Medical Practice SEO Tips

Medical practices are in a unique position when it comes to marketing the services they provide because they must comply with HPCSA guidelines. These guidelines limit the way medical practices can market and advertise – especially when it comes to digital marketing.

Digital marketing – like medical practice SEO and social media marketing – has however become critical for the success of a medical practice. More and more potential patients are turning to the internet to find medical information, search for practitioners to meet their needs, and book appointments.

A medical practice that has little to no digital presence will be losing out on these potential patients. Three tips for increasing the online visibility of a medical practice and to rank higher on search engine results pages include:

1. Content Marketing

Content lies at the heart of any successful SEO marketing campaign. Existing content needs to be optimized and new content should be added regularly. Content must be unique, of a high quality, and add value to visitors in order to make the greatest positive impact on a search engine ranking. The latest research shows that internet users also prefer content that is short and packed full of information.

2. Social Media

Word-of-mouth has always been the most successful marketing tool and social media has provided a platform where information can be shared on the largest scale ever. Social media pages should be linked to the website and new content as well as other information shared between the two.

It is also critical to monitor and manage social media pages and respond to comments, compliments, and complaints. It is also possible to advertise on social media platforms in order to increase the reach of the practice to attract new patients. Make sure to read and adhere to the HPCSA guidelines regarding social media marketing and medical practice SEO.

3. Link Building

Links form an important part of SEO campaigns. Think of links to other websites as the roads that search engine bots (called spiders) travel to find webpages so that they can be indexed according to relevance. Without links, a website is less visible and won’t appear high up on a search engine results page. Links should always be to authority sites and be relevant to the medical practice to have the greatest impact. Be careful when linking pages internally on the same website. This can have a negative effect on a search engine ranking if the links are over-used or not relevant.