Did you know that different industries utilize different types of SEO? For instance, healthcare SEO faces stricter scrutiny over what you say and how you say it online, making it more complicated than SEO for an online clothing store. 

Search engines use different analytics to rank healthcare websites. If you need healthcare SEO help, this post offers nine awesome SEO steps to elevate your online presence and attract patients to your clinic.

Ready to grow your healthcare practice using proven SEO strategies? Read on!

 

What is Healthcare SEO & Why’s It So Important?

If you don’t know by now (and it’s okay if you don’t, but it’s time to), SEO stands for search engine optimization. It may sound fancy or complicated to you. It’s not. SEO is simply a way to get your website in front of Google (and other search engines) in a good way. 

Google uses numerous factors to establish your healthcare website’s credibility. Once it knows you meet its criteria (or, better yet, surpass them), it’ll trust your site and push it to the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages). 

And that’s the end goal for many healthcare professionals: to be at the top of Google (organically). Why? To get all those new patients, of course!

Healthcare SEO is vital to your performance as a healthcare provider because it expands your reach. SEO for medical and health centers helps your clinic reach your target audience in real time by using keywords and optimizing for local searches. Your keywords ensure your organization matches the user’s query.  

One of the best parts of SEO is that you can see your results through data and analytics. This allows you to know how your website is performing and who it’s reaching, giving you invaluable feedback that helps you optimize better. 

 

The Difference Between Healthcare SEO & Non-Healthcare SEO 

Healthcare SEO is a competitive market, and Google recognizes that. In any industry, you MUST be ethical, trustworthy, and authoritative, only providing accurate and honest information throughout your content. 

Because healthcare requires providing the most accurate information to patients and prospective patients, these sites are highly regulated.

Google holds healthcare websites accountable to a different standard than other types of sites, so you must be incredibly responsible with what goes on yours. It’s important to adhere to all rules, do your due diligence, and avoid missteps that can create legal issues. 

 

On-Page Healthcare SEO & Off-Page Healthcare SEO

Before we jump into our healthcare SEO tips to implement, let’s go over the difference between on-page SEO and off-page SEO. 

 

How on-page SEO can help your practice thrive

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your website content to meet the needs and expectations of visitors and search engines. When done well, it should improve your rankings and bring you more organic (not paid) traffic. 

So, as the name dictates, on-page SEO deals with ONLY the optimization that happens on your webpages. 

 

Examples of on-page SEO that your healthcare organization can implement include:

  • Keyword optimization throughout your site’s content, including in your headers, title tags, and meta descriptions
  • Quality content that is valuable, informative, and original
  • URL structure should be short, readable, and descriptive of the page using keywords
  • Internal linking within your website wherever it makes sense; for example, if you’re a massage therapist and your homepage mentions sports massage, and you have a page devoted to sports massage, you should link to that page
  • Quality external linking to authoritative, trustworthy, and relevant external sites 
  • Image optimization using alt text with your keyword
  • Mobile-friendliness that’s responsive, loads quickly, looks correct on any handheld device, and is easy to navigate
  • Page speed optimization enhanced by compressed images and browser caching

 

How off-page SEO can help your practice thrive

Off-page SEO has the same intent as on-page SEO: to get you business. However, these methods happen outside your healthcare website and still improve your rankings.

 

Examples of off-page SEO that your healthcare organization can implement include:

  • Backlink building, such as guest blogging on authoritative and relevant sites, means quality websites can link from their site to yours
  • Social media presence allows you to showcase your website content and expand your audience (plus, the sharability factor is monumental for visibility and active engagement)
  • Local SEO is vital to the healthcare industry (and anyone with a physical location, really); ensure you’re on all relevant online listings and directories
  • Online review interaction tells potential patients that you care and you pay attention; respond to both good and bad reviews quickly and with real and professional solutions
  • Participate in industry events such as conferences, webinars, podcasts, and workshops as a speaker or panelist to build authority and gain backlinks from event promotions, or sponsor your own events

 

We’ll go into many of these below in our tips section, so why wait? Let’s do it. 

 

9 Steps to Do Healthcare Local SEO the Right Way 

If you’re wondering, “How do I do SEO for my healthcare website?” Wonder no longer. Below are nine tips that will help you soar.

 

Step 1: Claim all local online listings 

Claiming your local listings is imperative to your local business and your local SEO strategy. It’s a tremendously effective off-page SEO strategy. 

Now, we can’t delve deep into local SEO in this post, but if you’re not sure how it works, please check out any number of the resources on our website to learn more. Just go to the little magnifying glass and type in “local SEO.”  

 

The four primary local listings you’ll want to ensure are claimed and optimized include:  

 

These listings give users a convenient place to learn more about your healthcare facility and give Google insight into your organization. 

