By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    learn to recognize and treat yeast infections
    Most Commonly Asked Questions About Yeast Infections
    November 17, 2021
    Advanced lung cancer diagnosis systems used by doctors
    Advanced Lung Cancer Diagnosis Systems Used by Doctors
    March 6, 2022
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    June 13, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Revenue Cycle News
    Telemedicine’s Impact on Value-based Care
    March 2, 2016
    Hard choices on Health Care at Home and Away
    August 23, 2017
    Journalists Decry WH Decision to Pull Physicians’ Database
    September 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Digital Analytics 101 for Healthcare Marketers: Local Search Optimization
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Digital Analytics 101 for Healthcare Marketers: Local Search Optimization
eHealthSocial Media

Digital Analytics 101 for Healthcare Marketers: Local Search Optimization

Jonathan Catley
Jonathan Catley
Share
6 Min Read
digital-analytics-101-local-search.png
SHARE

digital-analytics-101-local-search.png

Contents
Landing On the First PageTry Before You Buy

digital-analytics-101-local-search.png

This post is part of our series, “Digital Analytics 101 for Healthcare Marketers,” where we provide short briefs on the ins and outs of digital strategy. In this article, we’ll discuss why local search optimization is critical for bolstering online visibility, and how you can use it to attract new patients in your area.

The internet has become our go to resource for all things local — from restaurants and concert venues to libraries and sporting goods stores, when it comes to finding goods and services within convenient radius, our first instinct is to take to the web.

More Read

hospital marketing
Can We Put the Hospital Marketing Genie Back in the Bottle?
Three Ways to Supersize Your Patient KOL Strategy
Digital Health Activities of Online Moms
Michigan Physicians Benefit From HIPAA Compliant E-Prescribing
Healthcare’s Dirty Secret – 15 Million Patient’s Private Information Exposed Since 2009

Healthcare services are no exception to this trend — 77% of patients conduct an online search before booking an appointment, and 96% of computer owners feel that this should be standard procedure for any local service. Of course, mobile is also having a significant impact on this trend. Nearly 80% of local searches made on mobile result in in-person purchases, according to SearchEngineLand, indicating that when we do search for treatments and healthcare service providers online, we have a high intent to follow through with a visit.

This is critical for medical marketers, who need to capture prospective patients’ attention on their phones in order to get them through the door. They’ll be pleased to know, then, that local search drives more clicks, calls, and a higher ROI than any other digital marketing channel, according to BrightLocal. As such, its established itself as an indispensable part of any effective healthcare marketing strategy. Here’s how to capitalize on this fact. 

Landing On the First Page

In short, in order to establish a local search presence, you need to make sure that your brand consistently appears on the first search engine results page (SERP), which tends to garner over 70% of clicks. There are two generally accepted ways to accomplish this goal: search engine optimization and search engine marketing. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) improves your medical website’s unpaid, organic search ranking, or in other words, the degree to which Google’s search algorithm finds your site to be relevant to a patient’s search term. Google determines this based on a “secret” combination of keywords, content, website quality, office, local directory ratings, and more (although SearchEngineLand reports that location-specific data will soon factor in much more heavily).

To elevate your ranking on Google, along with other search engines like Yahoo and Bing, you generally need to improve in each the areas that factor into their respective algorithms. Creating a solid bank of highly informative, locally-focused content on your blog or your website itself will boost your odds of landing on the first page in two ways: by helping your site match keywords, and by increasing its value and quality from the perspective of both Google and your patients (be sure not to keyword spam, or the algorithm will punish you). 

It’s also critical that listings for physician names, office address(es), and phone numbers (NAPs) are accurate and up-to-date in local online directories like Google My Business and on location-specific rating sites such as Yelp. Search algorithms also heavily favor those that cater to mobile users with responsive web design or mobile-optimized sites.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) typically involves sponsoring keyword-driven ad campaigns in order to appear in one of the top three ad positions on a SERP. In light of Google’s recent overhaul regarding AdWords campaigns, there are now two tiers of paid ads: three to four relatively expensive, but highly visible top-of-page ads — which garner the overwhelming majority of traffic — and relatively inexpensive bottom-of-page ads, which, naturally, will see lower click-through-rates (CTRs). 

Try Before You Buy

In order to optimize for local search, healthcare marketers must roll out a variety of highly targeted ads, consisting of keywords that emphasize local patient demographics and areas. After determining which are most effective, marketers can ramp up their spend on the successful ads and eliminate the low performers. In our experience, top-of-page ads are almost always worth the cost, especially for short-term, high-impact campaigns and patient recruitment drives. 

Of course, the most successful local search strategy will include a combination of SEO and SEM techniques, and will likely have to be adjusted over time as patient demographics shift and your business expands its target territory. However, one thing is clear: as patient preferences increasingly lean towards local, personalized experiences, those who optimize their web presence accordingly are the ones who will ultimately achieve long-term, sustainable success.

Targeted Medical Marketing, Digital Marketing

 

TAGGED:digital marketinghealthcare marketinglocal searchSEO
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

healthcare providers
Hidden Injuries After An Accident: What Healthcare Providers Should Watch For
Infographics
July 15, 2025
pediatric healthcare spaces
Designing Calm: How Pediatric Healthcare Spaces Reduce Anxiety Through Thoughtful Design
Infographics
July 15, 2025
EHR
The Hidden Costs Of The ER: What You’re Really Paying For
Infographics
July 15, 2025
9 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Add Years to Your Life
9 Healthcare Lifestyle Tweaks That can Add Years to Your Life
lifestyle
July 11, 2025

You Might also Like

How Twitter Can Bolster Your Healthcare Search Marketing Game

February 9, 2015
Telehealth Scenarios
eHealthMobile HealthRemote Diagnostics

Forging Ahead with Telehealth: A Roadmap for Physical Therapists (APTA 2014 Recap)

February 13, 2014
Image
eHealthTechnology

High Quality, Low Cost HealthCare Video Interview Series: Dr David Delaney From SAP Talks Data

January 29, 2013
Marketing

4 Tips For Writing Effective Healthcare Marketing Content

March 2, 2020
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?