With the healthcare industry evolving, hospitals need to stay ahead of the curve to attract patients and remain competitive. A key method of achieving this is to optimize SEO strategies. Here, we’ve compiled our top 10 recommendations uniquely suited to the hospital industry.
1. Prioritize local SEO.
Local SEO is crucial to the hospital industry. Patients typically look for healthcare providers near them, making it essential to pop up in their local search results. Implementing local SEO practices like making sure your business name, address, and phone (NAP) information are consistent across all online platforms is deeply crucial for hospitals.
Setting a stronger footprint in your local community can be a game-changer, leading to increased patient bookings and overall growth.
2. Optimize for voice search.
Voice search is transforming how patients find healthcare providers. As more people are making use of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant for their searches, hospitals need to update their SEO tactics to reflect this trend.
Long-tail keywords often work best in this case due to their conversational nature, introducing more opportunities to capture voice search users.
3. Amplify with Podium Reviews.
Online reviews play a pivotal role in influencing patient decisions. With the Podium Reviews tool, hospitals can effortlessly manage their online reputation and develop a robust online presence.
This platform allows you to send automated review invites to patients after their visits, making it easier to accumulate positive reviews. More positive reviews will improve your hospital’s visibility and trustworthiness, crucially impacting your SEO results.
4. Streamline website navigation.
Hospital websites generally host vast amounts of information, making website navigation crucial. A well-structured site that allows easy navigation and quick access to essential information could significantly impact your site’s bounce rate, subsequently improving your SEO.
Making your site more user-friendly will encourage users to stay a little longer and even return, significantly boosting your search engine rankings.
5. Create quality healthcare content.
SEO and content marketing go hand-in-hand. By producing high-quality, informative articles on various healthcare topics, hospitals can cater to their potential patient’s queries and attract more traffic.
This strategy simultaneously positions you as a thought leader in the healthcare sector and ensures your visitors find the credible information they are looking for, enhancing their trust.
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6. Implement schema markup.
Schema markup gives search engines a better understanding of your site’s content, improving your appearance in SERPs. It is particularly beneficial for hospitals to provide critical information like emergency numbers, open hours, and location data conspicuously to potential patients.
Not just it improves the click-through rates, but also it aids in providing vital information to patients promptly.
7. Use medical keywords wisely.
Keywords specific to your services and location can drastically impact your online visibility. Integrate highly-searched, specific medical keywords onto your site to match with potential patient searches.
It’s also crucial to remember to not overwhelm your site with keywords. Instead, maintain keyword-rich, compelling content that adds real value to make users want to choose you over competitors.
8. Employ Google Business Profile.
A Google Business Profile listing is an outstanding tool for hospitals to expand their visibility on Google Search and Maps. Having an optimized, fully-fledged listing featuring photos, reviews, and vital information can improve your SEO significantly.
Ultimately, it makes your hospital more accessible and attractive to potential patients, allowing them to find and review your services with ease.
9. Optimize image alt text.
Many hospitals often overlook image optimization, but it contributes significantly to SEO. Ensure all images on your site are optimized with relevant keywords in their alt text, improving your site’s accessibility and making them visible in image search results.
Alt-text essentially is an opportunity to tell search engines what the content is about, eventually improving your SEO score.
10. Speed up your site.
In today’s fast-paced world, nobody likes a slow website – especially not search engines. Work to improve your website’s speed and performance, ensuring quick loading times for all pages and images.
Remember, a fast and responsive website makes a significant difference to the visitor experience and is likely to improve your search engine rankings.
Podium’s Role in Amplifying Hospital SEO Strategies
Podium, with its wide range of services, can drastically help hospitals reform their SEO strategies. From managing reviews to streamlined communication and payment methods, Podium serves as an all-in-one platform. With a focus on localizing your business, Podium can specifically enhance your local SEO performances, contributing to the overall visibility and reputation of your hospital. Get started with Podium to unlock the power of SEO for your hospital today.
