Lead patients to your independent practice with medical SEO

As a healthcare provider, patient care is a top focus. But a thriving practice needs patients for whom to care. That’s why marketing practices like search engine optimization (SEO) are so critical to provider success and growth.

With that in mind, let's look at the fundamentals and benefits of medical SEO.

Search engine optimization means setting up your website and its content so they can be seen by as many people as possible. It involves taking a long series of measures to make it easy for Google and other search engines to find, analyze and categorize your content.

Potential patients are searching every day for information about medical services. You want Google to offer something from your website at the top of search engine results pages (SERP) — or at least the first page. Without a strong SEO content strategy, the chances of that happening are greatly reduced.

Content marketing doesn't amount to much if the content does poorly in search engine rankings. Strengthening your medical SEO will help to improve your practice's ranking for the key healthcare-related terms your patients are most interested in.

You can use different digital marketing techniques to optimize your website for better organic search results, including:

First, here’s why doctors should spend their medical practice’s time on SEO.

As an independent practitioner, your focus is, and should be, your patients. It can be hard to commit to learning healthcare marketing tactics. You went to medical school to spend time working with patients, not to become a marketing expert.

But nearly 90% of providers say they’re in a competitive market. So investing in basic marketing tactics to stand out from the competition is a good strategy. SEO is just the start.

Around 77% of patients search online for doctors either often or sometimes, according to Tebra’s Fourth Annual Patient Perspectives report. Those numbers jump even higher among Millennials and Gen Z. They search online at 85% and 81%, respectively.

So when patients search online for a healthcare provider, practices that invest in medical SEO tactics will appear higher in the search rankings, get more website traffic, and attract more new patients.

SEO isn’t just one thing — it’s a group of different tactics to improve your ranking in search results. Tactics range from quick fixes to long-term campaigns. Here are the top methods to focus on first:

Want a quick win for your online marketing? Technical SEO tactics can have a big impact on your medical website's success. Here are some common SEO strategies that are working for other medical practices:

On-page SEO is the form of SEO that is most familiar to non-marketers. It entails optimizing individual site pages for relevance, usability, and rankings. Here’s what you can do to strengthen your on-page SEO:

Local SEO focuses on ranking high for searches in a specific geographic area. For example, if someone searches “dermatologist + Chicago,” they will receive information about all dermatologists in the Chicago area.

Since most medical practices serve specific cities and locations, local SEO is important in connecting with local patients. Here are 3 strategies that doctors should employ:

Claim your profile in other online directories. Search for your business in other online directories like Yelp, Facebook, WebMD, and Healthgrades. Patients often frequent these sites to look for reviews or to leave their own. Make sure that your information is correct everywhere online.

Your practice's reputation is critical to its success. Online reviews are a vital part of that reputation. According to Tebra, 93% of patients say that reviews are at least somewhat important when choosing a healthcare provider. This has become a key factor in patient decision-making, and it also impacts your site ranking.

Your star ratings are important for your reputation, but they’re not the only factor that patients consider. The top three things that factor into their decisions include:

Collecting continuous reviews is important, both to improve your site authority and, ultimately, to attract new patients.

How can you get more patient reviews? You must ask for them. It's all part of medical marketing. More and more patients are willing to leave reviews. In fact, 1 in 3 patients has posted a review of a doctor in the last year. Here are some best practices to encourage your patients to share their experience at your practice:

Bad reviews are bound to appear, but they have no immediate consequences on your medical SEO. As for damage control, the best thing to do with a negative review is to respond to it.Many people will tell you to ignore negative comments, but responding can help your reputation. In fact, 64% of patients say they would go back to a medical practice if the practice responded to their concerns.

When Google reviews a site, it considers how recently the content was posted. That’s why blogs and other forms of content are incredibly important to SEO success. They show that your site is active and up to date.

Content marketing is the act of creating helpful, relevant content for your audience. The Google algorithm is happy when you provide fresh content. That'll boost your web results when the search engine robots are on the prowl.

Content marketing can cost you tens of thousands of dollars a year — but it doesn’t have to. You can create quality content and make the most of it with these tips:

Refresh content at least once a year. Updating old content is a great way to refresh your site and to boost your medical SEO. Go back and flesh out answers to patient questions. Refresh your content. Update seasonal information, and add new data and tips to older articles.

Now, you’ve moved past the basics, e.g., a fast-loading site, metadata, and claiming your Google Business listing. We feel that we must warn you: SEO takes a season of patience and persistence. It takes consistent work to capture more keywords. But you'll see your practice climb the ranks, and you'll attract more visitors to your site.

Some key factors that might prevent your site from ranking quickly include these:

So how long will it take medical SEO to work? It depends on a number of factors, such as whether you have a dedicated SEO specialist, content writers, a marketing team, etc. Here’s a loose guide as to when you can expect to see results, by tactic:

Positive reviews across popular medical review sites will impact both your online presence and your search ranking. Make sure to ask patients for reviews and monitor review sites regularly.

Still wondering how to make medical SEO work for your practice? Check out these frequently asked questions:

Q: Does posting a lot of new content matter for SEO?

A: Posting new content impacts your success, but it’s not the only factor in that success. Take on what your medical practice is comfortable with and commit to consistent quality content.

Q: Are there search engines other than Google that I should try to rank my practice on?

A: Google is the most popular search engine, so spend most of your time and efforts there. However, there are other search engines like Bing and Yahoo, and other places like Yelp, Instagram, and TikTok where people conduct searches. Claim your listing across search engines and directories to cover your bases.

Q: I need help! What should I look for in an SEO service?

A: Experience in SEO is critical, but an understanding of the healthcare industry is even more important. When vetting any service to support your practice growth, look for healthcare-specific experience, comprehensive data security (where relevant), and strict compliance.

Q: Who can I hire for healthcare SEO expertise?

A: Tebra is a full-service healthcare operating platform that’s invested in the growth of healthcare practices.  

Q: Is there a quick way to keep track of all my SEO checklist items?A: Visit and download Tebra’s free and comprehensive Medical SEO checklist for independent practices.