Here’s 7 SEO tricks and tips to help your organisation rank above the competition in the healthcare industry.
The simpler and more eye-catching the website is, the better visitors can relate to it. Healthcare, in general, is somewhat intimidating for people, so the more inviting the website, the better.
*user experience is very important to take into account when it comes to the website.
Site speed is critical. Your website – especially the most important pages – your homepage, contact us, locations finder, about us – must load in under 5 seconds. If your site is slow, it likely is due to non-web-optimised imagery or superfluous functionality and visuals. There are SEO tools out there which can help with load speed. Google also has a Page Load Speed Insights tool which can provide some insight on specific steps which can be taken.
Mobile is incredibly important to get leads. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly (with a responsive design) and that the text is large enough to read on a phone. If you have any buttons, or call to actions, make sure they are large enough for a person to tap with their thumb or finger the very first time.
If you’re a doctor’s office or other similar medical practice, make sure your site is optimised for local search. Include your address and telephone number on your home page. Be sure your practice is on Google maps.
An easy way to ensure this is to sign up for a Google My Business Page. It’s completely free and will help your office stand out, noting your business hours, address, one-touch calling to your office and one-touch directions to your office. It’s a great way to drive traffic, both the virtual and feet-in-the-door kind!
Healthcare providers are experts in their fields. Obviously, people seeking healthcare services have a need and will likely do some desktop or mobile research in advance of calling a service provider.
Set up a blog or resource channel on your site and give them the answers they want. Great content will be downloaded, bookmarked, printed, and socially shared. Google is recording those signals and so, will present that content high in search results.
Many hospital sites still function as ‘’brochure sites’’ focused primarily on talking about the hospital and the services they offer. That information is essential but if you want to drive relevant search engine traffic beyond searches for your hospital’s name, you need to create more informational content designed to get information out to people who are searching for advice on things. For example, diet related queries or people with certain medical condition searching for advice.
Also, doctor’s profiles on the websites are really helpful. It helps visitors relate to the doctors, and they’re more likely to visit the facility if they already feel comfortable with them.
Schema mark-up is a huge part of Local SEO for healthcare businesses. Whether you are in need of urgent care, an emergency room, or a specialist such as a urologist or dermatologist – people are looking for a solution that’s close to them.
By using schema mark-up, you can help search engines categorise correctly and within proximity to a user. With most searches for local service happening on a mobile device, helping those mobile users find you is critical to SEO success.
Investing in quality social media content and fully built-out, relevant channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram) is a great way to elevate your brand, drive traffic to your website via links, and also send strong social signals back to your site when people engage with the content you post.