Search engine optimization, or SEO, is your greatest asset when it comes to healthcare marketing. In this process, your website’s technical configuration, content relevance, and link popularity are optimized. The result of this is your website increases in visibility, ranks better in search engines, and becomes more popular in user searches.
This is what basic SEO is but delving deeper into the concept we get something known as local SEO which is SEO on a more local scale. It is the strategy used to help your brand become more visible in local search results. This guide aims to further explain local SEO and how your brand can use it to get more people to check out your brand and website.
NewGen is a team dedicated to fulfilling all your healthcare marketing needs. We understand concepts such as SEO and local SEO to exponentially grow your brand as well as several other healthcare marketing strategies.
Local SEO Simplified
The concept of local SEO in itself is not as complicated as one may assume. The complications come in applying the concept to your marketing strategy in an effective way. Doing so, however, can have many benefits to your brand in terms of growth, patient acquisition, and overall visibility.
Local SEO requires an entirely different approach than normal SEO. This is because both work differently and yield different results in terms of search engine results. Take the following into account. If you are in one area of your city and search for the phrase “doctor near me” you will get a set of specific results related to where you are located but these results will be entirely different if you search the same phrase in a different location. Local SEO as a marketing strategy is done so that within your local area, no matter the distance, your brand will always rank as one of the top results.
Why Local SEO Matters
It may come as a surprise but local SEO is a concept that has existed for years but was limited since most people only ever used desktops for searches. However, with the recent growth in mobile internet access, mobile search has grown with it. This snowball effect has made local SEO extremely important to healthcare brands.
Furthermore, healthcare trends of 2022 going into 2023 have also played a hand in increasing the relevance of local SEO. Our world is becoming more and more digitized due to the aftermath of Covid-19. Services such as telehealth have seen a drastic boom making strategies such as local SEO turn into a necessity for growing healthcare brands.
Local SEO in more ways than one is just as important as your basic SEO strategy. Consider the following. Your brand has a far reach in terms of visibility but those patients, although aware of your brand, may not be willing to visit your practice in person due to the distance. This is where local SEO makes itself relevant. Local SEO is as the name suggests local, meaning all the patients you wish to reach are within your area. These patients can go to your practice depending on their needs.
How to Start Using Local SEO
Now having a better understanding of local SEO, it is important to understand different ways you can effectively keep up with this strategy to yield the best results. The following are a few ways to manage local SEO:
Optimize for Google My Business.
Google My Business has become increasingly crucial to healthcare brands. This is because Google supports, verifies, and shares its content generously, making it a valuable tool for meeting Google’s needs.
Engage on social media and add posts to Google My Business.
Content shared on social media is something Google is constantly on the lookout for. Once you’ve established or updated your Google My Business page, share it on social media.
Ensure your name, address, and phone number are consistently online.
Be sure that finding your contact information is easy for your viewers.
Perform a local SEO audit.
Having the basics down is essential but don’t stop there. SEO is a constant process that is constantly adapting to new trends. Due to this, consider performing a comprehensive audit to keep track of your progress, making changes if necessary to achieve your goals.
Improve your internal linking structure.
Internal linking is important as it helps with:
- Providing navigation support for the website
- Helping with the hierarchy and information architecture of the website
- Ranking power and authority distribution among pages
Optimize URL, title tags, headers, meta description, and content.
Any new content you decide to post on your website, such as blogs, needs to be optimized for search engines. This can include high-volume keywords in the URL, title, header, meta description, and body. If you find yourself struggling to come up with geo-targeted content, consider posting patient success stories or case studies relevant to your local area.
Add location pages to your website.
If you happen to have more than one location where your healthcare services are offered consider adding location pages. These pages are specific to each location, providing information such as an address, phone number, store hours, unique store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and testimonials.
Create local content.
Establish your authority as the local authority for your industry through your blogs by promoting local industry events, news, and employees. Your brand needs top-of-the-funnel content that goes beyond what you sell.
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
Patients are more likely now to search for contact information, location directions, and reviews on your site when using it on their mobile devices so be sure your site translates well to mobile
Participate in your local community.
Participating in the local community will increase your digital PR. You can earn press, brand awareness, and inbound links by partnering with a nonprofit, hosting a volunteer event, sponsoring events, and appearing in the local media.
How NewGen Can Help
As a healthcare marketing agency, NewGen bridges the gap between patient experience and brand. We place a high priority on engaging with our customers and growing your brand. One of our many areas of expertise includes SEO and local SEO optimization. SEO and local SEO can be tricky but it is becoming too important of a tool to not use. We understand how to efficiently use both strategies to work together to ensure the growth of your brand. NewGen can help your brand reach your marketing goals, whether that be increasing new leads, revamping your website, or having a more active social media page, we’ve got you covered.
If you have any questions about NewGen and what we do, feel free to contact us!