Best Practices for Using SEO on Google for Your Healthcare Practice
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of optimizing a website or online listing to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) on search engines like Google. By improving the visibility of a website or listing, SEO can help increase the number of website visitors and ultimately drive more business.
How to Utilize SEO on Google for Your Healthcare Practice
Google Business Profile Listings:
- First, make sure your business is listed on Google Business. This free service allows businesses to create a listing that appears in Google Maps and in the “Google My Business” section of Google search results.
- Add detailed information to your listing, such as your business hours, contact information, and photos. This information can help potential customers find and contact your business.
- Encourage customers to leave reviews on your listing. Positive reviews can help improve your visibility in search results and can help build trust with potential customers.
- Keep your listing updated. Ensure your business hours and contact information are accurate, and add new photos or edit old ones.
On-page Optimization:
- Use keywords in your website’s title tags and meta descriptions. These tags appear in the SERPs and can help search engines learn about the content and purpose of your website.
- Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to organize the content on your website. Header tags help search engines understand your content’s structure and can improve your website’s visibility.
- Optimize your images by using descriptive file names and alt tags. This can help search engines understand the context of images and improve your website’s visibility.
- Use internal linking on your website. This means linking to other pages on your website within the content of your pages. Internal links keep visitors on your site for longer and help tell Google that content is related.
Off-page Optimization:
- Build backlinks to your website from other websites. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. The more backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank in search results.
- Create quality, shareable content on social media platforms. This can get your business exposure and generate backlinks to your website.
- Use social media to promote your business and website. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn can help you reach new customers and generate backlinks to your website.
General SEO strategies:
- Make sure to include keywords related to your healthcare services and location. For example, if you run a chiropractic clinic in Los Angeles, use keywords like “chiropractor,” “Los Angeles,” and “spinal adjustment.”
- Use schema markup on your website. Schema markup is a code added to your website that provides search engines with more information about your business and services. This can help your website rank higher in search results for specific, related queries.
- Create content that addresses common healthcare questions and concerns. By creating valuable and informative content, you can attract potential patients to your website and establish your business as a trustworthy source of healthcare information.
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, responsive, and easy to navigate. User-friendly websites are crucial when more than 80% of website traffic comes from smartphones and handheld devices.
Implementing these SEO strategies can help your healthcare business by improving its visibility in search results on Google. Creating a detailed Google Business Profile listing, optimizing your website’s content and images, and building backlinks can help your business rank higher in search results and attract more customers.
Valet Health created digital solutions with these best practices in mind for Google Business listings and on-page SEO. LaunchPad and LiftOff often work hand-in-hand to ensure information is the same across all platforms and that the content shared on your website, social media, and local listing profiles specifically targets your ideal demographic.
Contact us today to learn more about these services and how you can get started.