You become a visible source of credible medical knowledge
Your old and existing patients know where to find you
You don’t need a giant Google Ads budget
These apply to every single medical practice. However, whether SEO benefits your practice comes down to a few factors:
Pick the right SEO strategy
First, understand your clinic setup. If you are a new dental or GP clinic that serves your local neighbourhood, focus on GMB SEO. GMB SEO is proximity-based and appearing in your target catchment area is most valuable.
If you are a cardio-thoracic surgeon, patients are likely to research their conditions thoroughly. You’ll want to focus your SEO on conditions and treatments instead. Find the right keywords and build quality content.
Are you a specialist based in Mount Elizabeth? Bahasa SEO can benefit you.
Our experience in this will help you save months and thousands of dollars on ineffective SEO.
Original, quality content
No AI content. Google has the most developed AI. They know when your content is artificially generated. They will NOT rank AI-generated content on Google search.
Great content should feature:
Localised context
Citations from credible sources (eg. Pubmed, Nature, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic)
Good reading flow
Originality
Well-researched, well-written content also makes prospective patients see you in the right light. You become a source of reliable medical information to patients and that gives them confidence in your ability to offer the best medical care.
All our content is written only by human minds and typed by human hands.
SEO for the right things
Naturally, we want to capture and rank for all “money-making” keywords. But what exactly are these fabled keywords?
Many keywords correspond to your sub-spec but their associated keywords aren’t always the right pick for SEO. This is why some doctors are on the first page for certain keywords but don’t actually receive many enquiries.
Search volume isn’t the best indicator of a keyword’s value. Real experience is.
Many agencies would ask you “Hi Doctor, what would you like to SEO for?”
For us, it is “Hi Doctor, we strongly recommend doing SEO for these because they are proven to generate enquiries”
Why not skip SEO and do Google Ads instead?
Google Ads and SEO often work best together. They help cover each other’s blind spots.
For example, some patients want to see a doctor ASAP for an acute non-threatening condition (wisdom tooth, ingrained toenail). They want immediate treatment but their condition isn’t serious enough to warrant 3 weeks of online research. These people respond to Google Ads better.
Some are considering a vasectomy. They want to research more about it first. SEO does better here because these patients may not seek immediate treatment.
Some patients simply ignore all sponsored medical results because they only believe in organic search results. SEO helps to capture this segment too.
But SEO takes time!
It does but results are also long-lasting. Once your site starts ranking well, it stays there for a significant time, often for many years.
It also means competitors will take time before they catch up to you.
But SEO is expensive!
SEO is among the most cost-efficient forms of medical marketing. Once you rank high on the first page for the right keywords and niches, you literally save tens of thousands of dollars from Google Ads or Social Media Ads.
It just takes time and that’s why it is well complemented by Google Ads that offer immediate returns.
I want to invest sensibly in SEO and learn how it can benefit my practice.
We are excited to share more with you. Please get in touch with us at consult@healthmark.sg. We look forward to sharing more details. Thank you.
FAQ
How important is SEO for clinics?
Every clinic should invest in SEO. It has increasing returns and is not that highly dependent on budget. Some patients do not respond to ads and will only contact doctors they find organically on Google.
Am I late to the SEO game?
It’s never too late to start medical SEO. SEO is like investing in S&P 500 - the sooner you start, the better. The good news is that Google shuffles ranks based on its algorithm often so no one is guaranteed to stay on top forever.
How long does SEO take?
This varies greatly. Getting your page onto page 1 depends on a variety of factors such as domain age, domain strength, keyword competition and most importantly, Google’s algorithm. A reasonable ballpark figure can only be determined through an analysis of your website. The fastest we have achieved top ranks for were in the 5th month.
Can I pay more to speed up SEO?
Not at the start. Brand new sites need time to build trust flow with Google. Rushing high authority backlinks in the first few months is only going to punish your SEO in the long run. The focus should be to develop site content and gradual backlinks. The goal is to rank high and stay there.
Will I need to continue SEO even after I achieve top ranks?
Being at the top of Google’s SERPs is not a permanent position. Competition for SEO is extremely high for many medical niches. Google’s algorithms are updated frequently and it takes a lot of resources in order to maintain strong rankings. Reducing SEO efforts opens the door for other clinics to leapfrog you in the rankings.
Why is original medical content so important?
Information on the internet is so accessible nowadays that having well-written, original and educational content on your website helps to build authoritativeness and allows you to display medical expertise when compared to a website without a doctor at the helm.
