SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the art of fine-tweaking your website to earn the top spots in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and generate more website traffic and conversions.
As an orthopedic surgeon, you can utilize SEO tactics to make the world learn about you through your orthopedic practice’s website. SEO is also one of the best ways to build trust with your potential patients and establish your knowledge authority in the industry.
In this guide, we’ll help you understand what SEO is and how you can use it to give your marketing efforts in the orthopedic practice a boost.
Table of Contents
The Importance of SEO for Orthopedic Surgeons
As an orthopedist, your work involves the treatment of highly-sensitive conditions like sports injuries, spine conditions, and severe traumas.
In most cases, sports medicine patients or patients needing orthopedic surgery choose an orthopedic based on word of mouth and reputation. These potential patients will probably look online to learn about the best orthopedists to consult in their area.
And that’s where search engine optimization comes in handy. Using SEO for orthopedic practices allows you to reach more patients through organic SEO results; when patients find your website on the first page of Google and read the amazing reviews of your previous patients, they’ll definitely consider coming to your orthopedic practice.
Keyword Research for Orthopedic Surgeons
Researching keywords identifies and analyzes search trends on Google Search or any other search engine.
By formulating the list of keywords people search for in the orthopedics industry, you’ll be able to craft a content marketing strategy with these search terms as the main pillars.
You can use many tools to conduct your research and find out the search volume of each keyword and the expected level of competition for it.
Long-Tail Keywords
There are two types of keywords to optimize for: short-tail and long-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are often generic and are made up of one or two words.
Examples of short-tail keywords in SEO for orthopedics are “orthopedic surgeon” and “orthopedic clinic.” And as you might’ve imagined, short-tail keywords often have a high search volume and are accompanied by strong competition.
On the other hand, long-tail keywords are more specific and often encompass three or more words like “Orthopedic surgeon for spine disease,” for example.
These specific keywords are easier to rank higher for and will help you reach your targeted audience, even though their search volumes are often well below that of short-tail keywords.
On-Page Optimization for Orthopedics
On-page SEO involves optimizing your website structure, code, meta tags, title tags, content, headings, web design, and page load speed.
Search engines can easily detect when a website is poorly optimized for user-friendliness and crawlability, and they obviously disregard these sites when ranking the top 10 competitors on the search results page.
Arguably, one of the most important aspects of a well-optimized, user-friendly website is its content. If you want to generate leads and rank high on the top Google search results page, your website’s content must be truly relevant and unique.
Sharing information with your prospective patients about different orthopedic conditions, treatments, mitigation techniques, and methods to prevent injuries or diseases would be a good place to start. You can also hire a professional team of healthcare content writers to get the job done.
But of course, your content has to be based on the relevant keywords you discovered in your keyword search. After all, creating content that nobody searches for will still result in no visits to your site.
Just make sure that you avoid keyword stuffing at all costs since Google’s algorithm can detect it and may penalize your website for following such blackhat SEO tactics.
Off-Page SEO Strategies
Off-page orthopedic SEO is all about building backlinks from authoritative websites to establish credibility. These external links can be earned with little to no involvement from your side if you have valuable pieces of content that would benefit the readers of other websites in your industry.
However, this is unlikely to happen if your website is relatively new. So, your best bet would be reaching out to reputable websites in the orthopedics industry and offering them an article from your website that they can benefit from linking to.
Of course, this article must be relevant to the other website’s readers. Skyscraper articles, infographics, surveys, and white papers are some of the best ways to earn high-quality backlinks to your website.
Researching Your Competition’s SEO
Competitor analysis is a crucial component of any successful SEO campaign. Before deciding to target a specific set of search keywords, remember that you’re not the only one who’s targeting them. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that other websites had already reached the top results in Google before you even started your campaign.
By analyzing your competitors, you can develop a good idea of how they made it to the top and follow in their footsteps. Otherwise, your chance of ranking on Google’s first page for the same keywords will be minimal.
Local SEO
Local SEO is optimizing your website for local organic traffic based on your geographical location. And as you’ve probably guessed, getting an appointment booked in your orthopedic clinic is more likely to happen if you target keywords and leads specific to your area.
For example, suppose your orthopedic practice is based in Miami. In that case, people in your area could be searching for “orthopedic surgeon Miami,” and targeting this keyword will help you generate localized website traffic.
What Are the Benefits of SEO for Orthopedic Surgeons?
By taking a quick look at the search trend for “orthopedic near me” over the years, you’ll notice that the search volume for this long-term trend has been rising steadily. This is a good indicator that more patients use Google results to find an orthopedic doctor.
So here’s a quick overview of the perks of utilizing SEO for orthopedic doctors:
- Increased web traffic and online visibility in Google Search results
- Increased revenue and conversions
- Easy to implement on a budget
- Progress can be tracked easily
- Boosts credibility and trust
- Creates a better user experience for patients
How We Help Orthopedic Doctors Grow Their Practice and See Increased Leads
By opting for our orthopedic SEO services, it’ll only be a matter of time before you see your website ranking for a big chunk of search terms that relate to orthopedic practices.
Our SEO specialists have worked on dozens of SEO campaigns that make them qualified enough to handle any new campaign in any industry. In addition, we customize our services for orthopedic clients to maximize visibility in Google and increase conversions. You can contact us for a free quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does It Take for Search Engine Optimization to Work in 2022?
There are no hard rules when it comes to how fast you should see any relevant results from your SEO efforts.
There are dozens of factors that come into play, but if you nail your on-page and off-page SEO, and the competition isn’t fierce, you should start ranking for some keywords in the search results within 6-12 months.
Isn’t It Easier to Use Google Ads and PPC Than Organic SEO for Orthopedics?
While PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing tactics on Google, Facebook, and other platforms may yield faster results for your orthopedic website than SEO, they can be quite costly to implement.
Not to mention, paid ads will only keep your landing page in the top search results as long as you pay Google for it. Once you run out of capital, your website won’t be seen anywhere near the first page of Google search results.
On the other hand, organic SEO requires more time and effort, but it’s more cost-effective than PPC channels. In addition, SEO is a long-term strategy that creates a sustainable impact by directing more website visitors every day without necessarily having to pay for it.
Nevertheless, it’d be a good idea to launch a PPC campaign along with SEO if your budget allows it.
Should I Use Social Media and Email Marketing With SEO?
Definitely! Implementing different tactics like social media marketing, email marketing, and SEO would definitely generate more traffic. In fact, social media presence is one of Google’s ranking factors.
Final Thoughts
Alright, so that was a detailed summary of using SEO for orthopedics. Orthopedic SEO is one of the best digital marketing tactics you can implement for your practice without overspending.
By opting for orthopedic SEO services from a reputable digital marketing agency, you’ll also make sure that your results are as fast as they can get.
So, what’re you waiting for? Stop paying Google and conduct a free SEO audit for your website now!
