What is more important for anyone partaking in medical marketing in the contemporary healthcare industry than ranking well on Google? Previous research indicated that around 75% of patients often or sometimes seek the Internet for healthcare services and personnel. Given that searching is a primary method by which people discover new healthcare providers, it is crucial to understand how to differentiate oneself and get high rankings on Google alongside other search engines.
But what does “ranking” on Google mean?
Ranking on Google often signifies that your website is shown on the top page of its search results. Google’s search algorithm employs several criteria to rank websites, including content relevance to the query, quality backlinks directing to the site, ease of use of the site, and the site’s authority within its sector. Implementing measures to get a high ranking on Google is essential to a successful healthcare marketing plan.
This blog by experts from Rehab Marketing, a renowned healthcare SEO company, entails more information regarding medical marketing and how to get your healthcare website higher on Google, including strategies as shown in the table of contents below. Continue reading for more information.
Medical SEO: What Is It?
Medical SEO Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of enhancing the ranking of your medical website in search engines such as Google. To do this, you must dedicate substantial time and effort to formulating numerous strategies and implementing them.
One can be able to formulate and activate these strategies via an in-house team by allocating the task to an expert healthcare SEO company like Rehab Marketing. Reach out to our experts for more information regarding the pros and cons of each option.
How Important is Medical SEO?
Prior to sharing the proven healthcare SEO tactics used by our healthcare SEO company, we’d like to provide some thoughts on the value of employing SEO strategies.
According to statistics:
- Health-related searches account for 8% of Google’s total billions of searches.
- 60% of US internet users seek health information.
- Every minute, around 80,000 health-related queries are made on Google.
- Additionally, Google Search leads three times more consumers to healthcare provider websites than any other traffic source.
As a result, every hour spent failing to improve your center’s SEO might cost you a lot of prospective patients. SEO improves your medical facility’s visibility in Google search results
Medical SEO Strategies To Make Your Healthcare Website Rank Better on Google As Per Experts From Our Healthcare SEO Company
Site Optimization- Your Site Needs To Be Secure, Fast And Mobile-Compatible
Website security, speed, and mobile compatibility are all determinants of ranking.
If your website exceeds a loading time of three seconds, most online visitors will click the “back” button. Google is aware of this, and because its objective is to provide the finest resources, it will not position a sluggish website in the top ranking. Your website must be fast. How fast? Google asserts that two seconds is the benchmark, but they strive for a response time of less than half a second.
Security is equally important. If you are a hospital or medical organization lacking a secure (HTTPS) website, your goose is cooked and you should partner with a reputable healthcare SEO company like Rehab Marketing right away!
Your website must also be optimized for mobile devices. Google reports that 77 percent of smartphone users have used their devices to locate local health services in the preceding six months, and 79 percent said they are more inclined to share or revisit a mobile site if it is user-friendly.
Conduct Extensive Keyword Analysis
Keyword research is a crucial component of search engine optimization (SEO). The appropriate keywords used across your website must align with the search queries of your patients.
Start with your intended audience. Determine the keywords they may use to seek a practice similar to yours. Consider the categories of medical services you provide, your geographical region, as well as the demographics of your intended audience. Generate a list of non-technical and technical phrases relevant to your field and identify the attributes that distinguish you. For instance, a cardiologist may like to include “heart health” as a keyword.
Utilize internet tools to refine your keywords and include them when developing your website content.
Generating High-quality Content
You are already familiar with this. The premier SEO strategy, applicable to Google as well as any other search engine, involves producing relevant, high-quality content.
One would assume that everyone is aware of how this strategy works. However, even today, several individuals attempt to deceive Google by flooding their web pages with useless keywords. Google has several advanced techniques for identifying and filtering misleading content like this.
Even if you bypass Google’s scanners, SEO-optimized but badly crafted content will be detrimental rather than beneficial. If people visit your page and discover the material is inadequate, they will depart and not return. This phenomenon is referred to as a bounce. An elevated bounce rate can rapidly diminish your Google search results.
Avoid such a mess. Create high-quality content to get elevated Google ranks using traditional methods.
Optimize Your Healthcare Services Landing Pages
Landing pages are the destinations consumers reach after clicking on your site following a Google search. Consequently, they are a crucial component of your conversion channel.
Your landing pages have to be simple and efficient. One memorable tagline, accompanied by several explanatory lines, one compelling photo, and one call to action. That is plenty for an effective landing page.
In addition, when including a contact form, ensure it is short and provides the following: name, phone number, email, appointment times, etc.
Furthermore, create distinct landing pages for every service provided. Let’s use an emergency facility as an example. What if we created several distinct landing pages instead of a single generic one? One for emergency burn care, one for chest pain emergency care, one for cardiac emergency care, one for pediatric emergency care, etc.
Regardless of a user’s search query, they will feel invited to this website and will thus be inclined to go to the main page.
