While many medical professionals tell their patients not to believe everything health-related on the Internet, ironically, many people use the Internet to find the best doctors and dentists near them. You wouldn’t catch anyone looking through a phone book or classified ads these days—not when you can easily use search engines.
That’s why improving local Orange County SEO is very important to doctors and dentists. It boosts your visibility, letting patients know that you’re a nearby option. You can add your contact information so customers can easily reach you no matter what avenue. You can list down your services, so customers know what they want and how much to pay even before paying a visit! Local SEO is just super convenient and is a great way of improving customer experience.
So, if you want more patients walking through that door, let’s take a look at some strategies listed by Orange County SEO experts to help you boost your local SEO.
Claim Your Google Business Profile
This is the first step to establishing your online presence. You can either create your own Google Business Profile (GBP) or claim one if Google automatically made one for you.
When prospective patients look you up on the Internet, your Google Business Profile (GBP) will be the first thing they see, so make it count by adding as much information about your practice as possible. Add in your physical address, contact information, and services offered at the very least, and try to add an appointment booking link as much as possible.
Research Your Keywords
Of course, one of the best ways to improve your local SEO is to use the right keywords. This makes it easier for search engines to pull you up when people are looking for services you offer. However, you need to take it one step further by adding in the locations you service to better your chances of being seen by the locals (e.g., neurologist near me, plastic surgeon Orange County).
Besides your location, try to brainstorm other relevant words for your practice. For example, expounding on the ‘plastic surgeon Orange County’ keyword, you can also add ‘rhinoplasty Orange County, ‘boob job Orange County,’ and ‘Orange County liposuction.’
Use Google Posts
Google Posts are sort of like online bulletin boards. Here, you can post announcements, offer discounts and coupon codes, advertise services, and even chat with your patients. You can do this by posting either text or images and even adding a call-to-action button to your website!
Keep in mind that Google Posts have a maximum character limit of 1500, so try to keep your posts short and sweet. Denote your message within the first few sentences of your post and minimize the fluff text.
Additionally, you can only have up to seven or so posts at a time, which means you need to choose your messages carefully. If your post is out of season or no longer applicable to your business, it’s best to remove it. Outdatedness won’t do you or your business any favors.
Emphasize Your Health Protocols
Since the COVID-19 pandemic blew up, people want to know if establishments are taking extra precautions to protect their customers against the deadly virus, especially doctors’ and dentists’ offices! So, make sure to include every protocol you have. Some examples are mask requirements, temperature checks, all-vaccinated employees, and more.
Keep Up-to-Date Information
People use Google Business Profile to search for businesses’ contact details and addresses. That means that if any of your information is incorrect or outdated, then customers will be less likely to visit your business and may even leave a negative review. If you braved through hellacious traffic and exorbitantly high gas prices only to find out your destination was closed, wouldn’t you be mad too?
Create Local Landing Pages
Many website designers make the mistake of having a general landing page. This makes readers unsure about where your practice is actually located. After all, what’s the point of learning about a dentist that works halfway across the country from you?
Instead, add in your location keywords from the get-go on your main landing page. That way, your patients are led directly to you from the search engines. If you’ve got multiple locations, try and include all of them on your main landing page (e.g., providing dental services in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Lansing).
Additionally, have multiple landing pages depending on your location and optimize them according to your target audience. For example, if Detroit patients are more likely to inquire about braces, then advertise your services about braces on the Detroit landing page.
Gather Local Links
Backlinking, or having external websites link back to yours, increases your reputation with Google. While any link is great for your SEO, to improve your local visibility, you need to have backlinks from local websites. Then, Google will be more likely to recommend you to locals who search for your services.
There are plenty of ways to build local links:
- You can get listed on directories like Yelp and Bing Places.
- You can create helpful content that’ll be useful for medical students or health bloggers.
- You can donate to charities or provide scholarships.
- You can guest write for newspapers or journals.
There are so many things you can do!
Always Have Your Calls and Messages Open
The rise of the Internet means that people expect fast and prompt services. If they contact you and you don’t respond, they’re just going to move to the next business on the list. That’s why you need to have all lines open and have a knowledgeable representative on the helm who can answer all their questions and book appointments.
Get Reviewed
Did you know that many customers are encouraged by positive reviews and discouraged by negative reviews? Like word-of-mouth from their loved ones, reviews tell a customer if a business is worth interacting with or not. So, as much as possible, try to encourage customers to leave as many reviews as you can by making your review links available in places that are visible to them before they leave your clinic.
You also need to respond to reviews, whether positive or negative. It shows that you truly value your customers’ experiences, taking their criticisms to heart and using that to improve your business.
Lastly, you need to go through all your reviews and remove any personally identifiable information. With HIPAA in place, you need to make sure nobody else can figure out who your patients are and what type of procedures they got from you.
Conclusion
Local SEO will gain you more opportunities than ever before. Just remember to always be on the grind—always keep your business information updated, keep tabs on patients who interact with you, and optimize your content for the locals.
If you require SEO services in Orange County, please contact Drive Traffic Media at (949) 800-6990 to find out more.