In today’s market, the growth of a medical practice depends in large part on how fast it can be found on the internet. If you want more patients coming to your chiropractic, pain management, or general practitioner practice, investing in search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing can make a world of difference. Like compound interest, the gains can be exponential.
If the concepts of SEO are new to you, don’t fret. We break down what every pain management doctor, general practitioner and chiropractor needs to know about this essential digital marketing solution, and how SEO works in bringing new patients into your waiting room.
The basics: SEO terms every medical practitioner should know
- SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages)
- On-site and off-site SEO
SERPs are the lists that search engines, like Google and Yahoo!, return to a user when they type in a question or phrase into the search engine’s query box.
In a nutshell, the primary goal of all SEO efforts is to get a website as close to the top of the SERPs as possible, giving the website utmost visibility.
There are two main types of online marketing techniques: on-site and off-site SEO.
On-site SEO refers to things that can be done on your website to improve your search engine rankings. Examples of on-site SEO techniques include internal linking, metadata maintenance, blogging, and proper website development.
Off-site SEO involves actions that you can take outside of your own website to improve your ranking. Off-site SEO techniques include, but aren’t limited to, guest posting, article syndication, backlinks, and search account management.
Both on-site and off-site SEO techniques are essential components of an effective SEO plan for chiropractors, pain management doctors, and any other practitioner.
SEO tips for chiropractic, pain management, or general practice
SEO is not a one-size-fits-all solution. However, there are certain practices that are essential toward building an effective strategy. These will give your website the best chances of attracting the right visitor, and converting those visits into patients.
- Make sure your website is mobile-responsive
- Have comprehensive, easy-to-find website pages
- Homepage
- About page
- Services page
- Blog homepage
- Contact page
- Make sure you’re found on Online Business Listings
- Sign up for helpful and legitimate online directories
- Content, Content, Content!
- Blogging is important too
- Article Syndication as an effective backlinking strategy
- Adopt intelligent guest posting
As a general practitioner, pain specialist, or chiropractor, one of the best things you can do for your online marketing campaign is to have a website that is responsive to various devices. In the past, there were only a handful of screen sizes available. Nowadays, there are endless possibilities when it comes to viewing a website. For example, someone could view your website on their phone or on a large monitor. It’s important to have a responsive website so that everyone can have a positive experience when they visit your site.
A website is key for any business in the modern age, and chiropractors, pain management specialists and general practitioners are no exception. Your website should have a minimum of five main pages which include:
Additionally, it’s ideal to have a landing page for each service you offer. For example, if you provide hydrotherapy, spinal traction adjustments, and nutrition counseling, make sure you create a landing page for each with at least 500 words. However, 1,000 or 2,000 words is even better.
Generally speaking, websites that contain the most unique content and pages on their sites with topics relevant to what the site is about perform the best.
As a chiropractor, pain management specialist or general practitioner, one of the first things you should do when launching an online marketing campaign is to claim your business on search engines, industry websites, and map directories. This will help you establish a strong online presence and ensure that potential customers can find you easily.
Additionally, claims help to improve your local search rankings, which is essential for attracting new patients. So don’t forget to take this vital step when first starting out with online marketing!
Setting up a Google My Business account is one of the first things you should do when starting your digital marketing journey. With Google being the most-used search engine in the United States, claiming your territory on the platform is an important step in getting your business noticed.
There are also several SEO benefits that come with having a GMB account. For example, your business will likely appear near the top of the search results when someone searches for localized keywords like “chiropractor near me.”
While it’s important to have a strong presence on Google, don’t forget about other search engines like Bing and Yahoo!. Make sure you claim your business accounts on these platforms as well so customers can easily find you no matter where they’re looking.
There are millions of legitimate online directories. Every industry has a set, and you should sign up for as many helpful ones as possible. Notice, however, that we said “legitimate” and “helpful.” That’s because not every directory is one you want to be on. Some are spam gardens, and others feed ne’er-do-wells looking to scam
Yext and Synup are two directory aggregators through which you can wade to find good medical and chiropractic directories. Understand, though, that both programs cost money to access fully — but they may be worth it depending on how many helpful directories you find through them.
As chiropractors, pain management specialists or general practitioners, one of the most important things you can do for your business is to create quality content. This is what will fuel your SEO campaign and help you attract more links and eyeballs to your website.
In terms of your website, you should have a main landing page (aka the homepage), a contact page, a blog, and specific landing pages for each service offered at your practice. By having all of this in place, you’ll be able to give potential and current patients everything they need to know about your business and what you can do for them.
