An Introduction To  SEO and Why It Is So Important for Healthcare & Medical Practices

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and this three worded phrase has put even the largest of businesses in a never-ending race.

In a nutshell it is a series of methods through which a website’s ranking gets improved in the search engine results, therefore being seen first when someone searches for your service or business.

Most business owners  and marketing managers now realise the benefits and are keen to have their website’s ranking improved in Google, Yahoo and Bing.   The advantages to those at the top of the search engine results are now well documented and can make a massive jump to a businesses bottom line.

There has been a complete shift of many large firms in recent times towards investing in SEO because of its importance in the digital world. An SEO expert is responsible for working on a website’s ranking with the help of special tools and ever changing techniques.

But it is still extremely viable and cost effective  for the smaller businesses to win at SEO and gain the benefits of being found on the first page of the search engines in order to generate larger traffic and reach out to a massive audience.

Understanding The True Role of the Search Engine

The first and foremost goal of the search engines is to guide you straight towards a selection of results that you are looking for, no matter what search term ( keyword) you type in!

Through a selection of algorithms they quickly sift through millions of websites over the internet for the best results for you to appear, search engines like Google and Yahoo have set some strict standards for only the most suitable results to appear. Around 10 years ago, when people used to type in a keyword, websites containing biased and unbiased content would appear, however today the air has changed. Now only those websites appear in the search engine immediately whose ranking is very good with respect to search engine algorithms appear at the top of the page.

Whilst the exact “how it works” is a closely guarded secret, Companies like Google and Yahoo regularly release patents on these algorithms which give insights to the process but the intention is always the same – Give searchers exactly what they are looking for.

SO How Do We  Get The Search Engines Trust To Show Your Medical Clinic is The Best One For Your Prospective Patient?

Ahh, well this is where it gets interesting, bearing in mind what the search engines are trying to achieve is slightly at odds to that of a singular business ( who just wants to get to top of page 1 regardless ), the search engines are continually tweaking and making changes to their algorithms.

Whilst SEO may seem like black or white magic to the uninitiated, there is a science to it. Website and pages with the right combination of ranking factors or “signals will be rewarded with high rankings BUT beware overdo the signals, or be deemed to be carrying out processes which are attemting to “game the search engines”  and you can find your website deindexed or languishing many pages from the top.

Optimising is about ensuring your content generates the right type of On Page and OFF Page signals

How Long Does SEO take to Work?

Truthfully, “how long does it take”  has to be one of the hardest questions about SEO

The short answer is “it depends.”

The longer answer is “Many local business will see results in 4 – 6 months but in truth we need to analyse  many variables for your  website compared to the same variables for your competitors’ websites.”

• It depends on Your website content ( Onpage)
• It depends on inbound Links (Off Page)
• It Depends on Competition and their onpage and offpage
• And it depends on Time –
  • How new is the website
  • How often is new content published
  • How are your visitors interacting with your website

This is because, in addition to all of the variables that play a role in the optimisation of your own website, you also have to evaluate those same variables in your competitors’ optimisation efforts.

Choosing the right keyword

Many companies start on the wrong foot, your entire SEO strategy is connected with the right selection of keywords. They need to be search terms that :-

1. You can rank for without spending years and $1000’s
2. Relevant to your customers and your business
3. Assist in converting visitors to customers or patients

However, the most important thing here is the choice of the keyword which is being searched. SEO professionals SHOULD only choose that keyword which will CONVERT when improving the ranking of the website. Finding the most searched keyword is also a process which is run by the SEO experts, who then develop similar keywords for the better ranking of the website. Backlinks play a very important role in the uplift of the website in the search engines also.

Everything else comes later, but the first and foremost rule of SEO is that the right keywords are selected or targeted

In recent years Google adwords has provided a decenttool that is has beene used by optimisation experts, called the keyword planner and as the name suggests. Whilst used primarily for advertising research,  if a search term converts, then synonyms and ideas can be gained from such tools. However this has been downgraded and many optimisation experts have turned to paid tool that can cost $200-$400/m

Is keyword density really important?

Keyword density is yet another major factor which completely binds together any other aspects we sought to speak of. Keyword research in itself is an entire industry now. Marketers have kind of got around with this new idea of focusing on what the audience are looking for. A keyword is basically regarded as that word which is typed by the user in the pursuit of what he or she is trying to look for. Keyword density is the number of times that word has been used in a content. Careful consideration to the number of times a search term is used within content or you run the risk of being over optimised

Google adwords provides a great tool that is can be used by optimisation experts. It is called the keyword planner and as the name suggests. Whilst used primarily for advertising research,  if a search term converts, then synonyms and ideas can be gained from such tools.

Healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world right now. Healthcare in itself is basically an industry which reflects upon the practices and innovative ideas in the world of health. There are many websites which are being run by multiple businesses, with each of them offering more or less the same services.

We need to dig deep down into the crux of the discussion with which we began earlier. The reason for having SEO done is to improve your website’s ranking on the web. When we talk about the healthcare business, there is a lot of competition within it too. The interesting thing is, that a lot of healthcare businesses identify the need of effective SEO strategies. And here are some reasons why you should consider investing in it:

SEO The Expansion of Visibility for your Practice

 You have to put yourself out there for people to find you. Your visibility is extremely important for your business development. You certainly need a very user-friendly, high ranking website that will put your business at the top. Our SEO expert will do this and make your business very accessible for other people who are looking forward to avail the services being offered.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Optimising for the latest use and trends

Most of us use mobile phones to look for medical facilities online, but in this day and age, people do not just look for the best clinic, but also choose to book their appointments online, use the smart phone for looking up a number to call, or directions.  Local SEO techniques  works with your website or online advertising will put your services and address near the person who is searching for it on the web.

Understanding what your patients are looking for

It is important for you to be in front of  as many people as you can, but the results will only be achieved if the right audience is coming in. You definitely will be looking for users who are looking for treatment your medical clinic provides.  But the latest stats suggest you have between 3-6 seconds to navigate your website visitors to the information they are looking for, with the right layout, insights and experience, your SEO expert ensures the right information is shown and relevant making sure that they easily locate your business area and services.

However, quantity might not be as important as quality is. Example – If in case 100 people / month are visiting your dental website looking for implants, out of which 70 are rather than teeth implants, then you certainly need to work on your target audience. You’ll be surprised how many times generic terms are used  incorrectly!

Smart tactics to beat your major competitors

It may seem like a tall order to compete with major companies with a smaller marketing budget, but the  truth is there are benefits to running a smaller site that can make a massive improvement to your SEO

• Fluidity  –  You can be extremely nimble and fluid.  Small teams can get remarkable amounts done in small amounts of time compared to much larger teams.
• Laser Focus and Creativity  – The majority of your competition are most likely focused on the same small choice of search terms. As a small business, you can choose to focus your web marketing efforts on one specific thing and become the experts, as your authority builds in this area, you expand your marketing into additional areas, this works extremely well against major brands

Finally – It’s not just about SEO 

It is about putting YOUR business in front of YOUR customers and converting them into patients.

Getting to the top of page 1 means you’ll get more visitors to your website than your competitors – but is only one piece of the puzzle.

Website design, copywriting and and an understanding of interpreting analytics are key skills that go hand-in-hand with SEO. You should be targeting the visitors that will turn into patients.

A fundemental part of SEO is targeting the right keywords, to get the right visitor who become patients. Sure  many CRO changes can be made to design or copy to improve conversions, but it starts with targeting the right keywords!