In most cases, a patient begins their search for the best plastic surgeon in their area by searching online through Google. It is through the result page that they are able to narrow down their search to find the most credible and professional plastic surgery services nearby.
To even show up in the SERPs, the search engine algorithm considers several SEO relevant factors such as keywords, reviews, content, online presence, and more.
If you are new to the aspect of medical SEO or if you have just started to offer plastic surgery services, you need to equip your medical site to develop a strong online presence so patients can choose you when they need high-quality, credible plastic surgery services. To accomplish that, learning important SEO elements for a plastic surgery practice is essential.
What Does SEO Mean for Online Plastic Surgery Practices?
In today’s day and age, the first step a patient will take when they need plastic surgery services is to look up plastic surgeons and services near their area via Google search. Google has 91.42% market share, which means anything can be found on it.
If a patient is unable to see a medical service provider when they look up a medical service, they are unlikely to consider choosing it even if that service provider is local to them. If you already own a medical site and have just introduced plastic surgery services or if you are about to, knowing the right SEO elements to incorporate in your medical site is going to ensure that your plastic surgery services are what patients choose when they are seeking the best plastic surgeon in their area.
SEO for a plastic surgery practice means gaining patients by displaying its credibility and online reputation. Just to give you some insight to plastic surgery SEO, here are some common search terms on Google for plastic surgery services in USA in 2022:
Keyword: plastic surgeon near me
Volume: 61,958
Keyword: plastic surgery near me
Volume: 47,883
Keyword:cosmetic surgery near me
Volume: 8,600
Keyword: best plastic surgeon near me
Volume: 7,950
source: Word Tracker
You can show Google that your medical site is relevant to these terms by tailoring your site to rank for these keywords. By being diligent with what SEO practices you apply to your website, your services can be the top five in a SERP.
Seven Important Medical SEO Elements For Online Plastic Surgery Practices
Among most online medical practices, patients look for results and credibility when it comes to choosing online plastic surgery services. This is why the medical SEO strategy for a plastic surgery website leans more towards increasing the practice’s online presence to display its credibility. Here are the seven key SEO elements to include in a website for online plastic surgery practices:
1. Optimizing Website For Mobile View
In today’s time, for any online medical practice to gain patients, it must have a website optimized for mobile view and use. 60% of online searches take place via mobile. This is why a mobile-friendly plastic surgery website that loads quickly and is interactive is essential for patients wishing to learn more about your practice.
A mobile-optimized website is easy to access and navigate and has interactive buttons with links that can connect the patient to your practice by just tapping on them. Further, if your site is mobile-optimized, Google is more likely to rank it higher.
2. Updating Google My Business Profiles
Your Google My Business Profiles (GBPs) is where a patient will view your plastic surgery services, their results and reviews before actually visiting your website. If you haven’t already, setting up and updating your GBP will help your practice stand out from your competitors and ensure an increased online patient traffic rate on your website. It is important GBP your profile matches that information on your website and has photos of the results of your services
3. Managing Online Reputation
Proper online reputation management (ORM) can support your SEO strategy and bring in an influx of patients to your website. For plastic surgery SEO, ORM consists of managing patient reviews so that your practice’s online reputation keeps growing.
It is vital that you highlight the positive reviews and answer the negative ones left by unsatisfied patients by reaching out to them and solving the issue. You can also hire online reputation management services for doctors as well to have it done for you.
4. Ensuring That The NAP Is Consistent
For your practice, SEO is the bridge that patients can take to reach your services. Prospective patients can only choose your plastic surgery services if you provide them with your updated and correct practice name, address, and phone number (NAP) on your website and any other online channels.
If patients have to look for your NAP information, they are likely to get frustrated and quit considering your service. By ensuring that your NAP information is consistent across all the online platforms you use for marketing and is easy to view, Google will regard your practice to have a strong online presence and will rank it higher.
5. High-Quality Link Building
Another important aspect to improve your SEO is to place the links of the pages of your website to other authoritative and traffic-heavy websites in the field of plastic surgery. Link building aligns your website with Google’s algorithm and contributes to improving your ranking. You can reach out to other practices and plastic surgeons in your field and offer them a content collaboration that will direct the traffic on their websites to yours and vice versa.
6. Relevant And Engaging Content
You can’t just simply upload pictures of your plastic surgery services on your website and call it a day. Your patients look for more than that. To rise as a credible plastic surgery practice, you must post relevant, informative and engaging content about your services to attract patients. Aside from that, Google also loves high-quality content. By posting medical blogs, infographics, videos, and short Ebooks, you can help your website to rank for high-ranking keywords and increase your visibility.
7. Inserting Geographic References
Typically, patients seek plastic surgeons in their local area. You can improve your local SEO by frequently mentioning your location on your website. This can help Google pinpoint the location to your practice, allowing patients nearby to choose your services. When inserting geographic references, include your city, your neighbourhood, any major streets or highways near your office, or any other landmarks.
What Can An Effective Plastic Surgery SEO Strategy Do For Your Practice?
SEO is moldable. If you wish to use it to market your plastic surgery practice, you need to know how to shape it that way. As a plastic surgery practice, your prospective patients look for results and an authoritative online presence. You can shape your SEO strategy to gain online credibility and develop as an authority in your field.
An SEO strategy done right can earn you the highest ranks in the SERPs. Since so much is to consider when creating a SEO strategy for your plastic surgery practice, you can always opt for a medical marketing agency to help you acquire all the patients you need for you to grow.