More and more people are using the internet to search for services around them. Medical practices are no different. As prospective patients seek medical services near them, it is important that your practice shows up on their search results. You can do this by implementing an online strategy that focuses on improving your local search results. Here are a few steps to take to improve your medical practice’s local visibility.
Target Local Keywords
Keywords play an integral role in your search engine optimization strategy, and it is no different when it comes to SEO for medical practices. Simply put, when your prospective or current patients use certain search queries, your website will show up on the results page if it answers that query. Targeting local keywords means you want to show up in search results when your patients search for something like “pediatric care near me”. There are several ways to research your audience’s search terms. You can do this by simply using Google Autofill, or by using more sophisticated tools such as SEMrush.
Capitalize on Metadata
Incorporating your keywords on your web pages is a good first step to increasing your local visibility, but don’t forget about your metadata. Metadata such as titles and descriptions are a great way to incorporate local keywords and an efficient way to improve your search engine ranking. The metadata on your website is an introduction to your practice. It is a summary of what someone can expect to find where they visit a page. It is important that your metadata is clear, factual, and catchy, in that order! While it is important that prospective patients visit your website, it is even more important that they find what they are looking for. Accurate metadata helps people decide if they want to visit a webpage.
Set Up a Location Page
This might seem like a no-brainer, but many websites only go so far as to list an address at the top or bottom of a page and call it a day. A page dedicated to your practice’s location will quickly drive your website up to local search engine rankings. When designing your page, be sure to keep the human visitor in mind as well as the search engines. Include photos of your practice, driving directions, contact information, and office hours. Remember: search engines don’t just track keywords and site functionality. They also track how long visitors stay on your page. If users are quickly leaving a page on your site, search engines assume that the page does not contain valuable information, which will hurt a page’s ranking. If embedding photos and linking to external maps seems like a lot of work, consider hiring a medical website design company. These companies specialize in creating high-quality and informative websites, allowing you to focus on providing care to your community.
Take these steps to improve your local online presence and you’ll soon be seeing increased traffic, both to your website and through your practice’s door.
Author’s Bio: Lauryn Pleva is a Junior Content Writer for Boxwood Digital, an Ecommerce SEO agency in Lakewood, Colorado. When she’s not writing, Lauryn enjoys exploring the many outdoor experiences Colorado has to offer.