Whether you are a provider of optometry services or a practitioner, you need a strong web presence to market your products and services. With optometry search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, you can rule over your competition and show everyone that you are the best.
Using the latest optometry SEO strategies, you can promote your healthcare brand and offer the best eye care to your patients. This guide focuses on the what, why, and how of optometry SEO.
What Is Optometry SEO?
Optometry SEO is a digital marketing technique that helps your eye care website stand out from search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO helps improve your reputation and promotes credibility. When your website lands at the top of the SERPs, expect more people to visit it and more patients to call your local clinic to make an appointment.
SEO is more than just a set of tactics. It is a process that takes time and effort to complete. Digital Authority Partners says that optometry SEO needs careful planning and work and that there are three main types.
- On-Page SEO is an optimization strategy focused on on-site elements such as your webpage content, title tags, headings, internal links, etc.
- Off-Page SEO is an optimization strategy performed beyond your website. Examples of off-page SEO are your social media posts, link-building efforts, directory listings, and brand mentions.
- Technical SEO entails search engine indexing and bot crawling to boost site rankings. Some techniques involved are improving site speed, removing duplicate content, adding structured data markups, and using XML sitemaps.
A good SEO company will use on-page, off-page, and technical strategies to improve your optometry website. An expert follows digital healthcare marketing trends to develop your strategy.
Why Use Optometry SEO?
Optometry SEO improves your digital marketing. In fact, 75% of polled US marketers said they had spent money on optimization strategies to improve their digital marketing.
SEO can help your website work better, but there are other reasons why your optometry business should use SEO.
- Gain more visitors with SEO. A well-optimized website reaches the top of SERPS. Patients tend to open pages in these positions because they consider them most reliable. SEO lets you gain more site traffic, and eventually, more foot traffic.
- Improves user experience (UX). Good optimization practices ensure that your content is valuable, reliable, and updated. It has a UX-centric design, quick-loading pages, and easy maneuverability. Better and efficient UX leads to better SERP ranking.
- Promotes user trust. People trust the top results on SERP’s first page. So having your optometry website at this level engenders trust in your services, products, and brand.
- Get ahead in the competition. As we already said, better UX and stronger user trust helps you rank higher in the SERP. Your higher ranking indicates you are winning. So the higher you go in the SERP, the better.
Techniques to Use Optometry SEO to Promote Your Website
Using optometry SEO for your practice website is similar to optimizing any other website. It starts with keyword and competitor research to help create better and more engaging site content. Marketers have timeless SEO strategies, and the following are among the top picks.
Utilize Relevant Medical Keywords
The heart of SEO is using the right keywords. Use relevant optometry keywords to create content that targets your patients. Refer to the optometry services you offer for ideas because this is what your patients will be searching for.
Here are some ways to help you improve your optometry sites, from researching keywords to putting them to use.
- Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords.
- Try keyword variations like optometry services to eye care services.
- Practice proper keyword placement on your content, landing pages, blogs, and image descriptions.
- Use long-tail keywords to improve audience targeting.
- Avoid content keyword stuffing, as this practice can penalize your site.
Use Visual Content
Aside from text content, use video to connect with your patients. Over a third of marketers use video marketing to spread the word about their brand and reach new people. Use video to inform your customers of various optometry treatments and services.
Use videos to promote your expertise and help patients make better health choices regarding their vision. Here are some tips for using video to optimize your optometry website.
- Use strong call-to-action (CTA) in your video presentation to lead your audience to the next step in the buying process.
- Include your main keywords in creating video descriptions, scripts, and titles.
- Create quality videos using the best equipment, video edition tools, etc.
- Add video transcripts to understand better what your video is all about.
- Use the right video platform, preferably where your patients are at.
Improve Site Speed
Site speed is a ranking factor, so improving page loading speeds can help improve rankings and enhance the user experience. If your site takes longer than three seconds, your audience can hit the back button and move to a competitor. Here are some ways to increase site speed.
- Move to a better site hosting service.
- Reduce the use of plugins
- Optimize image file sizes
- Clean up site code
- Limit the use of JavaScript and CSS codes.
Promote a Mobile-Friendly Website
Patients like to use their phones to look for answers to their health problems. Promoting a site that works well on mobile devices helps you rank in mobile searches and makes things better for your patients. Here are some tips to get you started with optimizing your website for mobile.
- Use a responsive layout to ensure your site works on all mobile devices.
- Avoid pop ups and remove redirects.
- Keep touch elements separate.
- Resize photos, so these are visible on mobile devices.
- Create strong introductions and a summary of your content.
Optimize Your Site for Local Search
Many patients actively look for local services. To help them find your optometry clinic, it must show up in the Google local pack. This group of four to five businesses is at the top of the organic search results.
Information on your listings comes from your Google Business Profile (GBP), including your business name, phone number, and address. Make sure that all the information about your business is complete and up to date. This will help your patients find your website and your clinic. Here are tips to enhance local SEO.
- Claim and update your GBP page.
- Update all your citations and local directories.
- Find local search terms and include these in your content.
Summing Up
Optometry SEO optimizes your website to promote your business in search engine results. You need SEO to improve visibility, enhance the user experience, encourage trust, and rank higher than your competitors.
To set up an optimized optometry site, you must rely on strategies like relevant keywords, video optimization, site speed, and mobile friendliness improvements. Finally, investing in local SEO gives you an edge over other local clinics. Follow these strategies, and you will be closer to your marketing goals.