Your Patients Can Help Your Practice Rank Organically

In today’s modern healthcare setting, doctors are continuously looking for the newest, most reliable ways to get new patients into their practices. Currently, there are two ways to be found on the first page of Google’s search engine results: paid and organic. Paid results will get your website to appear as one of the first two to three links at the very top of the page. Organic results, on the other hand, refer to a natural placement of your website on Google search results in accordance with other similar results. As a doctor, you may be well aware of the importance of SEO for digital marketing. However, are you aware that over 80% of individuals do not look past the first page of Google results when searching for information online? If your page does not measure up against those of your competitors, you could be missing out on prospective patients.

Having a strong SEO presence will make it easier not only for your current patients to find you, but also for prospective patients to feel as if they have to see you. Boosting the visibility of your name and medical practice with organic Google results is one of the many ideal ways in which you can reach out to millions of individuals online. Optimizing the keywords for your website, developing high-quality content, and establishing social media are just a few examples of how you can obtain a high rank in search engine results.

Keywords

When you think about it, there are dozens and dozens of medical websites just like yours that strive to pull off the most desired keywords. What you should do is make a list of the keywords you wish to use and check the traffic pertaining to each term with tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner. As you go along your list, narrow down the results by the highest-ranked and most relevant terms in accordance with the products and services you offer. If this is a little too complicated, simply focus on what information you would like a patient to know about you, such as where you practice and your specialty.

Meaningful and Grasping Content

Before you begin to think of more ways to improve your SEO ranking, consider whether you have extensive, high-quality content that will be able to grab readers’ attention. In order to make the most of your results, you must consistently create compelling content that will help you engage with your audience. After all, if you want to stay ahead of the competition, you must be able to dedicate your time to creating good content that has the best chance of going viral. Utilizing FindaTopDoc's Expert Blog platform will enable you to better establish yourself online while reinforcing SEO best practices! Do not forget to include images and videos in your posts. The search engines may only read the text, but once your readers enter your page, you want them to be able to visualize what your website is about. Images and videos of equipment, procedures, and patient stories can attract a lot of attention.

Strong URL Names

Shorter URLs perform much better on Google search results. Keep your URL names short, to the point, and try to include captivating keywords.

Page Titles

The <title> HTML tag represents your website’s title page. It is the first text that will appear in the organic search results, and it is intended to provide a detailed description of your website’s content. Upon writing your page titles, keep them under sixty characters, as Google is likely to cut off wording exceeding this limit. Moreover, include powerful and significant keywords in the title.

Keyword Repetition

A huge part of creating content for your website is using targeted keywords. While you do not want to seem repetitive and redundant in your wording, you should repeat significant keywords at least two to three times within your content. This will likely improve your ranking by signaling keyword relevance.

Visitor Interactions

Connect with your patients through content. As mentioned on our Expert Blog page, creating an expert blog will help you generate traffic and exposure while building your online brand and credibility. Your subscribers will automatically be sent an e-newsletter highlighting your latest blog posts, and by sending us your existing patient emails, our HIPAA-compliant email system will also send your posts to existing patients! 

Location

When you log onto an internet browser, you do so through an IP address. Each IP address is unique and designed to pinpoint your exact location. By including your medical practice’s location in your content (by creating a FindaTopDoc Doctor Profile and Expert Blog), Google will be more likely to share these results. For instance, say a patient lives near your medical practice. When they use Google’s search engine to look for medical practices/medical websites, Google reads their IP address and provides them with local results—directing them to you.

Social Media Engagement

Social media is not just about likes and comments; it is also a way to interact and share the latest information with your readers, all the while anticipating their feedback. Consider setting up a few social media pages linked to your website. Such icons can help you engage with your readers and build lasting relationships. Best of all, it is free and it works!

Organic SEO is an essential element in your overall digital marketing approach. It is not just about building your reputation, but rather about gaining the respect and loyalty of current and prospective patients. Another way SEO can help boost marketing efforts is the patient kiosk. The patient kiosk is a user-friendly, customizable software that is designed to reduce wait times, automatically load forms into patients’ medical records electronically, customize templates to fit your specialty, and create faster, simpler solutions for you, your staff, and your patients.

To consider things from a different approach, let’s take a look at the average number of patients per primary care physician. A primary care physician can see anywhere for 300 to 3,000 patients and more. Several findings have found that the average number of patients per primary care physician is around 2,184 (according to a 2012 report from MGMA). The patient panel size is the number of patients each physician sees at least once in a year and a half. Panel size is typically based on the size of your practice, but also takes into account the demand for your service. The equation used to calculate patient panel size is as follows:

Panel size (# of patients/provider) = (provider visits per day X provider days per year)/number of visits per patient per year

This equation represents how many patients you see per day multiplied by the number of days you work on an annual basis. The number is then further divided by the number of visits you receive per patient on an annual basis. The idea behind this patient panel size is to give you an idea of how many patients you are exposed to, either through referrals, website targeting, word-of-mouth advertising, and more. This number of patients can greatly benefit your medical practice, because the higher the number of patients, the higher the number of reviews. Patient reviews are crucial components in boosting practice marketing. They establish brand awareness and develop your reputation in a positive manner. If you are able to maintain an exceptional level of patient satisfaction, you will likely encourage a great number of positive reviews.

All in all, organic SEO gets your foot in the door. You then start to build audience engagement by offering patients a more convenient and interactive experience, such as through the patient kiosk. If they are satisfied with the products and services you offer them, they will rank your practice high on their list. It is a simple concept really—the more positive reviews you have connected to your website, the higher you will be ranked on Google’s search engine results. What’s more, as your reputation begins to grow, prospective patients will likely make an appointment to see you. Higher rankings = greater exposure, and that is always good for business.