SEO for Doctors: How to Get Found Online by Your Desired Patients

1. What is SEO for doctors?
2. Why is SEO for doctors important?
3. What advantages does SEO offer for doctors?
4. What is the effort with SEO for doctors?
5. Should you better hand over SEO for doctors to an agency or do it yourself?
6. What is local SEO for doctors?
7. What do you need to consider with SEO for doctors and how do you implement it?
8. What (free) tools are suitable for doctors SEO?

If you're looking for specialist doctors, you usually look for practices in the vicinity on the internet. A professional homepage is important for doctors, but only becomes relevant in the next step. After all, your website must be displayed to the users so that it can convince them of you and your service. This is exactly what you achieve with SEO.

Search engines classify search engine optimized websites as relevant and display them at the very front in the search results of potential patients (SERPs). Why this is so important and how you create search engine optimized websites, you will learn in this article.

What is SEO for doctors?

Search engine advertising (SEM) improves your visibility on the internet. You can do this through paid ads, or - which we will go into in more detail in this article - through organic search results: via search engine optimization (SEO). Online marketing managers and SEO managers develop a sales funnel for doctors that describes the way of potential new patients from the first contact to the appointment and beyond. This so-called Customer Journey contains several touch-points - i.e. points of contact between doctors and their potential patients. With SEO measures doctors reach more people who are looking for specialists like you.

Why is SEO for doctors important?

People look for doctors on the internet. They enter a specific search term, such as "anesthesiologist", into Google. Google then searches all entries and shows users the most relevant entries for their search query. Ten of them are on the first page of search results. The chance that users will click through to the next page is alarmingly low. One of your SEO goals should therefore be to get a place on page 1 - i.e. in the top 10.

According to a Bertelsmann study almost half of the respondents (49%) see internet research as a complement to the family doctor. 73% gave as a reason for their internet research on health issues that they want to be better informed about risks and diseases. Just over half are looking for tips and tricks for a healthier lifestyle or answers to an acute health problem on the web. Some shared that they tried to better understand or check the recommendations of doctors with online content.

You can see: Patients use the internet for a variety of reasons in health matters - those who do not show presence here have a great disadvantage over other doctors.

What advantages does SEO offer for doctors?

SEO for doctors increases the reach and especially the chance of being found by interested patients. This in turn brings more patients to your practice. These are the advantages of SEO for doctors in detail:

• Increasing the reach of doctors on the internet
• Improving the visibility of doctors in search engines like Google
• Improving the image of doctors
• Targeted addressing for desired patients

What is the effort with SEO for doctors?

Source: weboptimierung.de

SEO for doctors is not a one-time thing, but a permanent process. Just getting going is usually not goal-oriented, especially in the long run. A well thought-out strategy and consistent monitoring are a must. For successful search engine optimization, you should focus both on OnPage and on OffPage measures.

Should you better hand over SEO for doctors to an agency or do it yourself?

Inhouse SEO and cooperation with an SEO agency have advantages and disadvantages. The decision depends on your individual situation. These are the respective advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages: SEO for doctors with an agency

• Flexibility: Do you want to try something new? Do you want to do more than planned - maybe even a complete relaunch? If you have to hire new employees, complete training or free up capacities, it becomes difficult. Agencies have specialists ready and can therefore react flexibly to changed circumstances.
• Experience and know-how: What is probably new territory for you is the daily business of the SEO agencies. They know exactly what to do to achieve your SEO goals.
• Lower downtimes: If only one person in your practice is familiar with SEO, illness, vacation, resignation or other longer-term downtimes can lead the SEO measures to a standstill and throw you mercilessly back in the ranking. In the cooperation with an agency, several people are behind the supervision of your homepage, so that downtimes are almost completely excluded.
• No operational blindness: Agencies have an objective view as outsiders.
• Up to date: The topic of SEO is constantly developing and trending. Agencies are specialized in SEO and always up to date.

Benefits: Do SEO for doctors yourself

• Direct contact: Inhouse SEOs sit directly in the company. This means shorter communication paths and the focus is completely on you, as no other customers are looked after.
• Professional in your field: Inhouse SEOs are familiar with your practice, your processes, your values and your services. The own employees know better than external agencies.
• Direct access to resources: Inhouse SEOs can obtain required information themselves. You have to grant access to external agencies.

Conclusion: Give SEO for doctors to an agency or do it yourself

It is advisable to cooperate with an agency as SEO starters. Then you can react flexibly - especially if your SEO budget is limited. Hiring a new person can be very time-consuming and costly. You should therefore be sure that you want to do SEO in the long term.

SEO agencies, which are specialized in doctors, can provide a successful start. When you are sure where the journey is going, you don't have to completely choose between inhouse and agency SEO. Some practices work with an SEO agency at the beginning and search for inhouse SEOs at the same time. Once your inhouse team is in place, you can reduce your collaboration with the agency and call upon them in bottleneck situations or when you need external expertise.

What is local SEO for doctors?

