SEO and the Aesthetic Patient’s Journey
For many patients, the search for an aesthetic provider begins online, often with a Google search. This makes SEO a critical component of any provider’s marketing strategy.
SEO is its own specialty now. It requires knowledge of how search engines work, how websites are designed and structured, and a few technical abilities. Obviously, this short article will not make you an SEO expert, but it will provide tips that every aesthetic business owner should know.
For providers taking a DIY approach to SEO, this article explains two of the most important SEO factors. Additionally, it provides insight into the patient’s mindset which can help you create better content and implement a winning, long-term strategy.
For providers who outsource their SEO (the vast majority of aesthetic professionals), this article gives you two of the most important factors to keep your eyes on. The knowledge can help get the most return from your marketing investment.
SEO Essentials for Aesthetic Providers
Quality Content is Key:
When someone uses Google to conduct a search, Google’s goal is to show them the “best” content on the internet. Google takes this goal very seriously because the more they succeed the more people continue to use Google. Therefore, if there’s one place to put your time and energy, it’s the quality of your content.
Writing for SEO means optimizing your content. This involves strategically incorporating the words and phrases your patients are likely searching for into your content. For example, if you’re creating content for your acne scars page, you’d use the term acne scars in the page’s title. You’d also use the term or variations of the term in your paragraphs.
Creating optimized content is relatively easy to get the hang of. The challenging part is in making optimized content compelling for your website visitor, aka your future patient. In order to accomplish this, consider the patient’s mindset when they performed the search. What is someone who typed in treatment for acne scars hoping to find?
Most likely, the acne scars remind them of a time when acne negatively impacted their appearance and diminished their self-esteem. This patient is probably looking for a provider who has empathy for their situation, some experience treating acne scars, and state-of-the-art technology that can achieve the desired result.
To win this patient, create content with the above in mind. First and foremost, the content should assure the patient that they’ve found an empathetic provider who’s successfully treated acne scars before. Additionally, the content proves that they’re equipped with technology that will achieve the desired result.
ON-Page SEO:
On-page SEO works together with your optimized content. When we talk about on-page SEO, we mean configuring the backend of your pages to tell Google and other search engines what they’re about.
The primary place to do this is with the meta title. If one of your pages has no meta title, Google doesn’t really understand what’s there. The page’s content may be brilliant, but without the meta title it’s like a billboard in the middle of a desert – nobody will see it.
You can access a page’s meta title a number of ways. If you’re a WordPress user, you have your choice of plugins that make it easy to do so. Whatever the case, make sure that every single page of your site has a proper meta title.
A good rule of thumb for meta titles is:
The service – the city that you serve – and your business name.
For example:
Acne Scars – Denver, CO – Awesome Aesthetics
Providers using an SEO agency could ask for a list of pages and their meta titles to ensure all pages are tagged correctly and that no page has been forgotten.
The Bottom Line
SEO can seem overwhelming. This is especially true when a website is new and has yet to achieve its first rank. But it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Put your first focus on patient-centric, optimized content. At the same time, be meticulous about your on-page basics. These two steps can make a big difference to your patent acquisition mix.
The Right Tech for Your Patients
The most important part of the patient’s journey takes place in the treatment room. The patient deserves a good experience and a natural-looking, long-lasting outcome. Be sure you have the technology to make this happen.
EndyMed is the first to empower practitioners with the full suite of radio frequency tools in one sophisticated but user-friendly device. It’s how we enable you to do more for your patients, implement more revenue streams, and enjoy more ROI from a single investment.
Click below to learn more about EndyMed technology and growing your practice in the months ahead:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lake Lopez is an aesthetic industry veteran and EndyMed’s National Marketing Director. He remains passionate about providers and helping them implement and grow aesthetic revenue streams.
