That’s basically all there is to it when it comes to the beginning of the patient journey: a “prospect” looks something up on Google using their smartphone. What is it exactly that they are looking for? It’s possible that they’re referring to a particular kind of plastic surgery performed in their location, such as a “Atlanta stomach tuck.” A “breast reduction surgeon in Pacific Beach,” for example, or perhaps they type in a more extensive query to gain more in-depth information about a particular operation they are considering (such as “how long does it take to recuperate from breast augmentation?”).
In either case, those patients are contemplating their choices, which likely include thinking about whom they will consult once they have made the decision to go ahead with a procedure. Because of this, if you want people to find your website when they begin searching for it, you need an effective search engine optimization, or SEO, approach.
Why SEO for Plastic Surgeons is gaining importance by the day
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the search result that they clicked on was related to your plastic surgery practice? If it was the page about your tummy tuck service on your website, or the information you provided on your blog about how to decide whether or not to get breast augmentation, which was it? It is not completely beyond the realm of possibility for plastic surgery practices to accomplish such outcomes. Having said that, it does call for an SEO strategy that is more all-encompassing.
When it comes to plastic surgeons, it would be an understatement to suggest that there is intense competition for real estate on the pages of search engine results (SERP). To further understand what I mean, launch Google and conduct a search for “plastic surgery Atlanta” (or the name of the city where you currently reside). You’ll see that the search engine results page (SERP) is cluttered with paid search advertisements, knowledge graphs, and response boxes from a wide variety of plastic doctors, some of whom specialize in the very same treatments that you do.
You can displace these competitors in a number different ways if you have a well-rounded SEO strategy, such as:
Get your content ranked in the top three search results for “high volume” keyword phrases, since this will increase the likelihood that qualified leads will be generated for your business. If each month 10,000 individuals search Google for “tummy tuck surgeon in Atlanta,” you will want to ensure that one of your URLs appears high up in the search results for at least one of those searches.
Increase the amount of people who are aware of your brand by growing the “share” of ranked keywords, top-three rankings, featured snippets, and so on that your practice has. You will start making progress in these areas as your SEO campaign gathers steam and acquires speed.
Increase the amount of visitors going to specific web pages and blog posts that have been optimized to collect leads (consultations, appointments, and so on). If you want to rank a page for the search term “stomach tuck surgeon in Atlanta,” you’ll want to enhance that page with information not just about your specific tummy tuck services but also about the surgical technique in general.
Acquire valuable backlinks that will improve the exposure of your brand and the authority of your domain. Google was built on the concept of links, and its Page Rank feature employs algorithms that assess your page ranking based on the quantity and quality of reliable connections that are currently pointing to your website. It all starts with content that is authoritative and a link-building strategy that is maintained over time.
How search engine optimization works and where to begin
Your SEO plan will likely involve a couple of key topics, which Search Engine Land categorizes as follows at the high level:
Structured data markup, site speed optimizations, and site security precautions are all part of the technical aspects of SEO.
The terms “web pages,” “subpages,” “blog posts,” and “content marketing assets” are all included in the term “content.”
On-Page consists of the page’s content, as well as its structure and layout, any embedded media, metadata, and links.
Listings, citations, and link building are often what people mean when they talk about off-page SEO.
Every one of these key categories focuses on a variety of different tactics, recommendations, and best practices. We are going to get right down to business and provide you with the most useful and applicable advice that you can put into practice right away to expand your plastic surgery practice.
1. Examine and Improve the Performance of Your Website
This is comparable in some ways to the X-rays and measurements of the gums that dentists perform on new patients. An SEO audit of your website will not only provide a baseline score for the various components of your site’s SEO strategy, but it will also highlight flaws, problems, and warnings that need to be addressed. This is one of the primary benefits of having an SEO audit performed on your website (broken links, for example, or missing Meta descriptions). The process of evaluating and optimizing a website incorporates elements of each of the focus areas described in the paragraphs that came before this one.
Where to put one’s attention
The following are the concerns that crop up the most frequently throughout this stage of the process:
Page speed. Pages that take a long time to load have a lower chance of ranking well. The good news is that there are a number of optimizations that, when implemented, can significantly enhance the speed of a website. Some examples of these optimizations include images that “lazy load” and the deactivation of problematic plugging.
Google Search now considers a website’s user experience (also known as UX) to be a significant ranking factor. The user experience (UX) of your site can be improved by optimizing the structure of the site and the URL, as well as the categories and tags, and by designing responsive pages.
Content that is out of date, redundant, and irrelevant. A major improvement in search engine optimization (SEO) can be achieved by combining redundant or abandoned pages, sorting through years’ worth of accumulated random blog entries, and then executing on-page SEO and cleanup on the pages that are retained.
2. Optimize Your Offerings for the Market That You Serve
The number of mobile searches using the phrase “near me” is growing. One of the most effective strategies to establish search equity is to make sure that each of your plastic surgery sites appears in one of the top three positions in the “Near Me” map provided by a search engine. According to Google’s 2019 Research Review, mobile searches for “shop open near me” have increased by more than 250% in the past two years. People who look for plastic surgery services using their smartphones are probably on the “warm side” of the prospective-patient spectrum.
When it comes to local search engine optimization, the first thing you should do is follow a simple rule of thumb: each of your physical locations should have its own unique digital “footprint.” Particularly in the field of plastic surgery, customers typically look for providers in their immediate area. Due to the high level of demand in the local market, Google and other search engines like to provide consumers with results that are specific to their locality (where appropriate).
