What is SEO for plastic surgeons? In short, search engine optimization is a digital tool that can have significant growth benefits for your practice. How is local SEO different from standard SEO? At Crystal Clear Digital Marketing, we can show just what SEO for plastic surgeons can do for you and how to take full advantage of internet marketing.
What Is SEO?
SEO refers to your website’s visibility on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The higher your SEO, the better your website will rank in a search engine’s results pages. Sites like Google use algorithms to determine the order in which they list website results.
Why Is It Important to Consider SEO?
Today, most people can tell you they haven’t touched a copy of the Yellow Pages in years. Internet searches have become the primary way consumers search for goods and services. “Google” has even become a word in the dictionary. When people search for a plastic surgeon, they do not want to spend a lot of time scrolling through all the results. Generally, the practice they choose is towards the top of the list.
We can design your website using an understanding of these algorithms, embedding them with signals to the search engines that result in a higher ranking in search results. We can help you create the kind of content these search engines favor and find ways to generate links between your website and other sites.
What Is Local SEO?
Having good SEO is an essential part of your online marketing strategy. It is so important that some people neglect their local SEO, which is just as crucial. Your local SEO has just as much potential to grow your business, if not more. This term refers to how high your practice ranks when a search engine pulls local results. This includes references to your practice from sources other than your website, such as local business listings and other directories.
Why Is Local SEO for Plastic Surgeons Important?
Research has shown that when consumers search for businesses, they are looking for local results almost half of the time. This definitely applies to people who search for plastic surgeons. Unless your practice is spectacularly renowned, chances are that most of your patients will come from your surrounding area.
Additionally, most people use internet searches as their primary way to find a business. That means that they will choose from among the results they find on a search page, and usually just from the first few options. If your practice doesn’t rank highly, there is a very strong chance you will lose patients to the competition. Tellingly, the vast majority of mobile internet searches for businesses result in a sale. Without good local SEO, your practice is invisible to all of the prospects who are actively seeking services.
How Can You Rank Highly in Local SEO?
Our team can help you strengthen your practice’s local SEO. Doing so involves focusing on promoting your practice itself as well as your website. In fact, Google tends to favor online directories over individual sites, so having a presence on them is important. Here are some ways that you could improve your local SEO:
6 Ways to Boost SEO for Plastic Surgeons
1. Make Sure Your Google My Business Listing Is Up to Date
Have you noticed that when you search for a service such as “manicure and pedicure”, Google offers you a map of your area? Below this map, there are three local businesses listed. Google chooses which businesses to include in the group, which marketers call the “local pack” or the “3-pack”, according to their proximity and their relevance to the search terms. These are posted as links to Google My Business listings.
Your Google My Business page is a profile on a business directory that Google maintains. It lists key information about your business, such as your name, address, and contact info. It also offers a Q&A section in which questions are posed and answered by clients—in this case, your patients. People who have used your services can also leave reviews.
Accuracy Counts
It is very important to fill out your Google My Business listing by going to google.com/business. Once you have a page, be sure that all the information there matches what people will find on your website, your social media accounts, and any listings of your practice that appear on other sites.
The majority of consumers report that they lose confidence in a business if they see outdated or incorrect information. While most of the other information on your Google My Business page is user-generated, our team can help you build a positive online presence that will reflect in your listing.
2. Encourage Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to you. If your practice is mentioned on a news site or a community board with a link to your website, these shout-outs count as backlinks. Not only do they boost you in the SEO rankings, but they create a sense of organic interest around your practice as well.
3. Try SEM With Search Engines Like Google
SEM stands for search engine marketing. When you search for a business, the first results are sponsored listings. Basically, search engines like Google will list your practice in the top results when you take out an advertisement with them.
Many times, SEM is in the form of PPC. This term refers to “Pay Per Click”. When you take out a PPC listing with Google or Bing, these sites display an advertisement for your site when consumers search for relevant terms. You pay according to how many people actually click on it to get more information about your practice.
4. Get More Citations and Ensure They Are Accurate
In the context of local SEO for plastic surgeons, citations are online places where your practice is mentioned with its name, phone number, address, and website. Citations can either be structured or unstructured. In the case of a structured citation, the information is filled in as part of a listing on an online directory. If the citation is unstructured, it usually means your practice was mentioned in a blog or by some other relevant site.
Both unstructured and structured citations are important for boosting your online presence. To get unstructured citations, you can find ways to connect within your community. To get structured citations, find out which directories are most popularly searched by potential patients and claim listings within them. Be careful that all of the information in your citations is current and correct.
5. Make Sure Your Website Is Localized
When you create your website, make sure that it is built in a way that tells the algorithms that you exist in a certain area. Make sure you mention your town, state, and the general area within the content of your site. Doing so will put you in the search results for people searching within the mentioned places.
6. Post and Encourage Positive Reviews
Reading reviews is the vetting process patients use when they search for plastic surgeons online. Consider providing some incentive for your patients to post positive reviews in the various places where your practice is listed. When you receive or find glowing recommendations, be sure to post them to your own website and your social media. Search engines tend to favor user-generated content. This means that if you allow patients to post reviews to your social media, your online presence will get a boost.
Why You Need Help
Maintaining your local SEO can be extremely beneficial to your practice, but it can also be time-consuming. High visibility depends on expert knowledge of social media, website design, search engine algorithms, and the ways in which these elements constantly change and interconnect. While you can learn to do everything yourself, chances are you want to spend your valuable time running your practice. We are here to help with the digital marketing so that you can focus on your patients.
In addition to local SEO, we can help your practice with a range of digital marketing strategies. The secret to effective internet advertising is to get various elements to complement each other. For example, you want to have attractive social media so that when prospects land on your site as a result of high SEO, they are impressed. We can help you implement a range of digital solutions that work together towards the growth of your practice.
Develop Your Local SEO to Grow Your Practice
Local SEO is a marketing tactic that outshines most other forms of advertising. It presents your practice to prospects the moment they decide to research the services you offer. The people who see your practice in search engine results are the ones who are most likely to become patients. Furthermore, if prospects don’t see your practice, they will probably end up at the competition. The good news is that digital marketing is effective, efficient, and affordable, especially when you have expert help. Reach out to Crystal Clear Digital Marketing for more information on how we can create a strategy that will deliver local search engine optimization that boosts your bottom line. We look forward to taking the growth of your practice to the next level. Contact us today to get started!
