Reading Time: 5 minutes Like any other industry, the healthcare sector is becoming increasingly competitive. Yet many medical institutions and clinics still have a website that is not optimized for search engines. This means that your offering of care and medical treatments on the website is not easily to be found on Google. This is why SEO for healthcare is important: use SEO techniques to improve your website to be more competitive.
SEO for Healthcare
Competition in healthcare grows due to increasing number of providers
Home care agencies, nursing homes, psychology practices and health clinics are operating in a competitive market. The demand for care is growing steadily due to the increasing aging population. Many of the elderly want to live independently in their own familiar environment for as long as possible. This increases the demand not only for care or home support, but also for services such as the delivery of groceries, housekeeping services, personal alarms and means of communication that are easy to use, especially for the elderly. Many commercial companies are taking advantage of this by offering complete care and service packages.
Competition in health care intensifies: including on the Internet
Many organizations and institutions in the health and welfare sector, are not yet properly versed on the Internet. The websites are often outdated and contain information about the institution, often neglecting the question of what the customer is looking for. You won’t get new customers over the Internet with a website that you put up from the organization’s point of view. Instead, you need research, marketing and SEO techniques that are specifically targeted to your healthcare offerings.
What is SEO for healthcare?
SEO ensures that the pages of your website are highly visible in search engines such as Google. By applying SEO (search engine optimization) techniques properly, your website will be displayed highly on the first page of Google. If people are searching for a particular treatment or care, they will find your healthcare services.
Your medical practice in the top of Google
If your website appears in the top 3 of Google, you will receive about 75% more clicks to your website than if you are lower down the list.
A strong healthcare SEO strategy requires an investment of time and money to get your website found on page #1 in Google. With SEO for healthcare, the methods or strategies used, will make all the difference to your Google rankings, website traffic and patient growth compared to other medical providers.
Take advantage of the inactivity of your healthcare competitors
Many healthcare providers don’t have a good website that is SEO optimized yet. But the moment competition gets fiercer, you can expect your healthcare competitors to also invest in improving their websites using SEO and marketing.
The sooner you start working on this, the better chance you have of getting your website to the top of Google. SEO mainly attracts organic traffic to your website, which does not involve paid advertisements. It usually takes some time for SEO to show an impact on search results. In addition, your healthcare website probably needs to be adjusted in terms of content and usability for your target audience.
SEO for healthcare is a necessity to get more patients
A few figures from the statistics:
93% of people who need something start with a search engine (usually Google).
4 out of 5 consumers use search engines to find local information.
5% of all Google searches are health-related.
Every website in healthcare and for health and treatment clinics needs SEO to get their patients. It is important for every medical practice to invest in SEO strategies to stand out in Google and stay ahead of the competition.
SEO not only increases ROI (return on your investment), but also increases the credibility, number of visits, internet visibility, reputation, and branding of the healthcare facility, clinic, or treatment practice.
SEO for healthcare and wellness differs from other industries
Essential for websites in the health and wellness sector is that Google has higher requirements for their websites. The information on the website must be demonstrably correct and the reliability of the institution, practice or clinic needs to be evident. It is not illogical that these higher requirements are imposed on health practices, because after all, human lives are at stake.
Local SEO for doctors, psychotherapists, home care agencies and other healthcare providers
Search engine optimization for healthcare is based on medical keywords. This applies to your website aimed at all countries, as well as to content written specifically for people in your local area.
Focus with local SEO on the most important medical search terms in the area of your clinic or practice. Local keywords are extremely profitable for doctors, psychotherapists, chiropractors, dentists, home health agencies and other healthcare providers.
Make sure you have a website that is geared towards your target audience
Use larger fonts, spoken texts, and clear language on your website if your target audience is the elderly who have poorer eyesight. In addition, the website should not be too complicated, but clear about the offerings and how the audience can benefit from them. This also means that you need an SEO of medical terms that you explain in an easy to understand way.
Make your website easy for seniors easy to use and with an enlarged display. It is helpful to adjust the mobile display of your website as well.
An SEO agency with experience in healthcare
Before I started my SEO company MarsConnects , I (also) worked for several health care institutions in the Netherlands and on different levels. I have attended board meetings of hospitals where healthcare budgets, number of required beds, management strategies to renovations, and all other matters were discussed. I also have experiences with national and regional crisis management in which the duties of the outpatient services were structured. In addition, I worked in mental healthcare, social services, and even in a TBS (forensic) clinic.
I am therefore familiar with the methods and management strategies of many of these healthcare organizations. With my experiences within my own company, I know how to match the marketing and SEO techniques for websites to the people who (want to) use healthcare services. It’s a perfect match!
Attract your audience with an SEO-proof website
Get for your practice, clinic or institution a better competitive position on the Internet. With a good website and SEO specifically focused on your healthcare offerings, we can make this happen.