If set up correctly, they can tell search engines whether your practice or clinic is suitable for a user searching in real time for a “chiropractor near me,” or whatever the case may be.  

Provide as much information as possible, including images, for each. Don’t stress; everyone has to start somewhere, so start with the basics and expand as you can.  

 

Your listings should include: 

  • Name, address, phone number (NAP)
  • Hours
  • About
  • Website URL
  • Photos
  • Services
  • Products

 

You can easily access these listings, so update them as needed. This matters for your SEO because users who see your listing and respond based on what you say will be disappointed if it’s incorrect. 

For instance, if a user sees that you take walk-ins on Tuesdays at 2 pm, but your summer hours have been updated and that’s no longer correct, you’ve got a problem.  

 

Stay up-to-date with:

  • Days and hours
  • Events
  • Promotions 
  • Updates at your clinic or healthcare facility, such as new products or services
  • Reviews 

Want more online reviews? Check out Local SEO: How to gain more positive online reviews.  

 

Step 2: Use the optimal keywords and keyword phrases on your website

Keywords are the words your target audience uses to find what they need online. It’s what you type into Google’s search bar. Your keywords need to match what your audience wants, or they’ll have a lot of trouble finding you because Google won’t know you offer what they need. 

Google uses the words on your site to determine if you’re relevant to the searcher. So, use your keywords throughout your website and match them to your webpages. 

 

For instance, a webpage about chiropractic adjustments should use keywords that pertain to that subject, such as:

  • Chiropractic adjustments in Los Angeles
  • Sports chiropractic care
  • Spinal adjustments for back pain
  • Get rid of back pain with chiropractic care

 

The above are keyword phrases or long-tail keywords, which are more beneficial to your SEO campaign than basic keywords because they’re more specific and have less search volume and competition. 

For example, instead of using the keyword “wellness center,” use a keyword phrase like “sports wellness center in Los Angeles.” 

Not sure where to start? No sweat. There are several keyword tools, many free, that can help. 

Try:

 

Or, just start typing in Google’s search bar and see what populates. 

 

Step 3: Don’t forget to EEAT your content 

You’ve heard it before: Content is king. (No? Haven’t heard it? Maybe it’s just common among the digital marketing crowd, but it’s true nonetheless.)

Content is the most essential piece of your SEO puzzle. And this is especially true for the healthcare field. 

 

Users searching for healthcare-related topics are relying heavily on what they read on healthcare websites, so be sure you follow EEAT: 

  • Expertise
  • Experience
  • Authority
  • Trustworthiness

 

Ways to prove this to your users (and the search engines) include:

  • Showcase your education, certificates, awards, years of experience 
  • Showcase your testimonials
  • Showcase authoritative organizations you partner with
  • Showcase tremendous, shareable, and relevant content

 

Creating EEAT content is no small task and can take some time, but it’s the only way to get noticed in an incredibly active and competitive field such as healthcare. Plus, great content never goes out of style. Even evergreen blog posts that are years old can generate awesome traffic, so think of the long game here. 

 

Step 4: Know limitations specific to healthcare websites

Here, we get into how your healthcare SEO needs more attention than other industries. When writing for your healthcare website, ensure you know what you can and cannot say. 

Healthcare websites face several specific content limitations because they must ensure accuracy, maintain ethical standards, protect patient privacy, and comply with various regulations. 

 

Here are some key limitations to consider:

  • Accuracy and evidence-based information
  • Ethical standards
  • Patient privacy
  • Advertising and promotional content
  • Legal liability
  • Ethical partnerships

 

If you don’t adhere to proper conduct and stay within laws and regulations, you may be fined, so be sure you don’t violate any industry limitations as you create content. 

 

Step 5: Enhance your website’s user experience (UX)

You may think that just getting your users to your page is the end goal. It’s not, though. Once they’re there, they need to have an incredible page experience–this means every page of your site must be accessible, readable, and usable. 

 

Improving your UX can involve several aspects of your pages; some include:

  • Mobile-friendliness (more on this below)
  • Fast page loading times (more on this below)
  • Easy navigation menu
  • Readable and scannable content
  • Visual appeal (that’s on-brand)
  • Easy-to-find CTAs (calls to action)
  • Search functionality
  • Trust signals

 

By incorporating these elements, a webpage can provide a seamless, enjoyable experience that encourages users to stay longer, engage more, and convert at higher rates.

 

While all of these are critical to UX, having a mobile-friendly website that loads quickly on any device is arguably the most critical. Why? 

 

Two reasons:

 

So, how do you know how your pages perform? 

Check out Google’s free tool, PageSpeed Insights, to get instant feedback regarding your loading times. And try Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test (also free) for insight into how your site looks and acts from a mobile device. 

