SEO for Doctors: A Complete Guide to SEO for Healthcare Service Providers

SEO: Why is it Important for Healthcare Partners?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a marketing strategy that helps potential customers to find your website much easier than any other marketing platform. 

Patients won’t find their healthcare partners through social media platforms, like  Instagram and Facebook.. 80% of people in India, do google search to find out their desired healthcare partners by using keywords like “Best ortho doctor near me”, “Best Ortho doctor in Mumbai “, similarly they use many keywords like this to figure out the best healthcare partners around them.  

SEO is the most important driver for healthcare providers to bring more new patients to walk in than other platforms.

How Search Engines Work

• Mostly , search engines use “exact match” to find search queries closest to the user’s search terms. Exact match is configured by means of your searchers type their keyword (Ex : “Best Dental Clinic in Dubai”) on a search engine that matches your exact word or phrase.
• If your keyword is exactly matched to your searchers search term then Google bot analyzes your content relevant to your keyword.
• Finally , the websites are placed on search engines according to your relevance.Most relevant pages are on the top and the remaining are placed next to another accordingly.

These are the key terms that healthcare professionals must know in SEO.

1) Keyword Research

You can search related keywords using SEO keyword research tools. These tools will determine appropriate search volume, calculate difficulty to rank for a particular keyword, and much more. If you had a doubt, what is a keyword?

A keyword is a word that describes the content of your page. For example, if the page is about Orthopedics, take Orthopedics as the main keyword. The Orthopedic page should contain all Orthopedic treatment information related to that topic.

2) Off-page SEO

• Off-page SEO works to improve search engine rankings factors that are not directly linked with your website.

a) Business Listing :

Search engines look at some factors like links to a practice’s website on other websites, listings for your practice on online directories, and reviews on profiles like Google My Business to validate that a website has credibility.

b) Website Credit :

If your website is linked to many other websites and with more reviews and good practice directory listings, they will increase your website credit to google.

c) Spammy websites :

You can buy links from spammy websites for backlinks. However, search engines will lower your rank or blacklist your site for having too many suspicious backlinks.

3) On-page SEO

• On-page SEO is a method of improving the website’s content and pages.

a) Keyword traffic :

The first step to on-page SEO is keyword research. This allows you to determine what search terms patients are using in your area to find your practice. Because search terms and volumes can differ by region and specialty.

b) Keyword targeting :

The content in your page should target your core keyword (or) phrase for instance the home page targeting your service given (I.E. “Orthopedic doctor in Trivandrum”) and a bio page targeting the provider’s identity (I.E. “Dr. Ganesh”)

c) Patients specific content :

Website pages should be written specifically for patients. This helps search engines understand the page’s subject.

d) Regular updates :

For good SEO, it is important to post new content on a regular basis. This could include videos, infographics, and images. You may also add educational blog posts that speak to current trends or other items that are regionally relevant.

4) Technical SEO

• Technical SEO refers to all “hidden” search engine ranking elements. It requires knowledge about website development in order to find and rectify any problems on the website.

a) User friendly :

Technical SEO ensures your website’s loading speed and user-friendly experience. Your website should be easy to use by Googlebot as well as patients.