If you’ve posted on Instagram you have probably noticed the invasion of bots. They often comment on new posts with something completely irrelevant to the actual post. I GUARANTEE you’ll see in the comments of this very post a spambot saying something like ‘great content, share it with @(fill username here).’
But regardless of the spambots, Instagram can’t be overlooked because it is one of the LARGEST social media platforms on the internet in 2022 with over 1.386 BILLION users. In the United States there are 115 million Instagram users and it is projected to grow to 127 million in 2023.
Hopefully the Facebook team (who owns Instagram) can handle the spambot issue, but in the meantime it doesn’t takeaway from the fact you are reaching REAL people and when done right, you can speak directly to your target audience.
Is there room for medical practices to grow? 🏥🌱 Or have the existing larger firms dominated the market? 😨
In today’s healthcare climate, there is more demand than supply meaning reaching your target audience can go a long way to gaining leads and growing your customer base.
When 77% of healthcare inquiries begin on search engines, it means people’s needs are always changing (due to health issues, change of location, etc), and there and consumers are open to what value your practice has to offer.
There are many ways to BOOST your SEO ranking but here are a few actionable ways to do so right now.
1) Repurpose your content into blogs and then Google posts. ♻️
This may come as a surprise, but Google rewards you for using Google. I am a huge advocate for social media and I believe it’s one of the best ways to be in communication with your target audience. HOWEVER, posts after a bit essentially become lost. Blogs are a way to help content stay alive.
In fact, here’s a perfect example. We were looking at the analytics for a medical practice I am working with and a blog she wrote over a year ago, to this day, remains the #1 source of traffic to her website. Google allows you to make posts from your Google Business page and it’s a good way to share that blog. Google rewards you for using Google.
2) Make sure the copy on your website is specific. 🖋️
If you’re talking about physical therapy on your website, try and stick to talking about PT! Being specific is going to help Google’s algorithm understand your website better and show it to the right audiences.
3) Make sure you’re posting on social media. 📱
Social media posts are doing better and better on Google Searches. Not to mention, it’s a way to let your audience know (who are searching for healthcare providers) what value you deliver, what patients are saying, and general updates.
4) Be clear about your location!
If you have multiple locations, Google can get confused if you are advertising everything on the same page. Creating separate landing pages for those locations can help boost your SEO and make it clear which audiences Google should show your website to. Also, be sure to incorporate Google Maps into your website when showing your location, once again Google rewards you for using Google.
If you want to talk about strategies to boost your SEO and make sure your practice is in front of your target audience, feel free to reach out!
If you’re in the medical field, are you putting your testimonials front and center?
72% of patients use online reviews as their first step in finding a medical professional. Social media is a GREAT way of repurposing reviews and putting them front and center.
This is going to help with retention and peace of mind to your newer clients, helping stay top of mind to your sphere of influence, and most importantly, helping generate new business.
Don’t have many reviews or not sure where to start? No problem! If you haven’t already, make sure you create a Google Business Page. Once you do, go into ‘manage’ and go ‘home.’ Scroll down to where you see ‘Get more reviews.’ Click that link and walah! You can now share this link with all your patients so you can get more reviews and thus more patients.
Nothing is worse than receiving a hefty several thousand dollar bill because you innocently used an image or resource with nothing to show for it after its all done and over.
Trust me, I know. I’ve spoken to business owners who have had to spend over 10,000 dollars because situations arose! One business owner I spoke to was a victim of a situation where the creator of the image was uploading beautiful photography with the intention of finding those who would use it, to later sue them for it. Oof.
You know what’s a better, more ethical alternative? NOT plagiarizing! I recently made a poll asking if anyone has seen plagiarism on LinkedIn. Over 90 percent of participants voted YES. I have no doubt this type of behavior continues off-platform. This is a very dangerous precedent to set!
Here are some tips and resources you can use to avoid finding yourself in a inequitable situation. And if you are a CEO, business owner, team leader, or manager, are you making sure your team is following the best practices to avoid headaches down the road?
SEO is its own animal and you won’t master it in one article, however if you apply these steps, you will improve your SEO in just one day and be on your way to having your brand found more on search sites and social media.
This list largely assumes you know and have identified your ideal customer/audience. There will be other blogs about how to identify them if you haven’t fully, but having information and knowing what keywords they are searching for is critical in improving the SEO for your brand.
1) Google rewards you for using Google.
Basically anyone who will find out on a search engine will be using Google. Google is more than just a search engine, they are a company, and if you reward them they will reward you. If you incorporate Google services in your website, your SEO will be improved. One simple way of doing that is using Google maps and embedding that into your website.
2) Determine if you want your brand to be regional or local
Search engines use algorithsm to pull information from your website, determine what your brand is about, and tries to put it in front of relevant people. Knowing what factors the algorithm is looking for and being mindful of that when creating content is a major step into the right direction. If you are a local business or are servicing people in the local area, absolutely make sure the content on your website and what you share on social media reflect that. 46% of all searches on google are seeking local information.
3) Be mobile friendly
Have your website and content be mobile friendly. Most people will view your content on a mobile device and Google knows that and will reward or punish you on this.
4) Create content of value
Search algorithms take into effect how well your website and content is doing, and not specifically based on visitor count. Do visitors immediately bounce off the website or do they stay around and go to the other pages? Do they interact with it? Better yet, do they share it? Doing well with the people who are already visiting your page can get your brand in front of more people.
5) Use Twitter
It may not be the most active social media platform but its one that immediately shows previews on Google unlike any other platform. Leveraging Twitter by using relevant key words your ideal audience uses and searches for, involving yourself in LOCAL or REGIONAL conversations within that topics, and post relevant content.
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If you apply these SEO tips, you will dramatically boost your SEO ‘score’ and reach more people within your ideal audience.
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