Dermatology Search Engine Optimization: How To Get Started

Millennials have passed Baby Boomers to become the United States’ largest living adult generation. As this generation grows older and seeks more healthcare services, providers must adapt to the way millennials seek healthcare. Almost half of millennials check online reviews, and 80% expect some type of online access to healthcare. These trends make dermatology search engine optimization critically important.

What Is Dermatology Search Engine Optimization?

Online searches are one of the main ways potential patients research medical providers. However, few searchers venture beyond the first few search engine results. This makes getting your website listed high on the first page of results critical.

Search engine optimization is the process of designing your website and the content contained within it to rank well in search engines. High rankings make it easier for customers to find you, increase brand awareness, and establish credibility for your dermatology practice.

Medical providers need to rank well not only in general searches but in local searches to get patients in their area to visit. Dermatology search engine optimization helps your local search engine rankings.

How Can You Improve Your Dermatology SEO?

The keys to improving SEO for a dermatology practice are identifying your target market and determining what that market is searching for that is relevant to your practice. Because most of your patients will come from your local area, locally relevant keywords are particularly important.

Keywords can include obvious terms such as “dermatologist in Ogden.” You can also focus on related topics, such as “healthy skin” or “skincare tips.” There are a variety of techniques you can use to improve your search engine rankings, including optimizing your homepage and landing pages, as well as adding new content in the form of informational blog posts. 

Create Dermatology-Focused SEO Blog Content

Blogs are an SEO staple. They improve your dermatology search engine optimization by driving traffic to your website and helping you rank for relevant keywords. While in the past, you could simply post anything that contained the right keywords and have a good chance of ranking, modern SEO is about providing real value for readers. Providing high-quality blogs is doubly beneficial in helping you win the top spots on Google and build trust with the potential patients who find you there. 

Write blogs on patient-focused topics, such as frequently asked questions, industry news, medical advice, and skincare tips. Use relevant medical keywords in a patient-friendly way. Other medical providers may search for industry jargon, but your patients probably will not. Use the words the people searching for your services are likely to use. Keep in mind that the best SEO blog topics will be those related to questions patients might have. Shorter phrases or those relevant to specific services may be better suited for a web page. In the search engine optimization world, this is known as matching the “reader intent.”

Post regularly to keep your audience engaged and provide fresh content for search engines to index. Regular posting boosts your site as a whole, creating a compounding effect over time. 

Local SEO for Dermatologists

Local SEO for dermatologists should include location-specific information, such as references to local landmarks and events and topics relevant to local readers. For example, a dermatology clinic in Arizona might write about the effects of dry air on the skin. Even if the topic you’re writing about is too general to fully connect to your area, including a reference to your practice area in an ending call to action is beneficial. 

Refresh Older SEO Content

Some medical information stays the same for many years, while other information may become outdated as new techniques, research, and technologies emerge.

Out-of-date content can give readers the impression that your practice is out of touch with modern medicine and decrease the effectiveness of your dermatology search engine optimization. Make sure you update your older dermatology content with the latest technological advances, up-to-date statistics, new procedures, and the most recent research.

Freshness also affects your search engine rankings. Search algorithms devalue content that has not been updated recently, particularly in fields such as dermatology, where up-to-date information is crucial.

Patient attitudes and concerns may also change over time. Make sure your content matches what current patients are looking for in a dermatology provider.

Perform Regular SEO Maintenance

You should constantly monitor the performance of your dermatology SEO content so you can make adjustments where necessary. You also need to stay informed about changes to search engine algorithms that could impact your rankings.

Check for links that no longer work and edit or remove them. Too many broken links will drive down your rankings and frustrate your visitors.

When medical terminology or jargon changes, go through your old content and update the medical terms you use to reflect current terminology. Be sure to also update your metadata and alt tags as needed.

Audit Site Content

In addition to performing ongoing maintenance, periodically audit your content to identify problems and opportunities with your dermatology search engine optimization. Search engines particularly scrutinize the accuracy of medical content.

It is important to check all of your content for accuracy to avoid loss of reputation, potential lawsuits, regulatory compliance violations, and lower search engine rankings. Make sure your content complies with HIPAA privacy laws.

Other factors you should check for include:

• Underperforming pages
• Outdated information
• Proper keyword usage
• Mobile-friendliness
• Page loading speed

Use the insights you gain through the audit process to improve your SEO practices. Pay attention to which blogs or web pages perform best and lean into those strengths.

For example, you might discover that 500-word blogs that answer a simple question get traffic for you. Adversely, you might need longer, more in-depth pieces to catch Google’s attention. 

Build Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other sites to content on your site. Search engines rank pages with backlinks from authoritative sites higher than those without.

You can encourage backlinks by creating useful, engaging, and shareable content. When the dermatology content you produce provides value to readers, other related sites will naturally want to link to it.

You can also boost your backlinks by building relationships with local businesses, other medical providers, and community members. Share your expertise by guest posting on relevant sites. 

Include external links to credible pages in your content. Some of those pages may choose to link back to your site. Avoid linking to sites that provide misleading information or make unverified medical claims.

Finally, consider working with a professional link-building team to boost your results. For sites with established SEO content, white-hat links are often one of the most important factors in pulling traffic to your blogs.

Use Social Media

While not necessarily a component of SEO, social media is another important consideration. Most of your potential patients are on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Sharing your content to popular social media platforms can help build your audience and bring more awareness to your practice.

Take the opportunity to create a social media post to go along with each blog you publish. If you need more to post about, focus on engaging content such as quick educational posts and skincare tips. Share patient testimonials and success stories. However, don’t make your social media all about you. Also share content from other creators and businesses that is relevant to your audience.

How BKA Helps With Dermatology Search Engine Optimization

Our dermatology search engine optimization specialists can help you increase your traffic, boost your sales, and improve your rankings for your target keywords. We have a wide range of experience working with medical practices and understand the unique approach you need to rank. Choose from a customizable array of SEO services to obtain high-quality content, blog posting and updating, link building, social media scheduling, and more for your site without having to produce it all yourself. Learn more and get started today.