If you want to successfully perform search engine optimization, you need to understand the search engines. SEO is not only about your homepage. You can orient your activities in social networks and on platforms as well as in newsletter marketing to your SEO goals and measures. Local SEO for doctors also plays a particularly large role.

Every study proves that on average we spend more than 3 hours a day on our cell phones. Corona has even reinforced this trend. You can see: The potential to get new patients through the internet - i.e., SEO measures - is high. No matter what question comes up, most people ask Google.

What you see on your cell phone when you search Google for a solution are the so-called mobile SERPs. The mobile search results not only look different from the desktop results, they also work differently than the desktop applications: Some factors (e.g., the use of appropriate keywords) are the same, but local SEO also takes into account the time of the search and the location.

Search engines also differentiate between responsive and non-responsive websites. Therefore, websites and browsers need to be responsive or mobile-friendly. This means that websites must be legibly and user-friendly displayed on the phone for mobile phone users.

Anyone whose homepage is not mobile optimized automatically scores worse.

Google & Co. evaluate the mobile usability on the basis of readability, usable buttons, understandable content, and a clear navigation. With Google My Business , your patients can rate you online. These Google reviews are references for patients and search engines - and therefore of utmost importance. If your practice stands out in a positive way, you score better in the ranking.

For successful local SEO, you should create a Google My Business account, use directory entries in online directory portals, and build local backlinks.

What do you need to consider with SEO for doctors and how do you implement it?

1st phase: Market analysis and market research

To address the right patients, you need to position yourself. With a market analysis, you analyze your competitors in the market. Where do their strengths and weaknesses lie? You examine the positions of the competitors and where you stand yourself. In the course of the market research, you collect data about the development in the health sector or access an existing database.

2nd phase: Marketing goals

Your marketing goals could be "gaining new patients", "increasing your turnover", "increasing your reach", "strengthening your bond with patients" or "improving your image". It is important that you formulate your goals smart (specific, measurable, accepted, realistic and timed).

3rd phase: Marketing strategy and marketing plan

The first two steps provide the basis for your strategy and concept. Your marketing strategy and your marketing plan should fit exactly to your desired patients.

4th phase: SEO measures 

Search engine optimization is comprehensive. If you have the capacity and the budget to cover all areas, this is of course the most effective approach. Otherwise, you should focus on the areas with the biggest lever. Search engine optimization includes content SEO, technical SEO, link building, image SEO, video SEO, news SEO, mobile SEO and local SEO. You should check the effectiveness of your measures with regular SEO audits.

Source: Sineos

5th phase: SEO content 

One of the most important types of SEO is content SEO. You create content, such as SEO texts and media, that enrich (potential) patients. A proven measure in content SEO is the creation of blog articles and video tutorials, in which you prove your medical expertise, build a bond and trust to patients with personality and sympathy, and position yourself in your field of expertise. Tools for writing SEO texts can support you.

How to find out what your desired patients want from you

The analysis of a keyword research tells you what your patients are looking for. This way, you learn about the problems and questions that concern them. Now you can create content that precisely meets their needs, and you can offer your services to match.

You should take this into account when creating your content:

• Keyword usage: Use suitable keywords in headlines, URLs, meta data, and the text itself. But don't overdo it, keyword stuffing is punished by Google.
• Website structure: Keep it lean, user-friendly, and clear.
• Readability: Create simple and high-quality texts that patients understand when skimming and check them for duplicate content.
• Backlinks: Backlinks can be thought of like a recommendation, which makes you appear more trustworthy in the eyes of search engines. Use internal (sub-pages) and external (links from other websites) links.
• Short load times: If it takes too long until your page opens, readers jump off and instead find another suggestion from Google.
• Design: Design your content according to the taste of your desired patients and use high-quality media.
• Google algorithm: The keyword frequency and backlinks are not the only criteria that count for Google. Always inform yourself about the current Google algorithm.
• Speak the language of patients: You are professionals, that is heard and read. Use medical jargon in creating your content only where necessary. For one thing, your patients should be able to understand you, and for another, your choice of words needs to match their search terms.

6th phase: Performance analysis and process automation

If, for example, only the individual terms were taken into account in the keyword research, not the search intention, or if you do not provide the readers with the right information, the bounce rate can increase. Technical problems such as a long load time or broken links can also break contact with potential new patients. Therefore, the performance of your website must be permanently monitored and analyzed. With the best SEO analysis tools you can keep an eye on user behavior, keyword rankings and your visibility index.

What (free) tools are suitable for doctors SEO?

On OMR Reviews you will find many helpful SEO tools, which can support you in all aspects of SEO from A to Z. You can choose between free SEO tools and chargeable versions: from best keyword research tools like AnswerThePublic via SEO WordPress plugins like Yoast to SEO all-in-one tools like the Google Search Console. You can refine your selection with a filter by selecting SEO tools for small businesses, medium-sized businesses, or Enterprise SEO tools.

The verified user reviews will help you find the perfect SEO tools. These are currently the most popular SEO tools

• Seobility

• Sistrix

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider

• Google Search Console

• Ahrefs

• Semrush

• Google Trends

• Yoast

• SE Ranking

• Searchmetrics