SEO for Dentists and Doctors: Making Google Love Your Healthcare Website

SEO for dentists and doctors is all about getting your healthcare practice’s website to perform well on search engines like Google. If you do the right things, you can make Google fall in love with your doctor website, putting you at the top of search engine results page (SERP) and attracting lots of new patients.

In this three-part series on getting Google to love your doctor or dentist website, we’ll focus on how using Google’s social media platform, Google +, helps you woo the world’s top search engine.

Google+ Search Ranking Benefits for Doctors and Dentists

One of the best ways to win Google’s heart is by using and optimizing the social media network Google itself designed. Here’s how using Google + makes Google love you:

1. Google + is optimized for SEO

Unlike Facebook and Twitter posts, Google + posts come already SEO-optimized, similar to a well-designed blog post.

One way G+ is optimized for SEO for dentists and doctors is that posts made on this social platform are quickly indexed and crawled by Google. This is because Google has full access to G+ posts — such is not the case with Twitter and Facebook, which hide much of their user data from Google.

Additionally, the following is true:

•   Google+ posts are optimized for semantic relevance. (This means people searching Google for the medical or dental services you provide can find you through your Google + posts, just as they can find you through the content on your website.)

•   Each G+ post has its own URL, and the first 45-50 characters show in the title tag (again, great for SEO).

•   Google + posts allow you to explore a subject deeply, which is critical for the content marketing aspect of SEO for doctors and dentists.

2. Google + gets you “above-the-fold” results

When you keep your Google + account up-to-date with relevant, fresh information, you are much more likely to appear in “above-the-fold” search results, i.e., everything you can see on search page results without scrolling.

In particular, you can get your business prominently featured on the right-hand side of the page with a map showing your location (see screenshot).

While maintaining a complete and up-to-date G+ account will not guarantee you getting in above-the-fold results, it will certainly make this event more likely.

3. Google + grants you access to the elite “Plus-One Club”

Although the Google Authorship benefit of using Google + is no longer supported, Google + is still a great way increase your healthcare practice’s prominence on Google using +1s.

When you post shareable content on Google +, every “+1” (share) you get sends a powerful search signal to Google’s search algorithm, similar to a backlink. While Google does not directly favor its own social shares over those from other networks, having more +1s is strongly associated with higher search rankings, according to studies conducted by Moz.

Becoming part of the so-called “Plus-One Club” — meaning you have a strong Google + presence with lots of people +1-ing your content — should definitely be something you strive for when looking to market your medical or dental practice online.

Stay tuned for our next installment of SEO for Doctors and Dentists: Making Google Love Your Healthcare Website. In the meantime, learn more about Google + for dentists