It can be easy to become hung up on the tiny aspects of SEO, like perfecting your profile for backlinks, and miss an often overlooked aspect: your customers (or in the case of a medical office, your patients).
Many SEO practices are shifting toward placing an emphasis on the consumer side of a business. Of course this does not mean that all other aspects need to be ignored—businesses (even medical practices) still need a well-designed, functioning platform for searching; however, patients should not be ignored.
The trick to having a successful SEO scheme is to understand what should/could work in theory while understanding that variables exist that can alter the inner workings. This means that having a constant that all other aspects can revolve around can keep your SEO on track. Luckily, your patients can be this constant.
Here are two ways that a patient-centric SEO approach can help increase your clientele and your KPI.
Gain an understanding of patient interaction(s) with content and website
With a universal KPI, you’ll need mastery over three elements:
- Patient interest
- Patient engagement with content
- The worth of subject-specific content and the ranking it can generate
After you understand these elements, you can gain a grasp of what your patients care about which will drive where you need to focus on the quality of your content. This can also show where you’re experiencing gaps in ranking.
Understanding patient intent and basing your keywords around it
Patient (or potential patient) interaction with a specific aspect of your sites does not ultimately mean that you’ve sold your practice to them. You need to be willing to put in the effort to learn what they expect of your practice and this will tell you how to cater towards them.