To say that the way people search for and access medical advice and treatment has changed in recent years is an understatement. The internet has made it easier than ever for consumers to find providers beyond their local regions and to consult with physicians states or even countries away. While this ease of access is great for individuals, it creates a highly competitive landscape for health care providers, as you may well know. As a result, you as a provider should continually look for opportunities to optimize your site not just for search, but for local search. While SEO content is one of the strongest ways to do this, structured data — or “schema markup” — can put you well ahead of the competition.
Understanding structured data
Structured data markup helps define information in such a way that the search bots can better understand the context of your page, delivering “rich snippets.” HTML, on the other hand, simply tells the bots how to display text included in a tag.
Neil Patel explains the ins and outs of schema markup. In a nutshell, schema markup can help you create a virtual business card. While non-marked-up results pull from title tags and meta descriptions to return generic information about your practice, marked-up results can show users everything from your practice’s name to its ratings to its hours, all right there in the SERPs. Before rich snippets were introduced, this kind of data — numbers, ratings, etc. — were not understood by the search bots and, therefore, ignored.
Using structured data to reach local patients
The most obvious way structured data can help you reach and attract local patients is by helping Google read items such as your map and phone number so it can include that information in the SERPs. While your content probably mentions your city and state several times for SEO purposes, schema markup makes it possible to show potential patients exactly where you are located, down to the suite number.
Of course, location is just one factor patients consider before selecting a provider. Patients also want to find a provider who is in the right field, who offers their insurance, and who has stellar patient reviews. Unlike HTML tags, which offer you limited space to tell searchers what your practice is about, structured data lets you describe a page in as detailed a manner as possible.
For example, in the “@type” section, you can describe the type of content your page promises. In the “@description” section, you can include what you do (“A cosmetic dentist with 15 years of perfecting smiles.”) and/or a list of insurance your practice accepts. The “aggregate rating” section lets you input your best and worst ratings, and Google will deliver the average. All of the information you choose to put in your markup can help local searchers make the most informed decisions possible without them ever having to click through to your website.
Create meaningful results
From writing for skimmers to writing for the search bots, our team at Doctor Genius is familiar with the strongest tactics for attracting new patients and ranking well in the search engines. If you do not have the time or the know-how to create structured data for your pages, let us do it for you. Call us today at 1-877-477-2311 to discuss an SEO strategy.
Doctor Genius, located at 2 S Pointe Dr #200, Lake Forest, CA 92630, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
