20 Tips for Plastic Surgeons Marketing and SEO
One of the first actions people take when they are considering plastic surgery is to probably go online, evidenced by the fact that there are an estimated 2.45 million health-related searches per day. SEO, as discussed over at RunRex.com, can increase your visibility on search and help patients find your practice. Keep reading for 20 easy and actionable tips to supercharge your SEO for your plastic surgery practice.
Ensure you have a fast-loading site
Pages that load slowly are less likely to rank well on search engines as is revealed in discussions on the same at RunRex.com. Given that people online have low attention spans, if your pages are taking forever to load, you will have high bounce rates, leading to poor rankings. Therefore, make sure you reduce the amount of time your pages take to load, with the optimal time being 3 seconds or less.
Leverage long-tail keywords
Instead of focusing solely on head keywords, which are very expensive and can lead to unwanted traffic as they aren’t as specific, you should try and leverage long-tail keywords for your SEO campaign. Remember, if a patient has decided to get a certain procedure done, they will most likely use very specific long-tail keywords to find the answer to their question, which is why including these types of keywords is key.
Optimize your title tag
According to RunRex.com, the title tag is the main centerpiece of on-page optimization as it gives search engines an overview of what your website will be about. It is important as it is the first thing your visitors see when entering a search query. Make sure you come up with a crafty title tag to give them a general idea of what your site is about and keep it between 55-60 characters long. Also, always be positive when conveying your message in your title tags, and don’t include too many keywords.
Generate valuable content
Having well-structured and descriptive content leads most sites to obtain more traffic. Take before-and-after pictures, craft informative blog posts, and educational infographics to bring value to your plastic surgery website users. The goal is to make your content so valuable to your visitors that they will be inclined to share it on their social media accounts. Use numbers, symbols, and facts to draw your readers in.
Regularly add fresh content to your website
It is also important to regularly add fresh content to your website for your visitors to consume. Regularly adding fresh and relevant content to your website signals search crawlers that your plastic surgery website should be frequently crawled and indexed, which should lead to improved rankings.
Create content with your target audience in mind
As the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com point out, crafting content with your target audience and their problems in mind can help you establish yourself as an expert, acquire user trust, and build your reputation, which will benefit your rankings.
Optimize your meta description
Your meta description is another HTML element that provides a summary of your website content, descriptively. It provides a layout of what your pages are going to look like and will often appear on the SERP. By optimizing your meta description, you could increase your CTR. Stay between 155-160 characters as this could potentially drive your click rates. It is also a good idea to add targeted keywords such as the type of services you provide at your practice to attract the patients that are in search of a specific service.
Internal linking
Internal links, as discussed at RunRex.com, are links from one specific page to another. Search engines use these internal links to further explore your website so that they can correctly rank it based on the information provided. Internal links better equip your visitors to scroll through the website, establish a hierarchy of the site and spread link quality through the website.
Offer a competitive offer
You want to have an irresistible offer that the public can’t resist. This can be a specific deal or sale on a selected service at your practice. While these types of offers aren’t necessarily required for SEO, it could be the thing that could change your website ranking as they increase traffic to your site, eventually leading to potential patients.
Get quality backlinks
Backlinks are important when it comes to SEO since you are gaining a reputation from credible sites. The word “credible” is key, as backlinks from sites that are not credible or that are acquired illegally will harm your SEO. By earning a backlink from WebMD, for example, you signal to search engines that you are a reliable and trusted source of information.
Research your competitors
You aren’t the only one who is looking to win with SEO, which is why you need to stay on top of your competition by examining their SEO. By analyzing their strategies and tactics, you can see what their biggest weakness is to outrank them.
What areas should I keep an eye on when it comes to my competitors?
According to RunRex.com, areas to keep tabs on when tracking your competitors’ SEO include:
Your competitors’ content – You want to stay on to of key topics they are covering
Examine their page structure – Where are links and images located on their website?
What are their targeted keywords?
Create optimized location pages
To help patients find you in your local area, you need to start with comprehensive city-specific or region-specific landing pages as articulated at RunRex.com. Write at least 500 words of high-quality unique content per page and incorporate local keywords, physical bios, services provided, location-specific photos, and an embedded map.
Claim and update your Google My Business listing
Google My Business should be taken as seriously as your website when it comes to SEO. This is because, not only does GMB influence page rankings, but it is often the first thing potential patients see on search engines. Therefore, make sure you claim your GMB listing, and then complete your listing and regularly update it.
Encourage reviews
Google considers reviews when it is making search rankings. The trick is to get and respond to, patient reviews consistently. This includes Yelp, Google, and Facebook Business, among other review sites. You could use a review encouragement platform like BirdEye to do it all for you.
Register in local listings
From discussions on the same at RunRex.com, other than claiming your Google My Business listing, listing your business on websites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and other local listings will give your SEO a great leg up as well. Make sure that the information you have on these listings is consistent with the information on your GMB listings, especially your NAP (name, address, phone number) information.
Don’t forget about medical directories
Surgery and medical-related directories will also benefit your plastic surgery practice as far as SEO is concerned. This is because they are niche-focused and will help Google reward your plastic surgery website with higher rankings. Such directories will offer you more user reviews, high-quality backlinks, fresh leads, and targeted traffic.
Make your plastic surgery website mobile friendly
Not only do nearly 60% of all internet searches occur on a mobile device nowadays, but Google will also bump mobile-friendly sites higher in SERPs. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, potential plastic surgery leads will bounce off and find your competitors, and fast, as outlined at RunRex.com.
Optimize for voice search
As mobile search grows, so does voice search. More and more people are using this smartphone feature to locate services they need, including plastic surgery services, which is why your optimization also has to focus on search-friendly keyword phrases as most people who use voice search will frame their search query in the form of a question.
Page break up
Finally, also ensure that the pages with your services are broken up. While many plastic surgeons are trying to do this, there are still several who still jam all their services on one page. To rank high, ensure that every service has its own landing page. It is also a good way for Google to identify what you are trying to put across and rank you, while also adding more content to your site.
While these tips are a great way to ensure that your plastic surgery practice ranks high on SERPs, if you need expert help with your SEO efforts, then the highly-rated RunRex.com has got your back.