,” “symptoms,” “recovery,” and more!

Besides Google, there are plenty of free and paid keyword research tools available, like WebFX’s KeywordsFX, a free, easy-to-use keyword suggestion tool that helps people find, filter, and export high-value keywords for SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) strategies.

5. Optimize your site for UX, speed, and security

Now that we’ve covered optimizing your website’s content, let’s look at your site itself. SEO for physicians and doctors should always be patient-focused. This means ensuring your site is search engine-friendly while also creating a seamless experience for users. The best way to do that is to optimize your site for a better user experience (UX), loading speeds, and security.

UX

UX and SEO go hand-in-hand. Google aims to provide the best experience for searchers, so that means penalizing sites with bad UX and rewarding sites with great UX.

Improve your UX and keep patients on your site longer by improving site elements like:

Site speed

People get impatient, and when your site takes too long to load, you run the risk of losing people’s attention. Not only that, but your slow site speeds can negatively impact your search rankings.

People want to be able to find the information they need quickly, so improving your site speed is a must. Don’t know where to start? No worries — try these tips for improving your website speed:

  • Reduce the number of redirects on your site
  • Optimize images
  • Use browser caching
  • Minimize HTTP request
  • Combine files when able

Security

Protecting patient and private information is paramount in healthcare. Having a secure website ensures your patients (and their data) feel protected when they land on your site.

That said, there are plenty of ways to secure your site and create a safe experience for patients:

6. Make your site mobile-friendly

A major part of website optimization is ensuring your medical site is mobile-friendly. 60% of a user’s online time is spent browsing the Internet from their mobile devices, so having a responsive website that adapts to smaller screens is key to making your site accessible to people on all devices.

Not to mention, Google’s algorithm looks at mobile-friendliness when ranking your website. That means your rankings could take a hit if your patients can’t easily access and navigate your site on mobile devices.

Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly? Check It Now!

7. Get active on social media

As a medical professional, social media is probably one of the last things on your mind. Trust us, we get it. But when it comes to SEO for physicians, social media can actually benefit your SEO efforts by adding another layer of online visibility to your clinic.

upmc children's hospital instagram post

Social media posts have the potential to show up in Google search results, so having social media as part of your SEO strategy can help you rank in search results alongside your typical site content.

Also, healthcare is a people-first industry, so generating word-of-mouth advertising is crucial. With social media, you could also see notable mentions of your company show up in search results, even if the posts are from you!

8. Encourage patients to leave online reviews

Did you know 75% of people rely on patient reviews as a first step in finding a new doctor, physician, or healthcare provider? It’s true! With a statistics like that, it’s crucial that you make earning reviews part of your physician SEO strategy to manage your online reputation, build credibility, and attract more patients.

Positive mentions of your practice can rank in search results, so make sure to encourage your patients to leave a review of your practice. You can do this by creating email & text reminders or incentivizing reviews.

Learn more about SEO for your area of medicine

If you’d like to learn more about not only SEO for doctors but also your specific area of medicine, like dermatology or cardiology, browse our learning resources for these areas:

  1. Primary care physician SEO
  2. Cardiologist SEO
  3. Oncologist SEO
  4. OBGYN SEO
  5. Dentist SEO
  6. Orthodontist SEO
  7. Optometrist SEO
  8. Dermatologist SEO
  9. Plastic surgeon SEO
  10. Fertility doctor SEO
  11. Psychiatrist SEO
  12. Therapist SEO
  13. Physical therapist SEO
  14. Hospice care SEO
  15. Hospital SEO
  16. Rehab center SEO
  17. Outpatient care SEO

Attract more patients with SEO for doctors

People use search engines to search for physicians, and your site won’t get these patients unless you take steps to optimize it. If you want more website traffic and prospective patients, an SEO plan is your best course of action.

If you’d like assistance improving your practice’s online visibility and using SEO for doctors, don’t hesitate to contact us online or give us a call at 888-601-5359! Our Internet marketing team is more than happy to create a results-driven strategy to help you attract more patients online.

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