At Crystal Clear Digital Marketing, we have spent years building and refining the best digital marketing tools, including SEO for medical websites, to help you find, serve and keep more patients as profitably as possible. We understand what it takes for you to get local customers through your doors. We will do this for you so that you can focus on what you specialize in, which is providing superior care to every patient who walks in.
You offer lower prices, more experience, and better customer service than your competition, but your business is struggling. Why do you struggle to keep your waiting room or massage beds full? You may be difficult to find online. SEO for medical websites can change this. It does not matter how great your company is if nobody can find you on Google. Read on to learn more about how you can drive more traffic to your website, convert a higher rate of visitors and get more people through your doors using SEO marketing.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO for medical websites drives traffic to your site so that potential patients will find you. Even if they are not looking for your services now, if they find a well-explained answer to their question on your website, they will remember it and visit it again in the future. According to Search Engine Journal, SEO leads provide a 14.6% conversion rate of site visitors to patients. Outbound leads such as print advertising and direct mail result in only a 1.7% conversion rate.
Search engine optimization marries creative and technical elements to improve Google search rankings, drive traffic to your site and increase awareness. Optimize everything from title tags and meta descriptions. Use H-tags and relevant images to break your content up and make it both search engine and user-friendly. Search engines are smart, but they still need help to drive the customers looking for your services to your site. Search engine optimization is like a flashing billboard which tells search engines to drive traffic to your site. There is enough free information online to teach you the basics of SEO marketing, but if you want to stand out above your competition, you need to seek the help of professionals like our team at Crystal Clear Digital Marketing. If you wish to become more knowledgeable, it is also important to learn as much as you can about the following:
• How search engines operate
• How people interact with search engines
• Why search engine marketing is necessary
• The basics of search engine-friendly design and development
• Keyword research
• How usability, experience and content affect rankings
• Growing popularity and links
• Search engine tools and services
• Myths and misconceptions about search engines
• Measuring and tracking success
The Benefits of SEO for Medical Websites
SEO for medical websites is beneficial, in short, because it ensures that potential patients can find your practice or spa. Word of mouth is a great way to get more clients, but the numbers speak for themselves:
• 73% of patients use search engines to find health practitioners.
• 89% of consumers use search engines to answer healthcare questions.
• 55% of searchers click on one of the first three organic results.
Now that you know why you should invest in SEO for medical websites, let’s look at some benefits.
Return On Investment
SEO leads offer twice the conversion rate of paid per click advertisements. There is no other form of marketing that can match this rate. Many people accidentally click on an ad, especially when they are trying to close pop-up ads. Through SEO marketing, Google will send you leads who are looking for the services you provide in their area. Unlike advertising, SEO marketing is permanent. Create the quality content once, and drive traffic to your website as long as people are searching for your keywords.
Stand Out
There may be six medical spa and day spa chains in your market, but how many of them offer prenatal and Thai massage provided by licensed massage therapists at affordable rates? Whatever your business, whatever makes you unique, let potential clients know. SEO marketing allows you to stand out from your competition so that customers find your website and you have the opportunity to sell yourself.
Brand Credibility
By using SEO for medical websites, you can make it into the first three Google search rankings. People trust Google. They do not skip to the ninth or tenth page of search results when looking for a local doctor’s office. They click on one of the first three search results. If they are on mobile, they click on one of the only three sites they can see without scrolling down. If Google’s algorithm has determined your website is one of the best to provide whatever information your leads search for, they will trust you. The beauty of this is it only requires one upfront cost. To further improve perceived brand credibility, allow for sub-pages to be listed below your website’s homepage. If someone wants to know more about Shiatsu massage, that person should not have to click on the link to your homepage and then figure out where on your website to find information about the massage.
Grow Your Business
If you have a mobile salon and spa, chances are you sell aromatherapy oils, salon-quality shampoo, and other products. With the right SEO for medical websites and the ability to purchase products through your website, your business has the opportunity to grow to the point that you can get bulk discounts on retail products and may need help to produce aromatherapy oils to keep up with demand. You may even find the need to set up a physical location for your services.
Strategies
If you are looking to expand your client base, you need to use several strategies to optimize SEO for medical websites. These include choosing the best keywords for your local area, making your website mobile-friendly, optimizing multiple types of content and frequently testing and improving your existing strategy.
Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is critical when developing SEO for medical websites. At Crystal Clear Digital Marketing, we put ourselves in your patients’ shoes. We specialize in search engine optimization for:
• Plastic surgeons
• Cosmetic surgeons
• Cosmetic dermatologists
• Medical spas
• Dentists
• Cosmetic dentists
• Orthodontists
• Chiropractors
• Vein specialists
• Wellness centers
• Anti-aging practices
• Cardiologists
• OB/GYNs
We can organically incorporate these keywords throughout relevant web pages using content including quality blog posts, infographics, articles, conversations about your specialty within the healthcare industry and medical breakthroughs.
Mobile-Friendly
Included in Google’s algorithm calculating search engine rankings is mobile-friendliness. If your website is not compatible with mobile devices, you will not be ranked on the first page. Around 77% of Americans own smartphones, 51% of Americans own tablets and 12% of Americans only have internet access from their smartphones.
If you do not optimize your website, you are missing out on a significant opportunity to be found by patients looking for your services. Additionally, half of all local searches are made on a mobile device. Ensure your practice’s address, name and phone number are accurate and can be found on your Google+ Local Page, Foursquare Page and on your website’s footer across your website.
Optimized Images and Health Care Videos
Web pages with videos in them receive a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs). Videos alone are 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google. Ensure your page loads quickly. Most people wait only three seconds for a page to load. Google has decided the threshold for top ranking web pages is two seconds, but you have a better shot if you can get your load speed under half a second.
Testing
Frequent testing and measurement are critical for the success of SEO for medical websites. Research the best free resources such as Google Analytics to measure and analyze statistics such as traffic, bounce rate, conversion and exit rate. Traffic shows you whether you gained or lost visitors in the period you are testing.
Bounce rate shows if they were able to find what they were looking for on your site. Conversion counts the number of people who completed an action on your site. Finally, the exit rate shows you how your site’s visitors ended their visit. Remember, SEO for medical websites is a long-term strategy, so do not be surprised if you see an insignificant change in the first few weeks. Observe how your website traffic changes when you change keywords to specific locations.
Talk to the Experts
If you need help keeping your waiting rooms full, consult the friendly professionals at Crystal Clear Digital Marketing. We specialize in digital marketing and SEO for medical websites and want to drive business to you so that you can focus on what you do best. We use several strategies to optimize your website in order to get you one of those coveted top spots of Google’s search ratings for your area. Contact us today to learn more information!