Earned & Owned
Are you a healthcare organization looking to improve your visibility in local search results and attract more patients? Look no further! Local SEO, or optimizing your online presence for local customers, is essential to any healthcare organization’s marketing strategy. In this blog post, we’ll share 8 tips to help improve your healthcare organization’s local SEO plan and increase patient engagement.
One of the most important steps in local SEO is claiming and verifying your Google My Business (GMB) listing. GMB is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to manage how your business appears on Google Maps and in local search results. Ensure your GMB listing is fully optimized with accurate information about your business, including your address, phone number, and business hours. Also, include photos, get reviews, and respond to customer questions to help build trust and credibility with potential patients.
To get started, you’ll need to claim your GMB listing by searching for your business on Google Maps and clicking on the “Own this business?” button. Google will then ask you to verify your business by phone or postcard.
Once your listing is claimed and verified, you’ll be able to update your business information, including your address, phone number, and business hours. You’ll also be able to add photos, get reviews, and respond to customer questions.
Incorporating location-specific keywords on your website, such as the name of your city, state, and the services you provide can help search engines understand where your healthcare organization is located and what services it provides. This will increase the chances of your website appearing on relevant local search results. For example, if you’re a dental practice in Los Angeles, you should make sure to include “dentist in Los Angeles” in your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, and throughout your website’s content.
Backlinks from other local websites can boost your local SEO. Reach out to local directories, Chamber of Commerce websites, and other relevant local websites to get a link back to your website. The more reputable websites that link to your website, the more likely search engines will trust your website and the more likely you will be to rank higher in search results.
Creating content about your local area and services can help you rank for local search queries. Consider creating a blog, video, or podcast discussing the services and capabilities of your healthcare organization. This will help search engines understand the context of your content and make it easier for them to find and display your website in search results. Also, you can create a page about the location that includes photos, landmarks, and patient reviews.
Online reviews are key in local SEO, as they can help build trust and credibility with potential patients and search engines. Encourage your patients to leave reviews on popular review sites like Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades. Make it easy for patients to leave a review, like adding a link on your website or in an email signature.
List your practice in online directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Healthgrades so that your practice is easy for patients to find. This will help to increase your visibility in local search results and make it easier for patients to find your healthcare organization.
You should also consider getting listed in any industry-specific directories that are relevant to your business.
Adding structured data in the form of schema markup to your website can help search engines understand the context of your content and make it easier for them to find and display your
website in search results. This will help search engines understand specific information about your healthcare organization, such as your name, address, phone number, and operating hours. This will help to improve your website’s visibility in local search results.
With more and more people using mobile devices to search for local businesses, it’s important to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly on all devices to improve the user experience. You can use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your website is mobile-friendly.
Local SEO is a continuous process that requires consistent monitoring, management, and optimization. Following these tips can improve your healthcare organization’s visibility in local search results and attract more patients.
At Webserv, we specialize in helping behavioral health teams maximize their online presence through SEO services. Our team of experienced digital marketers focuses on creating rich, engaging content that drives leads and converts customers. Our comprehensive approach to SEO allows us to target the right audience, monitor analytics, optimize for conversions, and track performance.
We understand that the digital landscape is constantly changing, so our experts are always up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies. We develop customized plans for each individual client based on their goals and objectives. As part of our services, we provide detailed reporting to help measure success in terms of website rank, organic traffic, and conversions. This helps clients keep track of their progress as they work towards achieving maximum ROI from their SEO efforts.
[Updated June 26th, 2023]
Local SEO is crucial for businesses looking to attract customers in specific geographic areas, as it helps improve your online visibility and reach in local search results, increasing the likelihood of attracting nearby customers.
While SEO focuses on improving a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) on a global scale, local SEO is specifically geared towards optimizing a website’s online presence to attract local customers searching for products or services in a specific location.
Ensure your Google My Business profile is complete and accurate, including your business name, address, phone number, and website URL. Encourage customers to leave reviews and respond to them promptly, and regularly update your listing with relevant information and photos.
Yes, online reviews play a significant role in local SEO. Positive reviews not only boost your credibility and reputation among potential customers but also improve your local search rankings, as search engines value high-quality, authentic feedback from customers.
Healthcare providers can optimize their local SEO by creating location-specific landing pages with relevant keywords, optimizing their Google My Business profile, and ensuring their website includes accurate contact information, medical services offered, and patient testimonials to build trust and credibility in the local community.
