Understanding Local SEO Marketing for Doctors

For Doctors, SEO is not as simple as for basic informational websites. Doctors don't need just any traffic; they need local traffic…and very specific local traffic at that!

Every doctor, dentist or specialist has an area of expertise. They also practice in a specific geographic area. These two facts alone greatly alter a doctor's SEO practices and guidelines.

As a basic example, let's consider a dentist in the greater Chicago area. One of his primary services is porcelain veneers. The primary keyword "porcelain veneers" receives almost 50,000 searches per month nationally. The problem is that even if our friend, the Chicago dentist, starts ranking and receiving traffic for the keyword porcelain veneers, how many of those visitors would realistically be potential patients? Odds are, none of them.

Now, let's take our same Chicago dentist, and again identify his need and desire for new porcelain veneer patients. This time however, we will consider the primary keyword "porcelain veneers Chicago." Our new, geo-appropriate keyword receives a much lower number of searches per month, only 210, however, all 210 of those Internet users are self-screened, potential patients for our Chicago doctor's practice!

By choosing and using the appropriate keywords, a doctor's website becomes a targeted, topic specific, location specific marketing magnet for potential new patients. Each page a doctor or dentist launches on his website should include topic specific content, and be optimized for an appropriate quality local keyword. With time, this method will grow a website utilizes search engines, and the people that use them.

The SEO section on WinPatients.com provides doctors with the information they need to market efficiently to Internet searchers in their area. It's time doctor's learned to use search engines effectively, to maximum their local advantage, rather than simply misunderstand and ignore them.