Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a vital part of any digital marketing mix and at HealthHosts, we make good SEO a fundamental part of every website design for our clients, but there are also things you can do on a regular basis to boost your site in the search engine rankings.
1. Speciality pages
You may offer a wide range of treatments and services, but if you list them all on your home page and leave it at that, Google will recognise that your site is therapy-based, but the search engine bots won’t be sure how to categorise all of that information and what to rank you for. Your site will show up as a generalist site, rather than one focused on certain topics and services.
If you add additional pages which focus deeply on one particular service you offer, these landing pages will appear much higher in the search engines and lift the SEO of your whole site.
2. Page URLs
Continuing the point above, name your pages to reflect the content. If you treat PTSD, for example, and your practice is in London, calling your page http://yoursite.co.uk/ptsd-treatment-london/ will give you a very high chance of rising in the rankings, and showing up in local listings, too.
The search engines love sites with very focused backlinks, particularly if they are from high authority sites. If you could get the British Medical Journal, for example, to link back to your site, you can bet the search engines would take notice.
How do you get those links, particularly when you are first starting out? Look at the professional bodies that you are a member of and see if you can be listed in their directory of therapists. These directories tend to list very high in the search listings and a link from them will definitely help your site.
Not only that, but if you can place a membership badge from their site on yours and also be found in their directory, that gives your practice instant credibility.
4. Keyword-rich content
Put the main keyword that you are targeting in the first paragraph of your content, and then write naturally, covering not only that keyword, but also any synonyms for it and related words.
The search engines love high quality content and look for signs that the content they are viewing is going to help the reader.
If you’re a hypnotherapist, for example, use ‘hypnotherapy’ in your first paragraph and then also mention ‘hypnotherapist’, and ‘hypnosis’, and also focus on the results you get for clients, like ‘stop smoking’ or ‘lose weight’.
5. Site speed
Last but not least, if your site is slow-loading, not only will readers likely click away before they read a word, but the search engines will drop you down the rankings, too. Check your site speed with the PageSpeed tool (https://tools.pingdom.com/).
If you want to make sure your website design includes great SEO, give HealthHosts a call on 01206 625440. or contact us via the form here
