Local Search Marketing in Healthcare – Nine Mistakes to Avoid

Category: Education

The article lists nine top local search marketing mistakes that healthcare websites need to avoid.  

Do you want to increase search visibility for your healthcare practice?

Google contributes a large percentage of traffic to many healthcare websites. Reports suggest that for doctor appointment bookings, about 57 percent of patients start by using online search. When patients are searching for a healthcare facility on Google, they genuinely mean business. Today, when prospective patients search for a healthcare facility, they try to search for one in their immediate locality. That means you need to rank for your local audience to generate appreciable traffic. Effective local SEO for doctors, hospitals, and health systems requires a complete understanding of the healthcare consumer’s needs and wants and Google's ever-changing algorithm. By investing in affordable local SEO services, healthcare practices can receive enhanced visibility on search engines and improve website traffic.

Here discussed are some top local seo marketing mistakes to avoid in healthcare –

• Keyword stuffing – Stuffing your page with excessive keywords is a common mistake that will do more harm than good. In its place, it is important to maintain optimal keyword density. Even though there is no exact number for proper keyword density, a minimum of 2 percent is considered the best practice. 
• Unlocalized keyword targets – Creating a ranking for “best hospital” would be good, this keyword phrase isn't specific enough to help a business rank well on Google's search engine results page (SERP). Instead, use more specific keywords like "rheumatologist near Irvine, CA," or "rheumatologist near me." For "near me" searches, Google uses the searcher's present location to check whether it is delivering relevant results.
• No Google Business Profile (GBP) listing–Google Business Profile (GBP) listing is one of the best forms of local SEO available today. Reports suggest that only 17.5 percent of businesses create GBP posts every week. This means your business has a tremendous opportunity to move into the local pack just by posting. Google Posts (a feature within GBP) engage customers, motivate conversation, and direct traffic from your Google Business Profile to your website, thereby boosting the SEO scores in the long run. 
• No patient reviews – The quality of patient reviews on Google can be regarded as a prominent ranking factor for local search marketing. Hospitals, multi-location practices, and individual physician listings that include customer reviews receive more clicks. To improve online review ratings, it is important to train your front office staff to ask patients to share their positive experiences immediately following their appointment. Never ignore negative reviews. Instead, recognize the review, show gratitude and tell them how your website is improving. Additionally, healthcare professionals must maintain HIPAA compliance while responding to reviews by not revealing any protected health information (PHI).
• Posting poor quality content - Accurate, reliable, and relevant content is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. The content posted must clearly communicate your message, educate readers, and persuade them to avail healthcare services over the competitors. Nowadays, healthcare consumers look for content that involves more than just your service pages and blog posts. The website should offer informative local directory profiles, and educational content on their social media and blog.
• Inconsistent NAPW data - Business websites that provide complete and accurate contact information on their website are easily found in local searches. That is why it is important to include your website name, address, phone number, and website (NAPW) information in a consistent manner everywhere your brand appears online. Including accurate contact information on the website helps potential customers find your business, and helps it rank higher in search results. It is estimated that about 46 percent of all Google searches have local intent. If your website or directory listings do not include accurate NAP information, or if it's inconsistent across these different platforms, there are chances that potential patients will seek other healthcare websites. 
• Website not optimized for mobile - Healthcare organizations that aren't optimizing their web properties for mobile devices will lose business. It is important to clearly understand which devices your potential visitors use regularly and optimize for those formats. However, it is also important to understand that slow page load times and poor site performance can also affect conversions and revenue on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device.
• No directory profiles – Though Google Business Profile has certainly taken center stage for directory listings, submitting your business information to other popular local and niche directories (e.g. Vitals, Healthgrades, etc.) should also be considered. Complete and accurate directory profiles help amplify your business' visibility by allowing users to locate vital information easily.
• Poor local search analytics - Tracking at the local level is an important aspect that help check whether online content meets patient expectations and your local SEO strategy matches their search intent. Prospective patients will always drill down into larger sites to locate and research the particular services, physician, or specialist they need. Tracking the clickthroughs, reviews and form submissions that originate from local SEO efforts can help quickly identify areas in need of improvement. 

Local SEO is essential for healthcare practices planning to increase brand exposure and local search awareness. Optimizing your local SEO tactics will deliver a larger, more engaged audience ready to convert. A professional healthcare digital marketing agency can provide value-added local SEO strategies that help attract more local patients from Google and other search engines.