And remember, it’s not just your users that need to be impressed by your website; it’s also Google’s crawlers. If the search engines don’t understand your page, they won’t provide you as a result. 

 

Step 6: Invest in content marketing

Again, don’t stress. We don’t mean you need to invest money, but you do need to invest time. Content marketing encompasses all the things that go on your website. 

 

Think: 

 

Creating and optimizing relevant, unique, engaging, and generally valuable content is the NUMBER ONE way to show who you are and why patients should choose to partner with you on their health and wellness journey. It’s also what Google needs to see to push you up on the SERPs. 

And we hate to say it, but a blog is one of the best ways to achieve this goal. 

Blog. Yet another 4-letter word. We assure you, it’s not as bad as you think.

 

Not with our plethora of blogging resources to help you survive: 

 

While you should obviously focus on blogging, it shouldn’t be your only focus; other content to consider includes: 

 

Pro tip: Consider creating a marketing calendar to help you stay on task

 

Step 7. Include unique images of your healthcare facility and staff

Personalized visual content is compelling. Not only does it show potential patients who you are, who your staff is, what your clinic looks like, and so much more, but it is also genuinely unique content, which is great for Google.

Plus–and we know you’ll love this one–it’s so easy to create. Your trusty camera phone is all you need to snap some great pics to toss up on your site today. 

The truth is, users love to see images. They build trust and show whether your facility’s vibe is for them. Images have been shown to increase conversations and improve ROI. So, it can’t be overlooked.

And you get the extra bonus of optimizing your images, which makes you even more authoritative, trustworthy, and relevant to Google. 

 

Step 8. Optimize for AI platforms

Optimizing for AI should now be part of your healthcare SEO strategy. Patients increasingly use conversational platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews to research symptoms, find health answers, and identify local healthcare providers.

Instead of searching Google with a few keywords, patients can ask detailed questions such as, “I have lower back pain and numbness. What kind of doctor should I see near me?”

AI-powered search experiences can integrate information from multiple sources to provide direct answers, recommendations, and citations. You want to make your practice and content easy for AI systems to understand, verify, and confidently include in their answers.

 

So, here’s what you do to optimize your healthcare website for AI:

  • Use advanced schema markup: Implement relevant structured data, such as Physician, MedicalBusiness, and FAQPage, to help search engines understand your practice, providers, services, and content.
  • Answer patient questions clearly: Create concise sections that directly answer common patient questions. Use descriptive headings, FAQs, lists, and short paragraphs so people and AI systems can quickly identify the answer. Have a qualified healthcare professional review health content to ensure accuracy.
  • Strengthen E-E-A-T signals: Remember Step 3? Make your Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness obvious. Include provider credentials, education, certifications, experience, affiliations, author/reviewer information, and trustworthy references where appropriate.
  • Build authority beyond your website: AI systems don’t rely solely on your website. Consistent information and positive mentions across reputable healthcare directories, professional organizations, local publications, review platforms, and other trusted websites can reinforce your practice’s credibility.
  • Focus on conversational and local intent: Create content around the questions patients ask, including symptom-based, condition-based, treatment, “near me,” and provider-selection queries. And, again, keep your Google Business Profile accurate, complete, and active to strengthen your local presence.
  • Make content easy to understand: Don’t bury important answers in long blocks of text. Use clear headings, direct answers, bullet points, FAQs, and logical content structures so search engines and AI systems can quickly interpret your information.

 

Step 9: Be sure your site is safe with HTTPS

Before we go, we have one last step: as a healthcare provider, you MUST secure your website with HTTPS. Because patient information is private and you likely use a patient portal, HTTPS will help keep their information safe.

Regular monitoring and maintenance are crucial to keeping your HTTPS site secure and performing well, and your certificate must be renewed annually. 

While most hosts provide HTTPS automatically, yours may not, so if that’s the case, head to your host’s website and look up how to enable it. 

 

Enhance Your Healthcare SEO with Our SEO Professionals

We hear you and your collective wail. There’s a lot to digest here, and even more resources with more information. It can be overwhelming, and you’re not alone in that feeling. 

This is the ultimate healthcare SEO guide, and while it’s all important to your success, you can’t do it all in one day. So, delegate when you can, create a calendar, and do the easy things first. Don’t get stuck in the overwhelm and abort mission. 

Healthcare SEO will pay off. We tell every client the same thing: SEO is a long-game win. If you start implementing things now and steadily keep up the process, you’ll be snagging the top spots on Google before you know it. Consistency is key. 

If you don’t have the time or energy to optimize your healthcare site, let us do it for you. We’ll help get you the meaningful engagement and foot traffic you want. Book your free discovery call today! 

Interested in a guided SEO tour from our team? Check out our Ready. Set. Rank! Program, and let’s skyrocket your clinic!