Features of SEO promotion of medical sites

SEO promotion of medical sites

Websites of medical organizations in most of countries are under special control by the law, and must also meet a number of search engine requirements. 

To promote the site, it is necessary to constantly work on the quality and expertise of the content, improve the reputation of the clinic, and competently draw up doctors’ cards. How to take into account all the nuances and increase the ranking, read in our material.

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We take into account legal requirements

Medical organizations can directly influence the life and health of a person by providing him with this or that service. Accordingly, the sites of clinics are under special control by the legislation of India. Their work is regulated by a variety of regulations, including:

  • Federal Law ” Right to health: Challenges and Opportunities – NCBI “;
  • Federal Law ” Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle – | NITI Aayog “; 

When designing the official website of a medical organization, be sure to take into account all legal requirements. This will help you avoid fines and litigation. 

What information must be included on the site?

  • Full name of the organization, data on all divisions and branches;
  • Date of state registration, information about the founders and management bodies;
  • Opening hours and the most detailed contact information: addresses, phones, e-mail, links to social networks, map;
  • Certificates, licenses and other documents confirming the right to engage in medical activities;
  • Information about medical workers: full name, position, education, certificates, awards and achievements;
  • Data on insurance medical organizations with which the company has concluded contracts for the provision of compulsory medical insurance services;
  • Contact details of organizations supervising medical organizations in a particular region;
  • Appointment schedules for all doctors;
  • Detailed rules according to which the organization provides services: making an appointment, hospitalization and medical examination, clinic visits, preparation for examinations;
  • Types of medical services provided;
  • A complete list of paid services and their prices.

Why is it difficult to promote medical websites?

For sites that affect the health, safety and financial well-being of visitors, Google has special requirements. To get into the top, you need to meet the evaluation criteria of the EAT algorithm . 

The term YMYL appeared in the Google Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014. The abbreviation stands for “Your money or your life” (from English – Your Money or Your Life). This category includes all sites that provide information that can affect the health, safety and financial well-being of users. Read more about YMYL sites in our article . 

The term became more widespread in 2018, when many resources on medical topics lost their positions in search results. This happened due to a major update of the system’s algorithms: Google tightened the rules for YMYL-themed sites in order to more effectively deal with unverified and low-quality information on the Internet.

To rate YMYL pages, Google uses the concept of EAT. Compliance with EAT factors directly affects the growth of the site’s position in Google and the effectiveness of SEO promotion. EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. These three factors are considered by Google when ranking YMYL pages.

SEO promotion of medical sites

Expertise . The professionalism of the authors of the site is confirmed by diplomas, licenses, certificates, distinctions (awards, prizes).  

Authority . The experts who speak on the site have influence in the professional community and are trusted. Your resource is used as a source of information by specialists in the industry. It’s great if the site is cited by other sources and experts, links are left to it.

Reliability . Accuracy, authenticity and relevance of the data provided on the site. Validate content with research, photos, videos, customer and expert reviews.

If the YMYL site does not meet these criteria, it will receive a low quality score, and therefore a loss of position in the SERP. 

Read Also: What is EAT and why is it important for SEO ?

Factors affecting the promotion of a medical site in search engines

Internet reputation. Unfortunately, most often doctors do not have enough time for full-fledged blogging. They simply do not have time to promptly respond to comments, communicate with the audience, and actively declare themselves on social networks. 

As a result, even the most remarkable specialists who are indicated on the website of a particular clinic do not have visible authority on the network. Try not to miss this moment and qualitatively organize this layer of work with doctors. 

It is extremely important for Google that website content is created by experts. To get to the top, you need to have an array of links from authoritative information sources: news agencies, specialized media. Try to get links from significant sites of your subject. 

To do this, be an active participant in industry competitions, send out press releases, speak more often at major events and press conferences. Create an “Our Partners” page on your site, exchange links with their sites through submissions.

Registration of doctors’ cards . Be sure to place separate pages on the site for all doctors of the clinic. In the specialist card, indicate your full name, add a photo, copies of diplomas, certificates. You can use a brief description of the professional path, talk about merits and victories, major studies. 

It is desirable that specialists have their own blogs on medical topics and well-designed social networks. Give clients links to these resources. Don’t forget to add an appointment button and a callback form so that the user has a choice of how to make an appointment with a doctor.

Customer reviews . Create a page with a form for posting reviews about doctors and the work of the clinic in general. Also make sure that there are fields for comments and questions on the pages of the clinic’s services. 

It is important to constantly communicate with your audience, identify the wishes and dissatisfaction of people, this will help improve the service, and hence the rating of the clinic. 

Highlight your benefits . If the clinic has high-tech and modern equipment, be sure to write about it on the website, this information will increase your rating and customer confidence. 

Detailed section “About the clinic” . It is through this page that you build the trust of future patients in your organization. Describe a brief history of the clinic, your values ​​and principles of work. Provide licenses, certificates and all necessary details. 

Tell us about doctors, add a list of partners and testimonials from real clients. If your institution has several branches, be sure to write about each of them: addresses, contacts, working hours and what services you can get there.

More photos . Invest in high-quality photos of the interior of the clinic and staff. Be sure to take pictures of the reception with friendly administrators, a photo of the reception waiting area, doctors’ offices with equipment, and a children’s corner. This will positively affect people’s emotions and reduce their fears.

Opt out of pop-up ads . Avoid explicit advertising with banners. Search engines do not approve of mixing the content of pages of medical sites with intrusive advertising.

Convenient price . Do not throw out to patients a detailed price list with hundreds of items. This is incomprehensible and inconvenient. Specify only the prices for specific procedures and what is included in this cost. It is also desirable to use the symbol of the INR (₹) in the price list, it is positively perceived by search robots.

The site must be responsive . Your resource should be convenient to use on different devices. Otherwise, you will lose a large number of users. 

Work through the page with the services of the clinic . Specify all methods of diagnostics and treatment available in the institution. Add a description of indications, contraindications, a mention of the need to consult a specialist. 

It’s important to understand that Google’s algorithms read what words on a service’s page could indicate that it will be rendered professionally.

Use the Last Modified and If-Modified-Since headers . This will help reflect when the post was created and modified, which means it will show search engines that your content is actually relevant.   

Smart navigation . All navigation elements should be as visible as possible. 

Features of SEO promotion of medical sites

Who to entrust writing texts for a medical site

Ideally, the content for a medical website should be written by a certified specialist – a doctor. He will be able to provide the site with reliable and up-to-date information, reveal problems deeply and from different angles. 

Often there is a situation when doctors are well versed in the subject, but it is difficult for them to convey all the necessary data in an accessible language for readers of the site. This is where a copywriter can help. 

It’s great if these specialists can fill the resource in tandem. Then the quality of materials will be much higher. In articles, it is better to indicate the authorship of the doctor, this will increase the credibility of the search engines.

Pay attention not only to the quality of the content, but also to its design. Structure articles, highlight the main ideas, use bulleted and numbered lists, tables, navigation. Add good quality photos and videos. 

Constantly monitor your site for conflicting information. It is important to completely exclude facts that are not true. Any references to folk methods of treatment, the imposition of purchases are unacceptable.

There are a lot of requirements for the sites of medical subjects from the legislation and search engines. To get to the top, it is important to take them into account. Constantly work on the quality of content and design nuances. Make sure that the resource has all the necessary information, is convenient and useful for customers.

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