SEO Tips For Your Medical Website

According to Search Engine Land, 85 percent of consumers go online to find local businesses. At this very moment, potential patients are plugging into their iPads, PCs or smartphones to find a pediatric, orthodontic or nephrology service close to where they live. If your website doesn't feature in the first few pages of Google search engine results, there's a good chance your potential patients may end up becoming your competitor's confirmed patients. Healthcare professionals need to understand that like any other business they need search engine optimization to make their website search engine friendly and grow their practice. Here are some simple SEO tips to get started.

Drive Targeted Traffic With SEO

Search engine optimization isn't as complex as it is made out to be. Yes, it is a sustained effort and not a one-time quick fix. It's important to understand the basics of SEO to leverage it successfully.

• Set your goal and target audience: Before you can create website copy, you need to know who exactly you're writing for and what you want them to see. Make sure you have client personas to whom you can target your content. You'll also need to fix your SEO goal; do you want to increase brand awareness, gain more leads, increase rankings, give traffic a boost or improve revenue? You can plan your tactics based on your specific goals from your website.
• Have a clear idea of what patients are searching: Make a list of the keywords potential clients may be using to search for your services online. For instance, if you're a dentist in Kansas City, patients may type in key phrases like 'dentist in Kansas City' or 'Kansas City orthodontist' or 'Kansas City dentist open Saturday'. Also look for free online SEO tools that show you the popular organic keywords used by your competitors.
• Review your current website performance: Use Google Analytics to measure your current SEO performance. Review key metrics like visitor traffic, best-performing keywords, keyword density, bounce rate, etc.
• Make necessary changes to your site: Use the information you've captured to build out your keyword list. Target one or two key phrases for each page with a keyword density of two percent to five percent and not anymore or your page will look spammy. Use Google Insights for keyword search trends to determine the demand for the key phrases you've chosen. Tweak your URLs and content to the chosen key phrases.
• Monitor results: Check how your keywords are performing for each page over a period of few weeks. Google Webmaster Tools will come in handy for keyword performance statistics.

Need Help Establishing An Online Presence? Contact Dr. Leonardo

Dr. Leonardo is a website builder designed for medical practices. In three easy steps, you can have your medical practice's website live on the Web. For more information on where to start, contact us.