The traditional method for a medical practice to get new patients is word-of-mouth. That’s still very important, but in today’s digital world, a good online presence is a must.
Here are 3 medical search engine optimization (SEO) tips for doctors to improve their websites.
Tip #1. Monitor site speed.
Studies show that 44 percent of people who search for a medical facility on their phone will come in. It’s not surprising when you consider it could be a mother with an injured child looking for the nearest office.
That also means these types of prospects are going to be less willing than average to wait around for a website to load. And even the “average” prospects aren’t willing to wait around for very long.
Google has a free tool to test your website’s speed and mobile-friendliness and you can complete the test in seconds. A word of caution—in spite of the importance of site speed, don’t immediately panic if you don’t like the results. Google is a tough grader. Just give the results, which include recommendations for fixes, to your developer.
Tip #2. Use directory listings.
This starts with a Google My Business page, which is free and is absolutely necessary to give your practice a chance to appear in the Local 3-Pack that comes at the top of search results. It’s also highly recommended that you look for other high-quality directories that are specific to medicine.
The word of caution here is to expect this to take some time. It may even be frustrating for the person you put in charge of getting you listed. Directory work is very tedious and the information must be accurate and uniform across the Web.
Tip #3. Post useful content regularly.
Topics can be decided by polling your office on what the most common in-person queries are. This is not an area that you can just do once and forget. If your site hasn’t seen a piece of fresh content in 3 months, Google is going to notice and penalize accordingly.