As humanity is advancing towards the age of modernization, the global healthcare system around the world is the changing and growing rapidly. One of the major step in the direction of the advancement of the global healthcare services is the introduction of the healthcare websites. More and more healthcare-related websites are being launched with the common aim of changing the operations of the healthcare sector.
Healthcare websites being launched offers services such as book doctor online, finding the best doctor online for the treatment specific to the condition of the patients, booking appointments, and buying medicines. While Practo, 1mg, and Lybrate dominate this sector, there is still scope for a lot of budding competitors and new entrants.
One such entrant to this growing sector is docprime; a newly launched healthcare start-up with the aim of changing the face of the healthcare industry. Docprime is here to compete against the likes of Practo and 1mg and offers services that were uncharted before.
This sector is relatively new and there is room to grow, but the competition is not easy and to stay ahead of the curve, healthcare providers will have to optimize their websites in such a way that ensures the visibility of their websites on search engines such as Google, Bing and more.
Let’s familiarize ourselves with 7 of the most common, but highly recommended practices to ensure that the healthcare website is optimized and visible on the search engines.
1. Curate Unique Content
Building a website that highlights the key features and the services being offered is important, but it is not enough to get noticed by the search engines. The website should be updated on regular basis with content that is relevant to the services offered, and helpful and relatable by the audience.
Content that is keyword-driven and is relevant to the niche will generate traffic for the website and thus boost the ranking of the website on search engines. This little drill will also get the website owner recognized as an expert in their field and build your trust among your targeted audience.
2. Getting Listed in the Directories
Directory submission is a website optimization technique that a website owner should never ignore. It is one of the simplest ways to create backlinks for the website which in turn influences the ranking of the website on the search engines.
There are general and field-specific directories online that helps in building the backlinks. While the general directory targets every kind of website, the specific directory on the other hand targets websites that are based on certain specific topics.
Directories like NHS and HealthNet are specific directories that allow the healthcare providers to list their websites. Some of the directories also allow users to review the websites listed. A high satisfaction rating on the website is directly linked to more click on the listing.
3. Using Targeted Keywords
Using the targeted keywords that correctly describes the business and the niche of the website will make the website more visible on the search engines. Every targeted and relevant keyword used in the content that is published on the website will help bring traffic to the website which in turn will make the website more visible.
Tools such as the Google Keyword Planner can be used to extensively research for the most targeted and useful keywords as per the website. There are some main types of keywords that should be inserted in the content; they are listed below:
- 🔵 Branded keywords – Keywords that specifically mention the brand
- 🔵 Non-branded keywords – Keywords that describe the field of the specialty, but do not mention the name of the brand
- 🔵 Location-based keywords – Keywords that are inserted in the content for the optimization of the website based on the location of the healthcare website
- 🔵 Long-tail keywords – Keywords phrases that include the main keyword with other relevant terms
4. Navigation
Navigation, besides the look and the feel, of the website is an extremely important aspect to ensure the optimization of the healthcare service related websites. A website that is easy to navigate will attract more users and increase the traffic on the websites.
The website should ensure that the content is easy to read, the website is easy to scroll around, and the all the important features of the website are easy to access. This is a way to ensure that the audience spends more time on the website.
Let’s take an example to understand this. Below are the screenshots of the websites of practo, 1mg and docprime. While practo and 1mg are now a household name, it does not change the fact that the navigating through either of the websites is a task that is tedious and confusing. Website of docprime, on the other hand, is easy to navigate and comfortable to operate.
5. Link Building
Backlinks are one of the most important factors that Google considers in its search rankings. Rankings are significantly increased when there are credible websites that are linked back to the website in the picture.
Although there are many ways to build backlinks, the most common and the best way, however, is to write guest posts for authoritative websites in the healthcare sector. Writing a guest post for sites that have authority helps in getting backlinks thus increasing the rank of the website.
6. Having a Social Media Presence
Social media not only promotes the services offered on the websites but also provides an opportunity to build relationships with new customers and make your connections stronger with the existing customers.
Healthcare organizations should have their presence on various social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Promoting the content of the website on these platforms will help in increasing the customers base, building trust across the social community, and increasing the traffic on the website.
7. Add a Sitemap
Creating a sitemap on the website makes it easier for the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing to crawl and navigate through the website. This trick helps in proper indexing of the website and enhancing the ranking of the website.
There are a lot of sitemap-generating tools available that automate the process of creating a sitemap on the website. A good sitemap should contain a breakdown of links to each and every page of the website. This helps the users to navigate through the website with ease and jump to specific pages.
For any healthcare website owner, it is important to understand that optimizing the website is important for search engines to make the website visible and enhance its ranking. A healthcare website is launched with the aim of making health care services affordable, easily accessible, and without having to step out of the home; and all this is possible only if the website is optimized and is visible to costumers.
Healthcare website owners can take the help of the above-mentioned practices to ensure that not only do their website rank on the search engine but also it brings traffic to the website and completes the aim with which it was launched.
Awesome tips!