Did you know that 88% of the people needing a local service perform a search on their smartphone first? Then they call their chosen business within 24 hours of their search. Additionally, 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. That’s huge! And is reason enough to spend a significant amount of time focusing on the organic search best practices for chiropractors.
So let’s talk about organic search and local SEO.
What Is Organic Search?
Organic search refers to the unpaid search results shown for any given search query. Organic search relates to search engine optimization. It is the process used to help a web page show up naturally and as high as possible on a search engine results page. This is different from paid advertising (pay-per-click advertising) where someone pays to be placed at the top of the search engine results page. The organic search results show up naturally and are located underneath the paid ads.
What Is Local SEO?
Local search engine optimization (SEO) is based on location. SEO is the process used to improve the search engine rankings for local businesses with a brick-and-mortar presence by following organic search best practices for chiropractors. Local SEO is used to increase visibility, local traffic, and brand awareness.
What Factors Determine Your Visibility in Local Organic Search Results?
Here are the factors that play a significant role in where your practice ranks in the local organic search results.
Google Business Profile
If you claim and maintain your Google Business Profile correctly, you will significantly increase your chances of ranking higher in the local search results. So create a Google Business Profile page, add relevant content to it including photos, then encourage your patients to post reviews of your clinic. Then genuinely respond to those reviews. Make sure you include your service, city, and zip codes you want to improve visibility in to help make your GBP more relevant.
Business Directories
Listing your practice in business directories will enhance your online presence and significantly improve your local visibility. This is because it will provide the user with helpful information about your practice, as well as give them quick and easy access to your business information such as your address, contact information, etc. A business directory listing will also help build brand awareness, boost your search engine rankings, and improve patient interactions.
Just make sure the information you post is consistent across all your digital real estate, including all the business directories. Your name, address, phone number, etc. should all be identical. Don’t use different addresses or phone numbers, or anything else. Everything should be consistent and match exactly across all your entries.
Social Media Profiles
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have a high domain authority, which Google loves. That means these platforms will rank highly in organic search results. So once you’ve completed your Google Business Profile, make sure you set up all your social media pages and consistently post updates about your clinic as well as educational content your patients are looking for. This is another factor Google will use to determine where to rank your practice in the local search results.
Website Design
Your website design is partly what tells Google and the other search engines what your business is all about. Therefore, it must be structured in a way that is easy for people and search engines to read and navigate. Adding location pages is a great way to show Google that your practice is relevant in your local area. So go ahead and add some local pages to your website. Make sure you also add alt tags to all your images using locally descriptive verbiage. You can also add a Google Map to your website indicating your location to further enhance your local SEO.
Creating local content and making sure your website is mobile-friendly are also great for boosting your search engine rankings. And lastly, make sure you are including internal and external linking on your website as part of your optimization strategy. This is an indication to the search engines that you are a legitimate practice. Additionally, doing so will help raise your website rankings and your domain authority as well.
These are just a few of the organic search results best practices for chiropractors. Take time to learn all you can about local SEO and your reward will be free traffic and a boost in revenue.
The Benefits of Appearing in Organic Search Results
- Greater Online Visibility
- Zero Cost Involved
- Increased Brand Reputation and Authority
- Outrank Your Competitors
- Drive More Traffic and Quality Leads to Your Website
- Educate Your Patients So They Are More Likely to Visit You
Local SEO Tips
- Improve Your Google Business Profile
- Be Active on Social Media
- Add Posts to Your Google Business Profile
- Maintain Consistency
- Claim Your Business on Local Business Directories
- Optimize Your Website’s Information
- Add Location Pages to Your Website
- Create Local Content
- Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
- Engage Your Local Community
Here are some local organic search best practices for chiropractors.
Tip 1: Improve Your Google Business Profile
Improve your GBP by getting your listing verified, adding keywords, pictures, relevant content, a questions and answers section, and a strong call to action.
Tip 2: Be Active on Social Media
Engage with your patients and prospective patients on social media. Answer their questions and acknowledge and respond to their reviews and comments, etc.
Tip 3: Add Posts to Your Google Business Profile
Add relevant posts and other content that highlights your practice on your GBP. Make sure you include location-based and business-relevant keywords in your content as well. You can also publish posts announcing special offers, clinic events, and your products and services, etc.
Tip 4: Maintain Consistency
Maintain consistency across all your digital assets when it comes to your brand information such as your name, address, phone number (NAP), etc.
Tip 5: Claim Your Business on Local Business Directories
Claim your business in as many local business directories as possible. You will also want to optimize your presence in each directory. That means including high-quality, relevant photos, patient reviews, and any other information that will highlight your business and what you do.
Tip 6: Optimize Your Website’s Information
You should look to optimize your website by focusing on your URLs, title tags, headers, a meta description, and adding relevant, high-value content to your website using the proper keywords and phrases. You can also add photos with alt tags and interlink your website’s content.
It is also considered best practice to add some external links from high authority websites. Doing so will improve your website’s relevancy and authority. These provide Google with search signals that could lead to higher page rankings. This is called external linking because you are linking to external websites.
Tip 7: Add Location Pages to Your Website
Location landing pages are an essential element of any SEO strategy. Location pages are great for adding location-specific content to your website, introducing your products and services, and your team members, and for including any other clinic-related information you want to add. Additionally, location pages, if done properly, will show up in answer to a user’s local search query which will help provide them with the product, service, or answers they were looking for.
Tip 8: Create Local Content
You can create location-based content that uses your target keyword in the URL, title tag, meta description, and image alt tags. You simply write some relevant content while mentioning your service, city, and state somewhere within the content. This will help confirm your brand’s relevancy to the local area and the services you provide. Just be sure not to overuse your keywords and phrases or Google will punish you by lowering your rankings for trying to game the system.
Tip 9: Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
Most people use some type of mobile device to access the internet. Therefore, one of Google’s recommended guidelines is to make your website mobile-friendly. Mobile-friendly is just a nice way of saying it’s easily readable on any mobile device. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, your site will generally be ranked lower because of it.
Tip 10: Engage Your Local Community
The more you participate with your local community, the more you will be building your clinic’s brand, reputation, and authority in the industry. You can do this by sponsoring a local event, partnering with a nonprofit on a campaign, volunteering, or giving an interview to a local media station. You can also join your local BBB or Chamber of Commerce and participate in their events and gatherings for networking purposes. And, of course, anytime you help with a local cause like raising money for the children’s home or animal shelter, the better your reputation in the community will be. All of this will result in more people searching for your practice online, which, in turn, will help your local SEO.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo
The Surefire Local Marketing Platform is an all-in-one business intelligence marketing software that is available to you at a fraction of the cost of other online tools. And it’s much less expensive than using a digital marketing agency. Surefire Local helps you manage nine of your most important online marketing activities all from a single dashboard.
Here is what Surefire Local can help you with.
- Ratings and Reviews
- Business Directory Listings (70+)
- Content Marketing
- Lead Generation
- Local Paid Ads
- Analytics and Reporting
- Competitor Analysis
- Geo-Location Check-Ins
- Text Message Marketing
What’s Next?
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo Today! Let us show you just how easy and cost-effective our business intelligence software can be. And how our organic search best practices for chiropractors can help build and improve your clinic’s brand and brand reputation in the industry.