Google receives over a billion health-related questions every single day, including searches to find a new provider. That staggering statistic illuminates the importance of online visibility in the healthcare industry. In addition to the flood of medical-related searches, over 50 percent of all online traffic comes from organic search. Organic search refers to earned visits, not paid. Together the two stats prove the importance of medical SEO.
Most people are now familiar with the term "Search Engine Optimization" as a way to rank higher on Google, but fewer know what it entails. Google crawlers index sites and rank them using a constantly evolving algorithm. There are over 200 elements Google considers when ranking a site. Various medical SEO strategies address these factors and work together to boost the quality and quantity of your website traffic and bring more patients to your practice.
Quality Content
High-quality content is the most indispensable factor in improving medical SEO. Quality content refers to the design and web copy on your actual website pages, as well as blog and social media accounts. Luckily, when it comes to the healthcare field, there is plenty to talk about, such as health updates and industry news. The more original the content, the better. Plagiarized content will negatively affect web rankings. Google puts more weight on information that is helpful to users and punishes sites that try to trick it into thinking it's helpful.
Tip: Pay Attention to Detail
Quality doesn't just refer to original content, but the particulars as well. Be sure to pay attention to spelling and grammar.
Backlinks
Backlinks show that another source found your information on your website useful, so they referenced your post on their own platform. This increases your site's overall validity to both users and search engines. Google also considers if your site links to other authoritative web pages, both internally and externally. But don't over-link!
Tip: Include a Table of Contents
A linked Table of Contents can boost rankings by making your site easier to navigate and serves as a way to add multiple internal links.
Keywords
What people type into the search bar is considered a relevant keyword. Online tools are used to discover what keywords relate to your practice. After identifying keywords, they are incorporated into domain names, web page headings, subheadings, tags, and the actual copy on the website itself. All of this adds up to equal keyword density.
Tip: Location Matters
Where you put the keyword is important to search engines. Adding a keyword in the first 100 words of a post is a good rule of thumb for SEO.
User-friendly Design and Function
To earn authority on Google, your site should be easy to navigate and appealing to look at. Google considers architecture as an SEO factor, which refers to organization. A well-planned site will fare much better when ranked. A web page itself should also be organized or scannable. White spaces, helpful tables, images, and bullet points are a few ways to improve scannability. Also, a site should load quickly. Not only will this increase medical SEO, but potential patients are also more likely to stay on your website when they don't have to wait.
Tip: Mobile Friendliness
Even though the majority of searches are done on mobile devices, many people only consider desktop displays when they start building a website. Both mobile and desktop design and function carry equal importance to medical SEO.
Brand Recognition
Medical practices are not often considered a traditional “brand,” but Google views it that way. Social media is one of the most effective ways to build brand recognition. Maintaining and growing your audience through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms all boost Medical SEO. Also, if users type your company name in their search bar, Google attributes that as authority to your practice.
Tip: User Engagement
Social media is a natural way for users to engage with your practice through comments, sharing, and likes, all of which increase your rank.
RemedyConnect professionals are happy to help your practice implement all these strategies plus more. If you are interested in boosting your Medical SEO, please contact us.