Are you looking to boost your rankings in search engines? Search engine optimisation is your go-to.
Getting your practice found in search results can be challenging because it must run higher than other practices. However, with planning and effort, your practice can rank higher. When your website ranks high, it appears credible.
SEO is meant to communicate to google or other search engines what your (website’s) intentions are. This enables your website to be recommended for relevant searches.
With an optimised web page, your practice will appear when a patient searches for an eye care practice in your location or when an important related keyword is searched. SEO has the goal of creating a seamless user experience online because it helps search engines to go hand in hand with your practice goals. This serves your patients and clients better.
What do Search Engines Want from You?
- Content
Everything on your site. From the theme of your website to texts, titles and descriptions given. - Performance
This involves speed. How fast your website loads and how well it works - Authority
Is your content good enough for other sites to link to it? Do authoritative sites reference or link to your site? - User Experience
This refers to the general interface. How does your website look? Can a user navigate without issues?
What Can You Do to Improve Your SEO?
- Utilise social media
- Pay Attention to Your Meta Descriptions
- Monitor Your Standing
- Use Keywords Appropriately
- Link back to Yourself
- Include a Sitemap on Your Website
- Add ALT Tags to All of Your Image Descriptions
- Regularly Update Your Content
- Link to Other Websites and Ask Them to Link to You
How Do You Get Your Website to Rank High?
To rank higher in search results, there are specific SEO considerations:
- Keyword Research
- Backlinks
- Citations
- Your website
1. Keyword Research for Optometrists
How do patients find your practice on search engines? To market your eye care practice effectively, you need to know what your prospects search for.
What do they type in search engines? (Opticians Near My Location, Opticians Around Me, Best Opticians For Eye Tests etc)
When words or phrases on your website match what prospects search for (user intent), you rank higher on search engines. SEO specialists use keyword research to focus on what prospects frequently look up.
SEO Keyword Research Tools
These are tools that help optimize your keywords. There are online free tools and paid ones.
- Ubersuggest – free
- Ahrefs – paid
Ubersuggest specialises in generating new keyword ideas.
Ahrefs is an SEO software suite containing link building tools, keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking, and site audits. Most of the features inside Ahrefs are designed for marketing professionals.
SEO tools provide details about your practice website as well as your competitors’ sites.
2. Backlink Building for Optometry Practices
Effective marketing with search engine optimisation requires backlinks. This helps draw traffic to your website and build trust for your practice.
Therefore, if a reliable website links to your site’s content, it gives excellent authority and relevance to your practice. It provides a degree of confidence in the services you provide. However, for well-established sites to link to your content, your website must have quality content.
Before using backlinks, check the backlinks provided on your competitors’ website and get them to link to your practice as well. This helps in boosting your ranks on search engines.
3. Citations
Citations are online references to your Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP). They add credibility. Hence, they are vital in obtaining SEO results.
Citations also help a great deal with search engine optimisation techniques. Therefore, if you get listed in business directories, your ranking will improve. In addition, tons of directories out there can provide a link to your site.
For example:
Business directories can link to your practice name, address, phone number, reviews, maps, photos, and posts. Hence, your name, address and phone number (NAP) must remain consistent across all platforms!
Including yourself in more directories can only mean more chances of getting your practice discovered.
4. Website
As we mentioned earlier, your website needs to be search engine friendly and appear on search engine results to perform well in SEO. To ensure your site is SEO friendly, you would need to double check on your sites: Responsiveness and SSL
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Responsiveness
Website responsiveness entails that your website must function well across all devices. Statistics show that 60% of all searches are done on mobile. So, it is crucial for your website to be responsive on all devices.
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SSL
SSL which is Secure Sockets Layer is a global standard security technology that enables encrypted communication between a web browser and a web server. According to Google, HTTPS is a ranking signal… Google has taken a strict stance to ensure that it protects the privacy of its consumers. Security, they say, has always been “a top priority” for them. Security is a top priority for Google.
Understanding the aspects of Search Engine Optimisation, and how it affects your marketing can be a complicated process. As a result, many independent practices hire professionals to handle SEO marketing for them.