If you want your website to perform well in the search engine results pages (SERPs), then you need to create fresh, relevant content on a regular basis. This is where blogging comes in. By writing blog posts and publishing them regularly, you can help improve your site’s SEO and attract more visitors.
The best way to make sure you’re always writing relevant, engaging content is to develop a blogging strategy. This can be in the form of a content calendar, which will help you plan and organize your posts in advance. Using a content calendar can help save you time and make sure you never miss a deadline.
When writing for your chiropractor, pain management specialist, or general practitioner care blog, it’s important to consider what topics will be most relevant and interesting to your potential clients. You should also make sure that your writing is optimized for conversions, as this will help you make the most of every opportunity.
In terms of blogging dos and don’ts, remember that you should never write about religion or politics, and you should avoid frequently blogging about things that have nothing to do with chiropractic, pain management or general care.
Additionally, you should always get permission from patients before writing about them, and you should never badmouth other chiropractors, pain management specialists, and general practitioners or treatment methods.
If you decide to write your chiropractic, pain management specialist, or general practitioner blog posts yourself instead of using a service, be sure that you are familiar with keywords and on-page SEO techniques such as metadata, title tags, h1-h2 tags, and alt image text. This will help ensure that your content is easy to find and ranks high in search results.
Article syndication is a powerful way to garner backlinks and name recognition. But beware! If it’s not done correctly, an article syndication push has the power to harm your SERP ranking.
So what is article syndication? It’s as it sounds: authorizing and facilitating the publication of articles penned under your name. Fundamentally, it’s a super way to blast your practice name around the internet and gain online traction.
But again, be aware that it’s easy to mess up. If your articles land on the wrong websites, it could hurt your ranking. Plus, algorithms may issue duplicate content demerits if it’s done incorrectly.
If you’re interested in article syndication, it’s best to work with an online marketing professional.
Securing guest posts can take time, but it’s worth it to expand your digital footprint, get exposure for your name, and provide quality backlinks to your website. If you’re working with a professional online marketing team, the process is much easier because they already have a network of publications. But if you’re doing it alone, a great place to start is with affiliated professional organizations. For example, if you’re a chiropractor, you can start with the chiropractor’s association.
The Importance of Internal Links for chiropractors, pain management specialists, and general practitioners
If you’re a chiropractor looking to improve your website’s SEO, then you need to start building a link portfolio. Without one, it’ll be nearly impossible to secure the top spots on SERPs for your desired keywords. So the question becomes: what types of links should you be focusing on?
- Internal links
Internal links are a great place to start. These links go from one page on your website to another, and they’re easy to implement. For example, this is an internal link to our blog post about the advantages of using WordPress. Not only are internal links helpful for users, but they’re also favored by algorithm bots.
- Foundational backlinks
Foundational backlinks are the most valuable type of link for your website, and they come from respected sources. Websites with .edu and .gov domain suffixes offer the best backlinks, followed by established .org websites. If you can get a backlink from Wikipedia to your website, that’s even better! The same goes for .com backlinks from top industry sites.
- Backlinks and mentions
Backlinks and mentions are two important ranking factors for SEO. Foundational backlinks come from low-profile websites and confer a lot of “link juice” in bulk. However, guest post backlinks are highly authoritative and can provide significant rankings impact fairly quickly when executed properly. Mentions on your local newspaper’s website are another good score and can tremendously boost local SEO efforts.
If you want to improve your chiropractic practice’s SEO, good reviews are key. Consistent reviews on Google are especially important, but positive Yelp posts and Facebook mentions can also make a big difference.
However, be careful about paying for reviews. In some cases, this could be considered unfair or deceptive marketing under the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines. If you’re not sure how to solicit testimonials and reviews without crossing this line, it may be best to work with a professional marketer.
Your SEO strategy should be unique to your practice
It’s important to avoid using a cookie-cutter digital marketing company for your chiropractic, pain management, and general practitioner practice. They often use the same content and designs for hundreds of clients, which can waste your investment. After all, if your website and blog posts look and sound exactly the same as your three competitors down the street, what’s the point?
Of course, you’ll cover similar topics, themes, and news as other chiropractors. But there’s a difference between near-exact replication and mingling in the same topics.
Whether you need help in SEO, PPC or revamping your website design, our team here at Redux Labs will be happy to help you. Contact us today to request a free marketing consultation.