If you want Google to notice your clinic’s website for all the right reasons, check out this SEO (search engine optimization) guide. Here, you get five tips to rank higher on the search engines and convert website visitors into clinic visitors. 

Unlike paid ads, these SEO steps cost you no money to implement. All you need to do is set aside a bit of time, and you’ll be well on your way to climbing the Google ladder. 

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) to drive more organic (unpaid) traffic.

Get ready to thrive online!

 

1. Define Your Target Audience

Rather than targeting everyone, identify specific patient types (or your buyer persona). Determine your ideal patients (bodybuilders, pregnant women, auto injury victims, etc.) to develop focused, effective marketing strategies that address their unique needs.

 

2. Develop Strategic Content with Targeted Keywords

Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Answer the Public, Keyword Tool, and Ahrefs to identify search terms your audience uses. Incorporate these keywords throughout your website, blog posts, headers, images, and metadata.

All content should be unique, informative, authoritative, scannable, and shareable. Focus on quality over quantity, and remember that content includes all elements on your website, not just text.

Pro tip: Never underestimate the value of updating content and repurposing existing content.

 

3. Optimize Your Online Listings

Your Google Business Profile (GBP), which controls your Google Maps listing, is totally free and very important to your local SEO strategy, making it an imperative listing to set up correctly. 

Update your verified GBP listing (formerly Google My Business) with images, insights, reviews, events, videos, posts, and relevant business information. A complete GBP provides users with essential details without visiting your website, forming the foundation for local SEO success. 

 

Other mandatory listings to set up and optimize include:

 

Also, research other relevant listings, such as HealthGrades and Zoc Doc, to add your NAP (name, address, phone) so more users can find you and access your information. 

Pro tip: Be sure your NAP elements are the same throughout the web. For example, if your address is 123 Main Street on your Yelp Business Listing, you don’t want to list it as 123 Main St. on Google Business Profile Listing or your website. 

 

4. Track Performance with Google Analytics

Implement Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand website traffic, visitor behavior, and marketing effectiveness. Sounds techy, but it’s super user-friendly, and it’s free, so ensure you take full advantage of this. 

 

5. Implement Strong On-Page & Local SEO

Optimizing for search engines may sound complicated, but Google really lays it all out for you, telling you exactly what to do. Below are some of their easy-to-implement requirements. 

 

Enhance your website with:

 

Ensure fast load times and excellent user experience 

When your users are happy, Google is happy, and both of these make your bottom line happy. User experience is critical to how your visitors interact with you, so ensure they can navigate your site well and that you give them invaluable information. 

A key component of user experience is mobile-friendliness. Be sure all content looks good and loads well from handheld devices, as over 60% of users check out your site from their phones.

 

Create high-quality content using targeted keywords

Your content is an enormous part of your SEO strategy, so make it great. Content consists of copy, images, videos, audio, and interactive elements such as games, forms, and graphics.

Be sure you’re employing the words your buyer persona uses to find you in their searches. These are your keywords, and they need to be found throughout your content so that Google knows what your page is about and can provide your pages to your audience. 

 

Optimize images & videos 

When you add images and videos to your pages, you get to optimize them to help Google and your users know more about your pages.

 

Here are tips to do that:

  • Choose the best file format (JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.) for users to see or watch your content
  • Resize images to be more responsive (load faster) and use the least amount of bandwidth
  • Compress images to reduce file size without taking away image quality
  • Optimize file names and alt text by describing image content using your keywords

 

Create clear website navigation 

If your users can’t navigate effectively and efficiently around your page or website, they won’t stay on it. Not only is that frustrating for your users, but it also signals to Google that your pages aren’t giving users what they want, so they’ll stop providing your pages to them. 

 

Optimize title tags & meta descriptions

Your title tag is the blue, clickable link in the form of a page title that appears on the results page after you type in a Google query. The meta description is the part directly under it that details the page’s content. 

You can provide Google with your suggested content for both of these. Use keywords and concise information to tell users what they’ll get if they click on your page. 

 

Create location-specific content & design unique landing pages for multiple locations

Location insight is tremendous for local SEO. Location-specific content offers trust and community to users while telling Google that you’re an industry leader in a targeted area. 

If you have multiple locations, creating a webpage for each is a must for a local SEO boost and ensuring your audience can find you wherever you are. 

 

 

Your Clinic’s Quick Guide to Online Success

That’s a wrap on our clinic start-up guide to gaining traction on Google! SEO is essential but takes time, so stay patient and persistent.

 

Plenty of resources can help along the way, including our podcast for clinic owners. Tune in for expert interviews, content marketing strategies, and insights into Google’s ever-changing algorithms.

 

Need more guidance? Book a discovery call today!