Do you recall those giant paper phone directories that you kept at your bedside in case of a medical emergency? They are not so far in the past, yet we’re already using dedicated apps to check our blood sugar levels and consult experts in faraway nations with a single click. In 2022, providing excellent service in physical spaces is no longer enough; healthcare providers must also ensure smooth online experiences for their customers. This is where healthcare SEO comes into play.
Yet there are only a handful of medical facilities that understand the vitality of healthcare SEO for their medical practice. And those who do often find themselves discouraged amid a plethora of SEO agencies professing to be experts yet failing to deliver.
If you’re facing the same challenges, read on to learn how to master Google’s language to ensure a never-ending flow of clients, what to expect from SEO professionals, and much more.
Hospitals Without Walls
As healthcare increasingly shifts online, clumsy, innovation-resistant firms are losing ground to those that speak directly to patients and meet them where they are. To reach potential customers, healthcare providers must ensure that their website tops the list of Google’s search results for relevant terms. With organic search accounting for over 53.3% of all web traffic, SEO is a must-have tool for any firm looking to skyrocket client acquisition.
Because SEO can make or break your odds of success, be sure to invest enough time researching SEO professionals. A competent agency should oversee all three pillars of an effective SEO campaign:
- Technology: The technical underpinnings of a website, such as its URL structure, page load speed, XML sitemaps and other Core Web Vitals. An SEO agency’s technical expertise is vital as it ensures your site is easy to navigate for both Google and your audience. And take our word for it: both are strict judges!
- Relevance: The relevance of your content is the second factor in determining the success of your website. This means your trusted agency should oversee content architecture and management all the way from title tags and meta descriptions to copywriting and topical focus.
- Eclecticism: Last but not least, any seasoned SEO firm should be well-versed in a plethora of SEO-friendly marketing practices, allowing you to present your service in the best possible light across multiple platforms. Graphic design, digital marketing, keyword and market research are among the necessary competencies of forward-looking SEO firms that adopt a holistic approach to modern marketing.
By now, you should have a fair understanding of what to expect from a competent SEO firm. Yet none of this expertise will count unless you own a one-of-a-kind website that conveys a mastery of space, aesthetics and content to transport the user to the actual experience you’re offering.
Eye-Pleasing Web Design
The importance of a solid online presence in 2022 cannot be overstated. The healthcare industry has long trailed behind, but now it’s starting to catch up. With user-centric designs and stunning visuals, healthcare web design no longer resembles a static brochure.
Web design should not arise from thin air; it should be based on a thorough understanding of the nature of service it represents as well as the innermost fears and passions of your target audience. But it should also stem from a profound knowledge of human psychology, our brain’s relationship to visuals, and much more.
Some firms might produce great visuals yet upset Google with poor technical knowledge; others might earn you a top spot on Google yet lose clients due to uninspiring healthcare web design and poor content. When it comes to crafting a website for your medical practice, you cannot compromise on professionalism. Be sure to check out the agency’s previous work and client feedback to ensure no bolts from the blue appear when you start working together.
Health and human emotion are intimately bound. At ADVAN, we take time to ponder with you how visitors to your website should feel, drawing on our years-long expertise to build online experiences that are as engaging as they are functional.
Customer-Centric Content
It’s crucial that your website reflects your professional expertise, and there is no sharper weapon for this purpose than insightful words. In order for search engines to grasp what your site is all about and whether it is a good fit for what people are searching for, solid content is key.
Gone are the days when incompetent firms easily ranked banal content by “keyword stuffing” and similar tricks. Today, it’s no longer so simple to fool Google’s algorithms- the search engine giant is getting smarter. Poor content that does not speak directly to the customer can ruin your patient acquisition dreams; this is why you should carefully examine the quality of content offered by an SEO agency.
Don’t limit yourself to words; videos, for one, are excellent tools for distinguishing your medical practice from competitors. A video tour may transport clients to your medical facility and present available services; or else, you could invite doctors to answer trending questions via short live videos- an excellent way to engage consumers.
Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?
It is critical that neither search engines nor web users encounter any issues when visiting your website. A broken link may easily dissuade potential customers from staying on your page, and no search engine will pardon a weak URL architecture- even if your site contains excellent content. More so in this mobile-crazed era, when no one can imagine going a day without using their phone, it is critical to optimize your website for speed and intuitive navigation on both desktop and mobile.
The Way Forward: Know Whom To Trust
A solid healthcare SEO strategy is built on many pillars, including user-centric design, insightful content, robust digital marketing and technical optimization. Adopting a holistic approach is essential for bringing in new waves of clients and turning them into avid fans.
At ADVAN, we don’t react to industry trends; we anticipate them. Knowing SEO like the back of our hands, we delight in helping you grasp the innermost concerns and motives of your target audience. We design bespoke SEO strategies to suit your unique business needs, relying on years-long expertise and love-of-craft to drive a steady pipeline of organic leads. For maximum transparency, you always have full access to roadmaps, reports, and KPIs.
SEO fluff doesn’t fly with us. Contact ADVAN today to see how it can boost your medical practice in many ways.
