Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a crucial component in any successful online marketing strategy. SEO for plastic surgeons doesn’t differ all that much from standard SEO, but there are some unique factors to consider in your line of business. Today we’re going to examine how you can maximize your potential using SEO.
SEO In a Nutshell
As the name suggests, the aim of SEO is to make your website and practice appear more frequently in web searches. Since virtually all searches today are conducted through Google, SEO tries to appeal to their algorithm especially.
Although the exact recipe is a trade secret, marketers have long been studying what works and what doesn’t with Google. Crystal Clear Digital Marketing specializes in medical SEO in particular. Our strategies are proven to help your web content rise above the competition.
Why Is SEO for Plastic Surgeons Important?
If you’re not moving forwards, then you’re moving backward. Another plastic surgeon utilizing a better SEO strategy is going to appear first on the list, and studies prove the number one result in a Google search gets over 1/3 of the clicks! Meanwhile, the poor business at the bottom of the first page gets a meager 2.2%.
Generally, getting into the top three is good enough to secure a view. If your business isn’t consistently ranking in the top three, then you’ve got work to do. You’re missing out on potential clients every day that your pages linger lower on the list.
Let’s examine in greater detail some of the reasons for implementing SEO for plastic surgeons:
Increased Visibility Online
Naturally, the primary reason for SEO is that it will make your page more visible. Being at the top of the list makes it more likely that your business will be seen by others. This is especially important for plastic surgeons.
Medical professionals with their own practice tend to be located in office buildings or strip malls. They don’t usually feature flashy signage or bright colors that would attract a lot of attention from the street. If you’re not on the street at all, and instead on an upper floor of a building, then it’s highly unlikely anyone is going to stumble across your practice.
That means your best chance of being seen is online. How does SEO help your website grow?
Help Clients Find Your Website
SEO will help clients find your website by utilizing keywords on each page of your website. These keywords should be related to the searches that people perform. For example, you might have a page dedicated to a specific procedure, such as a tummy tuck or breast lift.
But it’s not just enough to have keywords scattered throughout. Your web page design and the placement of those words is critical to successful SEO. Each page that you optimize increases the likelihood that your site will be discovered by a potential search.
Improve Your Local SEO
If you haven’t heard of Local SEO, then you’ve definitely got some catching up to do. Local SEO for plastic surgeons refers to how likely your business is to appear in a Google Maps search or a search in Google that includes the name of your city or street. This is especially important for plastic surgeons because people prefer to travel shorter distances for surgical procedures.
Your potential clients are more likely to search for a plastic surgeon in their town. Local searches are growing fast, and proper Local SEO will ensure that your business stays at the top of the local list. Much like regular web searches, Google provides the top three locations that match the search, and these aren’t always ordered by distance.
Getting into those top three is key. When website SEO and Local SEO are combined, they lead to a more profitable business.
Grow Your Client Base and Increase Sales
The ultimate goal of a good SEO strategy is to get more sales to help your practice grow. But how does SEO accomplish that exactly? Why does being more visible in searches translate to better sales?
There are several side effects to good SEO that lead to greater profits:
Consumer Confidence
By far one of the biggest impacts of being first on the list is an increase in consumer confidence. If someone has to scour dozens of results to find you, it raises doubts about your legitimacy. People have come to trust Google search results.
They’re not wrong to feel this way, either! One of the factors that heavily influences your search ranking is whether other sites link to yours. Even something as simple as a local newspaper’s article linking to your website gives it legitimacy.
Inform About Other Services
Another advantage of good SEO is that you’ll be able to communicate more information to your customers. While you design pages that aim to capture each possible search, add sidebars and other information to your pages that encourage your customers to check out other services.
Whether you operate a wellness center with spa treatments or sell a line of profitable beauty products, you can use SEO to draw people towards your other offerings.
In addition, you can make your content informative and helpful to your clients. By telling them every detail about your procedures and treatments, clients will feel more confident about choosing you. People are afraid of the unknown, so educate your potential customers and tell them exactly how you will take care of them.
Reveal More About Your Practice
It’s important to establish a good relationship with your client. We’ve also talked about customer relationship marketing and how valuable it can be for your practice. Your website should have sections that show off your friendly staff and premises.
From the outside, people may never get a glimpse of your offices. But with an effective SEO strategy, you’ll give more people a chance to see the environment you have constructed. That can put people at ease and make them more likely to pay you a visit.
So, not only can you improve your visibility, but you can also make customers feel confident about receiving treatment at your practice. How do you do it then?
How to Improve Your SEO
Crystal Clear Digital Marketing’s experts know a thing or two about SEO for plastic surgeons. Here are just a few tips that you can implement to get started with a good SEO strategy for your practice.
Website Content
Write a page for each of your services and treatments. It’s important that people who visit your site come away knowing exactly what you offer. Don’t forget, each page will improve the likelihood of being discovered by the search engine. It’s even better if other sites end up linking back to your page as an authoritative description of a treatment or answer to a question.
If all you have is a simple home page with a few pages about your services, then your website is far from optimized. You’re casting a very small net, and won’t catch many fish. Widen that net with content geared toward each and every item you can bill for.
Local SEO Tips
You should absolutely be using Google My Business to make sure that your information is up to date in Google’s databases. Operating hours, your business address and phone number, and the name must be perfectly clear. Users can report erroneous information on Google, which may lead to your ranking being reduced.
Create pages on your website about the locations you operate in. If your practice has more than one office, make sure there’s a page for each. Optimize each of these with keywords that include the city’s name. That way, when someone searches for a plastic surgeon in their area, there will be a page that perfectly matches that search: and it’ll be yours.
Social Media Strategies
As a plastic surgeon, you have a unique opportunity to leverage social media in your favor. Aesthetics play very well on Facebook and Instagram. You can show off before and after pictures of your clients and encourage them to mention your practice on their accounts.
Your Facebook page needs to be on the front lines. The typical Facebook user falls right into the main demographic for plastic surgeons, so make sure yours is constantly being updated with pictures and quick videos of what goes on inside your office. These aren’t the only ways you can improve your SEO, but they’re a great place to start if you haven’t yet paid much attention to it.
Need Professional Help?
If all of this sounds complicated and time-consuming, or just seems out of your skillset, don’t worry. Contact the experts at Crystal Clear Digital Marketing today. We can analyze your website and assess your Local SEO to find opportunities to optimize every aspect of your web presence. We have years of experience helping other medical professionals like yourself to grow their practices and succeed, so call us now to see how we can help you.