A local search engine optimization checklist for cosmetic surgeons
This is an opportunity to “locally optimize” each of your locations for search engine optimization (SEO), and the following is a checklist that may be used for each of your cosmetic surgery facilities to do this:
Develop location pages that are optimized. You need to begin with detailed landing pages that are either city-specific or region-specific if you want patients to be able to find you in the local area. Landing pages for locations are individual destinations on your primary website that are dedicated to a single geographical area (such a city or state), and each page has its own unique URL. Write at least 500 words of original, high-quality material for each page, and include local keywords, physician biographies, a list of services given, location-specific photographs, and an integrated map.
Create a portfolio of local backlinks and citations to increase your site’s authority. Maintain a presence of links that go back to your content in the periodicals, websites, and other digital places that are specific to your industry. In addition, make sure that your listings on the healthcare networks and insurance groups that you are a part of, as well as the relevant business directories (such as Yelp, Health grades, Zocdoc, Vitals, RateMDs, RealPatientRatings, and RealSelf, to name a few) are up to date. For more information and advice, you can read our guide to link-building.
Keep your Google My Business profile up to date and active (GMB listing). Google My Business (GMB) ought to be treated with the same degree of importance as your website. Not only does GMB have an impact on page rankings, but it’s also typically the first thing that prospective patients see when they do a search on their computer. Think of GMB as your virtual front door to expose patients to what they may anticipate from their patient experience with your provider. GMB can help patients understand what they can look forward to. From that point on, customers are able to make direct contact with you, confirm your location and business hours, or visit your website. Finish your GMB listing and be sure to keep it up to date by adding images of your practice, staff, and other useful information, as well as a virtual tour and frequently asked questions.
Create a system that rewards review submissions. Google incorporates user ratings and comments into its algorithm to determine search results. The challenge is to consistently obtain reviews from patients (and to respond to those reviews). Among the list of review sites that fall under this category are Yelp, Google, and Facebook Business. Consider making use of a platform that encourages reviews such as BirdEye, Podium, or TrustPilot to take care of everything for you.
3. Make sure the content you produce is what your audience is looking for.
You can put yourself in the position of your patients in two different ways: first, you can conduct an audit of the entire patient journey from the patient’s point of view; second, you can look at the engagement and search data from your website to see what kinds of content people look for and click on. From that point on, you will have access to the information and analytics you require in order to construct rich content based on the queries that your patients need answered.
How you may produce information that is valuable in the field of plastic surgery
Everything hinges on the mentality of the people who might become your patients. For instance, you might find that many of the prospects at the “head of the funnel” are still in the phase of exploration; they are unsure whether or not they actually want to get that nose job, body sculpting, or liposuction at all. The content that you develop for this particular persona should include a lot of precise information regarding the benefits of each procedure as well as the finer points of those procedures.
Take, for instance:
A subsection that offers a comprehensive summary of a certain operation (/nasal-surgery).
5–10 blog entries, each of which is devoted to a more particular issue within a given procedural area (for example, “Long-term repercussions of nose surgery”).
eBooks, white papers, and infographics that have been polished, have undergone extensive study, and go into further depth on a “pillar” issue (for example, “Guide to Evaluating Plastic Surgeons” or “An Introduction to Hair Replacement Surgery”)
A specialized FAQ for each of the procedures.
Producing content that is varied while being laser-focused on all of your target keywords should be your primary objective at this stage. A blog post with the headline “The benefits of plastic surgery” that summarizes all of your services in a few short paragraphs is not going to generate a lot of traffic or results for your business. It is in your best interest to produce numerous pieces, each of which provides a more in-depth examination of one of your specific services (“the risks and benefits of obtaining a nose operation,” “How a brow lift can affect your overall appearance,” etc.).
Boost your search engine optimization by writing fresh articles on plastic surgery.
There is no limit to the different kinds of content that you can make using this platform in order to target specific keywords. The term “nose job” by itself may be the subject of dozens or even hundreds of blog entries, each of which would concentrate on a different facet of the information that a potential patient for a nose operation searches for online. Because of their hyper-specific nature, these postings will have a high page rank for prospective customers who conduct service-related searches using long-tail keywords. These individuals have a far higher probability of being qualified prospects, particularly if they have an interest in one of your particular positions.
The main takeaway here is that plastic surgeons may capitalize on the benefits of SEO by creating value for their patients.
If enhancing the search engine optimization (SEO) of your plastic surgery locations in 2021 is a priority for your business, the three focus areas that we have investigated are excellent places to start. Consider the following your “fast start guide” to search engine optimization (SEO) for plastic surgeons. This guidance is based on a generally applicable principle:
ALWAYS CREATE VALUE FOR PEOPLE AND SEARCH ENGINES.
People and algorithms will have an easier time finding, organizing, and comprehending your website if you audit and optimize it first. This will also ensure that your website loads quickly and does not contain any material that is out of current or irrelevant. You are able to connect with people who are looking for trustworthy plastic surgeons in their area if you optimize your website for each geographic location. In addition, by producing high-quality content, you can educate both your present and potential patients on the many plastic surgery services you offer, thereby assisting them in making an intelligent and well-informed choice.
In other words, you should consider your online presence to be the same as one of your patient consultation rooms. Maintain a welcoming, tidy, and well-organized space. After all, it’s possible that your patients will interact with your practice for the very first time on your website or through one of your other digital channels.
