Many medical group practices know that they need to invest in local search engine optimization (SEO), but most have no idea what local search is about. We have clients who start their online marketing program wishing to rank #1 in New York City, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles even though they are physically located in Cleveland. Educating potential clients about how local SEO works is something we do everyday.
In Google’s eyes, your medical practice is like a restaurant
Do a quick Google search for “restaurant”. Don’t include a city or town in your search. You will see local search results based on your current geographic location. Now do that same search from home. Google will display a completely different set of search results. Why?
Basically Google knows that certain searches are always conducted around types of businesses that users expect or need to be local.
Doctors, lawyers, pizza delivery and car dealers fall into this category. They are all included in Google’s “local” business type. Bottom line – local search is different as Google will treat your information differently when users are searching for doctors.
Standing out in local search results
If you are like most small medical or dental groups, you probably have a simple templated website. To effectively stand out from your competition, you may need a better website that is optimized for mobile and includes unique and useful content that demonstrates that you are an authority or expert in your field. Adding convenient tools to your website such as secure online appointment request, patient intake forms or online bill pay demonstrates that you care about patient satisfaction and practice efficiency.
Bottom line – if the food in your restaurant is more unique and delicious, then customers will always eat at your restaurant. It’s that simple.
Practis is here to help
Contact Practis today to help with custom website design, content generation and online marketing for better local search results.
