SEO and Inbound Link Building Strategies For The Medical Practice
Links to your website imply importance and improve SEO performance better than anything else. A website that has a link to it that says Sarasota cosmetic surgeon tells Google a lot of things. It tells Google this site is important enough to warrant a link and is most likely a cosmetic surgeon in Sarasota. A link to your site is third party credentialing, its a vote of importance in many ways. So, how do you get links for your website?
Directories
If a directory is doing great in your market, under your keywords, that you want to be found under, that has a lot of value. If you see a directory coming up in your matrix of local searches you might as well get involved. In terms of a reasonable strategy for building links getting in strong directories is like picking the low hanging fruit... its easy to do, has immediate benefit, and has the benefit of the directory sending patients to your site. People are really looking to build respectable links into their sites and directories do this immediately.
Legitimate news
Respected information resources have huge value, theyre some of the most valued sites out there. So if you can get a legitimate link from CNN or from a local news source, its going to help you to catapult to the top of the search listings. We find that the most successful practices we work with think about their business in terms of news and events. Theyre always having seminars. Theyre always doing things in the community, its the spring event, its a pricing event. Think about your business in terms of timelines and events, it makes it much easier to write about and it makes it much more prone to be picked up by news sources. It also lends itself to social media and gives you things to talk about as you disseminate your message and get your story out there. Time sensitive events really play well on the major news sites.
Technology
When you buy a new piece of technology for your practice it tends to come along with some marketing and web presence. From LASIK lasers to CERAC machines - the medical device and technology companies around your practice can get you some trusted and targeted links. They also tend to have old respected websites that catalog well. Part of your negotiation process with your vendors should include getting inbound links for your website. Be aware of the technology that you have at your office, its a very effective way to build links into your website, to get you more traffic and to really catapult you up to the top of the search engines.
Associations and Memberships
These have a lot of value on the search engines. If you are a dermatologist and you dont have a link in the American Academy Of Dermatology website that says your name, your geography and links to your site, thats a mistake. What better way to tell Google what you are doing and what you are all about then a link in the respected association website? If you are going to these meetings, and you are paying your dues, you need to make sure you pursue any kind of link and linking strategy through these websites, even to the point of providing articles and providing feedback on the forums. There is a lot of great inbound traffic for your website and respectable inbound links to be garnered just by being active on these association pages. Its a really nice way to get out there.
Industry Publications
If youre featured in Eye World or Dental Economics, you need to make sure they are linking your website because it has a huge value in terms of link building. Most search engine optimization companies arent going to have great access to these industry level pubs... but you might. If you can get 3 or 4 good inbound links from respected publications, youll would be amazed at how quickly that can get you to the top of the search engines. Conversely, a ton of junk links, or a link campaign thats not in your vertical doesnt have a big effect at all, or it has a net detrimental effect.
Local Networks
Social media and broad based publishing technology has created and explosion of local sites, some of which have a lot of clout on the search engines. What better way to tell Google youre a Albany plastic surgeon then be listed in the Albany chamber of commerce website? If you are a member of something, if you seek out thought leaders in your area, you can find some very targeted links to your site. These links are geographically targeted and also specialty targeted. Local networks tell Google a lot about where you are and what you do. Womens organizations, chambers of commerce, anything thats has an online local element, can be a great way to expand your profile.
YouTube
Some videos get watched millions of times more than the original website gets visited. A trafficked video can be extremely powerful on the search engines. Videos also display extremely well in the search results themselves. If youre wondering, how do I occupy more spaces on the front page of Google? video is clearly a great way to do it. Frankly, If you wanted to learn how to dance, its much easier to watch a video of it than read a story about it, and thats true of e-learning right across the board. People an search engines love video content.
