Medical SEO: Using Keywords To Drive Traffic to Healthcare Websites

As a medical professional, you know that attracting new clients is key to growing your practice. 

Optimizing your website can help ensure that patients in your target demographic can see all that you have to offer. 

Here, we’ll dig into how utilizing medical SEO techniques can help you reach the people who need your expertise most.

What is Medical SEO?

Today’s medical world is competitive, and it’s important that your website stands out from the rest. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps doctors and other healthcare professionals boost the visibility of their practice. 

When your website is optimized for search engines, you’re more likely to pop up at the top of the search results when potential patients search for help with a service your office offers.

Why Do Doctors Need Medical SEO?

If you know all that you have to offer your patients, but they aren’t getting the message when they search for information related to services you provide, it can be tough to get them through the door. 

Medical Search Engine Optimization helps to make it more likely that your future patients will notice your online presence.

If you aren’t using SEO tactics to boost your business yet, it’s time to get started so that your future customers can learn more about all your practice has to offer.

Here are some benefits of medical SEO:

Increasing the Visibility of Your Practice Online

More than 70% of website clicks occur on the first page of Google search results, while the second page of Google brings in just 6% of website clicks. 

The data is clear — if you want to grow your business, you need to pop up at the top of search results.

You know that you offer services that can benefit your target market, but if your potential patients aren’t seeing your practice when they search for your services, it’s hard for them to connect with you.

When you use SEO marketing, your website is optimized to include keywords that will get you to the top of your potential patients’ search results.

In the healthcare sector, competition is serious, and getting your practice to the top of Google search results can make all the difference in patient growth.

Boosting Consumer Confidence in Your Facility

82% of smartphone-using customers turn to their phones for more information before making a purchase decision, and choosing a medical facility is no different. 

Potential patients will research your practice online before they decide to call and schedule an appointment.

Customer reviews are great for SEO, and having customer feedback on your website can help your customers feel confident in what you have to offer. 

The more you can integrate reviews and feedback, the more potential customers will feel that they can trust your practice.

Optimize Marketing ROI

You know that it’s important to invest in marketing your practice, but traditional forms of advertising can make it tough to know whether what you’re doing is working. 

SEO marketing is different. You’ll be able to track exactly how changes to your website bring potential new patients to your practice, and you’ll be able to use that information to inform further changes.

Digital marketing changes regularly, and when you’re using SEO marketing to bring customers to your practice, you can quickly (and inexpensively) make changes to your site when you notice what is and isn’t working. 

There’s no need to spend money changing a billboard or revising a print ad — you can make impactful changes in real-time in accordance with what’s working to get your message in front of customers.

Boost Website Traffic

When your website appears at the top of search results, you’ll get more eyes on your page. 

Driving traffic to your webpage can easily translate to driving traffic into your business.

When customers see your practice at the top of their search results as they research their medical needs time and again, they’ll begin to see that you’re a top name in the area for your services. 

The more you show up online, the more familiar potential patients will become with your business, making them feel more comfortable reaching out to you and scheduling an appointment.

How to improve your Medical SEO to Get More Patients?

If you’re working to increase your online visibility and step up your marketing game, you’re doing the right thing by researching medical SEO best practices.

Integrating SEO into your website can feel overwhelming, but there are a few simple ways that you can get started to help your information get in front of your target audience as quickly as possible.

To improve your medical SEO, you may want to:

1. Learn More About What SEO Is

Simply put: SEO uses keywords to drive traffic to your website and help boost your rankings in search engine results. 

You may feel like your website is already full of keywords that describe your business, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re using the right keywords to get content in front of your target market. 

You’ll need to target keywords that potential patients are using when they’re searching for your services.

2. Learn How SEO Drives Website Traffic

Search engines use key terms to match users with results most closely aligned to their queries. 

This means that you need to know your ideal customers (or buyer personas) and what they’re searching for in order to make it more likely that they see your content. 

This isn’t something that you need to figure out on your own. 

An SEO marketing company can work with you to help you choose your target market and understand the keywords that will help increase the likelihood that they see your content.

3. Hone In On The Purpose Of Your Website

When you decide that you want to use SEO to drive your business marketing, you need to know the purpose behind your website. 

Are you looking to bring customers in for a consultation, or do you offer a specific service that caters to a niche market? 

Decide who you want to look at your website before you begin to utilize SEO to drive traffic.

4. Use The Right SEO Keywords

One of the most common questions in SEO marketing is how to find the keywords that matter most to your target audience. 

You can use simple online tools to help you learn more about the search terms frequently used by your target market, or you can work with an SEO marketing agency that can take the guesswork out of your marketing process.

It’s important to remember that SEO marketing is not a one-and-done deal. 

Your target market may change, and the terms your target market is using to search for your services may change. 

You’ll need to commit to regularly adjusting your target keywords to ensure that your content continues to show up at the top of the search results for your target market.

5. Invest In The Right Content

The content you publish on your website matters. 

Once you get your website to the top of the search engine results list, your patients need to find the valuable information that they’re looking for. 

It’s important that you provide content that’s directly relevant to their needs. 

The more your customer feel like you’re talking directly to them through your website, the more likely they’ll be to reach out and give you a call.

A high search engine ranking and high-quality content can pack a one-two punch in building customer confidence in your business. 

When a customer sees that you’re the top search result for their needs and feels like you care about them when they read the content on your site, their confidence in what you have to offer will soar.

You can get an extra hand from our professional freelance writers to produce high-quality medical content. Start the WriterAccess free trial today to find a writer that specializes in healthcare and matches your tone and voice.

6. Use Analytics To Your Advantage

As a healthcare provider, you know that tracking data is an important part of figuring out what’s working — and what isn’t. 

The same is true for the analytics that accompanies your SEO marketing. 

Whether you choose to work on SEO marketing on your own or partner with a digital marketing agency, you’ll regularly want to examine how your efforts to boost visibility and traffic through SEO marketing are paying off.

Many businesses try their hand at SEO marketing and forget to pay attention to whether their hard work has proven effective. 

The more you know about what’s working, the better you’ll be able to cater to the needs of your target market.

7. Use Results To Drive Next Steps

After looking over your medical SEO marketing results, it’s time to use those results to inform your marketing decisions going forward. 

It can take some time to get the hang of SEO marketing, and it’s ok if your first attempt falls short. 

Pair up with an SEO pro to get some advice, or simply try again until you get it right.

Wrap Up: It’s Wise to Try Medical SEO

Now, you’ve got the basics of SEO for your business down.

You understand how SEO works, the importance of finding the right keywords, how to use your data to inform future SEO decisions, and to stay patient as you figure out exactly what works best to get the eyes of your target market on your website.

If you’re deciding that now is the time to invest in SEO marketing, you’re making a smart move. 

To help you out, read these tips about SEO ROI to ensure you’re getting the most out of your investment.