The ears of a medical practitioner are not trained to understand the terms of Search Engine Optimization. It is easy to become overwhelmed by all of the technical terminology and internet jargon involved in building a rank-worthy website. As the task of learning Latin medical terms in med school was achievable, so is understanding the technicalities of SEO.
Google uses 200 different ranking factors to gauge the content of every site available on the internet. Their algorithm is quite advanced and not easily misled. Obtaining even an elementary grasp of SEO basics can be helpful in boosting a site’s rating and web traffic. With this knowledge, medical professionals are not left to the mercy of an “SEO Expert” to market their practice. Here are a few tips to begin learning how to optimize site rankings and content.
Take time to choose relevant keywords.
Select key terms that individuals might use when seeking out medical or healthcare services and facilities. Compile a particular list and test them in Google’s Keyword Planner tool. It will show what terms produce higher traffic and which terms are not as searchable. If a term has over 10,000 monthly searches, then it is probably a good fit for medical site content. Once a list has been formed, it is important to incorporate the terms throughout the website’s various pages.
Learn to define metadata.
The chosen list of keywords should not only riddle the content of the site throughout, but it should also be present in the site’s metadata. Metadata is all of the HTML coding tags that exist between the open and closing code of a document. It sounds tricky, but it is not.
Most metadata will automatically generate through whatever site builder is being used, but there are a few other places to tune the use of metadata fine. Image descriptions, meta descriptions (150 character explanation of the webpage’s content), and header tags should all be manually inserted into the coding of a page.
Quality content is highly impactful.
The content of a website is of absolute importance. If the site is littered with valuable and relevant information about the practice, then prospective patients will be more likely to explore further.
Building a website blog is an excellent way to draw traffic to a site. Medical testimonials, the latest discoveries in a particular field of medicine, and helpful infographics will enrich the experience of the web page. Adding videos, interview clips, and other health care information will assure a more appropriate ranking in Google.
Inbound Backlinks spread the word.
First, it is helpful to understand the definition of a backlink. A backlink is a hyperlink on another site that links back to the developed site. The quality and quantity of backlinks directly affect a site’s “authority” rating. The higher the “authority” rating, the higher the site will rank on Google listings for the chosen keywords.
Originally posted on December 26, 2016 @ 3:34 pm