Why Do Doctors Need SEO? – KISS PR

Doctors Information has almost moved online. People are no longer depending on their friends or neighbours to find or locate doctors around them. If someone want to know the details of doctors, to book an appointment or to consult a doctor; their go to place for answers are the search engines. Now a days search engines also deliver instantaneous results to almost every question people ask. Statistics show that between mobile and desktop searches, mobile searches are more likely to book an appointment. With people so quickly making appointments and decisions about which doctor to go to, it is not a matter of choice for doctors to move online.

A professional website for a doctor with appointment booking facility is the foundation of the digital presence. The process of turning digital presence into revenue happens with the help of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). It is important for Doctors to understand that Patients Google their doctors' information with the expectation of knowing more details of their practice and to read ample testimonials or reviews about the doctors and their practice.

The first step to SEO is keywords. Keyword is typically the word typed by the patient in the search bar of a search engine to find the best doctors around them. For example, if someone is looking for a skin doctor in Dallas, they would type in: dermatologist in Dallas, skin specialist in dallas, skin treatment in Dallas, Skin clinic in Dallas etc... Before you start your efforts on Website design and SEO, first you will have to choose the keywords that bring qualified traffic. Determining the most appropriate keyword for your speciality and incorporating it wisely in website content will enable the website in getting ranked. Once the keywords for your practice are finalised, you can then move on to making your website search engine friendly. Technically it is known as Onsite or Onpage SEO. Half the battle to Google's page 1 listing is won here.

Make sure the website is categorized well as per the topics and services provided.

Example: Typically a simple website for a doctor shall have the following pages

• Home
• About/ Profile page
• Services offered
• Gallery
• Success stories
• Testimonial
• Contact information
• Call-to-action (Book an appointment pop-up)

Web designers should be aware of the webmaster guidelines and SEO requirements while building the website. For instance, search engines highly value title tags. Hence, using a keyword in the title tag can go a long way for the website. Similarly, web designers should use finalised keywords on Meta tags and descriptions as part of the source code. Keywords can also be used in the page URL, for image descriptions and headlines. Adding keywords at the right places can greatly increase the chances of your website to rank it on Google Page 1.

Performing Google Local listings is the right step towards good foundation for Local SEO. Add your business listings to Google my Business. In case if it already listed with Google My Business then check whether it needs any optimization for further improvements and top rankings. It is also important to list your practice on major local directories– with your Name, Clinic name or Practice name along with location, contact information, working hours and specialities. This is because online directories tend to rank high on organic search results.

Info-graphics are also sometimes a missed opportunity for many doctors. Images on the website should be tagged correctly with the practice name or doctor's name or by a keyword. More often than not the source name is left attached to the image and the search engine terms it as unlabelled, losing out on an easy opportunity. A tagged photo has a much higher chance of connecting with the local listing and gives it more credibility in the local searches.