Link Building From Reputed Sites on Google
This task is somewhat more challenging since it is not totally within your control. However, if feasible, get backlinks from other reputed websites. A backlink is a reference from an external website to your own site.
An example of a backlink is when maybe a blog from a renowned medical website like WebMD references your hospital when talking about ‘advanced heart treatments.’ This is excellent!
A backlink must derive from an external site, rather than another page on your own web page. This does not constitute a backlink.
Backlinks are essential since they assist Google’s crawlers in recognizing relevant websites. Google employs bots to traverse websites and evaluate content. Backlinks function similarly to “likes” on Instagram or Facebook, indicating to bots that your website is popular, significant, and pertinent.
Below are some of the techniques for acquiring quality backlinks in medical SEO:
- Guest Blogging – Write for healthcare websites and include backlinks.
- Medical Directory Listings – List your practice on Healthgrades, WebMD, and others.
- Research & Case Studies – Share valuable medical studies for quality backlinks.
- Community Outreach – Get mentioned on local health event websites.
- Patient Testimonials – Encourage online reviews that include backlinks.
- Event Sponsorships – Get featured on health-related event websites.
Partner with experts from our healthcare SEO company for more insights.
Executing Efficient PPC Campaigns to Generate Traffic
To implement successful PPC campaigns in the medical sector, it is essential to establish clear objectives, such as enhancing website traffic or acquiring qualified leads. By using Google Ads, one can develop precisely focused campaigns that enhance website promotion on Google, focusing on certain keywords pertinent to your offerings. In composing persuasive ad copy, emphasize the unique selling points that you have and include a robust call to action that motivates prospective patients to interact with your clinic.
Establishing a budget that corresponds with your overarching marketing goals is also crucial, alongside continuously evaluating your campaigns to assess their efficacy. Recent figures indicate that the average cost per lead (CPL) in the medical industry is around $5o, highlighting the need for cost-effective strategies. Implementing A/B testing can enhance your advertisements and significantly increase conversion rates, with research indicating that effective follow-up emails can elevate email conversion rates by up to 74%.
Have a Completed Google My Business (GMB) Page – Local Search Engine Optimization
Regarding offsite authority, it is essential to have a completed Google My Business profile. Modern consumers want healthcare services in proximity to their residences, with searches using the term “near me” having increased twofold since 2015.
However, for nearby patients to locate you, it is essential to be in Google’s local pack. What is the local pack? It comprises a collection of 4 to 5 company listings that appear above the organic search results. On mobile devices, it is the only content seen by searchers without scrolling.
The data in Google’s local pack is sourced from many locations, mostly from your Google My Business profile. Upon reading this, your first action should be to verify your GMB listing to ensure the following information is completed:
- Business Name – Ensure it matches your official practice name.
- Address – Provide an accurate and consistent location.
- Phone Number – Use a local, active contact number.
- Website URL – Link to your official medical website.
- Business Category – Select the most relevant healthcare category.
- Hours of Operation – List accurate and up-to-date working hours.
- Services Offered – Clearly mention medical services provided.
- Photos & Videos – Upload high-quality images of your facility.
Partner with our healthcare SEO company for expert guidance.
Embed a Google Maps HTML Within Your Contact Us Page.
The Contact Us page should provide a map indicating the location of your facility. It is advantageous for users and seems very professional. This will assist website visitors in locating your site while enhancing your local SEO rankings.
Integrate a Google Analytics Tag and Connect GA with Google Search Console.
Google Analytics is a crucial instrument for understanding your website’s traffic. Google Analytics provides insights into the type of visitors visiting your site, their acquisition methods, and their subsequent actions on the platform.
Consequently, including a GA “tag” on your website is essential.
A tag is a type of JavaScript code that gathers and sends data from the site to Google Analytics. This enables real-time analysis of each page of your website.
You can reach out to experts at Rehab Marketing for more info on how tags work.
Upon integrating GA with GSC, you can get:
- Search Performance – Track keyword rankings and clicks.
- Index Coverage – Identify and fix indexing issues.
- User Behavior – See how visitors interact with your site.
- Traffic Sources – Understand where your visitors come from.
- Crawl Stats – Monitor how Googlebot crawls your site.
In essence, GA–GSC connection enables the correlation of keyword data with website activity and conversion metrics. You can identify the specific terms that attracted certain people to your site, who then executed specified activities.
This information is essential for optimizing the SEO of your medical website.
Maximize Your Medical Website’s Visibility and Patient Reach with Rehab Marketing – The Healthcare SEO Company You Can Trust for Proven Results!
Above mentioned are strategies for optimizing medical websites to enhance their ranking on Google search results, hence increasing organic traffic and attracting new patients. If you want to optimize medical websites for SEO, I would like to present our expert medical SEO services by Rehab Marketing. Leveraging our expertise in Medical SEO, we can enhance your medical website’s visibility and improve its ranking, hence expanding your reach and attracting patients seeking your services. Call us today!