Better Your Google Rankings and Get Found Online

01/04/19 | by Samantha Heath | SEO

The battle for a top spot on Google’s search engine results page kind of feels like a game of baseball. Not only do you want to be on the field, you want to be number one.

This is for good reason, too, considering 75% of web users don’t click past the first page of search engine results. Of that 75%, 33% of clicks go to the top three results. The more clicks your website receives, the more opportunities you have to turn a user into a new appointment in your calendar. That number one spot is looking pretty good, right?

Luckily, there are strategies you can implement to make sure your website tops Google rankings for related searches. Read on to learn how you can create a winning game plan to get found on Google and draft more clients to your practice.

Invest in Targeted Ads

Targeted advertising allows you to place your website in front of your ideal clients just when they’re searching for businesses like yours online. This form of advertising offers an effective way to reach potential clients quicker than you might with SEO alone.
PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is an advertising model that requires a company to pay a host, such as Google, each time someone clicks on one of their ads. You, as the advertiser, bid on keywords that you believe potential clients may be using when they search for businesses like yours. For example, if you are an optometrist living in Omaha that offers LASIK surgery at your office, you may bid on a keyword phrase like “LASIK in Omaha”.

Here are a couple of tips to help you make the most out of your targeted advertising endeavors.

1. Research Keywords

Don’t just assume that certain keywords will work for your advertisements. Research keywords to find out which get the most traffic, the most clicks, and which have the most bidding competition. To learn more about how to conduct keyword research, check out this blog post.

2. Create Specialty Landing Pages

Each advertisement you create should direct users to a landing page designed specifically for that ad. Specialty landing pages help draw in the right customers and provide the information they are looking for.

Let’s say that you are a chiropractor who is promoting a monthly special for first-time adjustments. The meta title of your advertisement might read something like, “Half Off First Chiropractic Adjustment”, so you don’t want this advertisement to point to a page about the benefits of chiropractic. Instead, you want to design a landing page that gives the user the details of this special while promoting your practice.

Don’t forget to place your contact information in highly visible places on your landing page. Most commonly, users will look at the top right corner or the bottom of the page to find your contact information. You may even want to list it twice so that you don’t miss out on that phone call for an appointment.

Be sure to include a call to action to encourage your audience to continue moving down the marketing funnel.

Implement SEO Strategy

Search engine optimization is the MVP of the marketing world. Not only is it cost-effective, but it provides a long-term solution to bettering your Google rankings. In case you’re unfamiliar with the definition, SEO describes a variety of techniques that are used to appeal to a search engine algorithm which in turn betters the site’s search engine rankings.

New to SEO? Start with these simple SEO tips to help you boost your website’s rankings and enable clients to find you online.

1. Keywords, Keywords, Keywords!

Ah, keywords, we meet again. As you may have assumed, keywords are an integral part of many marketing strategies. There are multiple ways keywords and phrases can be weaved into your website’s contents and structure that will help the algorithm locate your page.

Firstly, input keywords and phrases into your SEO titles and meta descriptions. The title and meta description show up on a search engine results page and tell your audience what they can expect by clicking on your page. This also enables Google’s algorithm to index these pages for featured keywords.

Your landing pages, blog posts, and other on-site content should also include keywords where necessary. Just be careful of keyword stuffing, a black hat strategy that describes the act of putting excess keywords and phrases into content that is out of context.

2. Create Valuable Content

Custom content helps keep your audience engaged while establishing you as a knowledgeable source of information in your community. This content shouldn’t be aimed at making a sale, but rather at providing value for your ideal client.

Value can be found in educational infographics, funny videos on your social channels, or a helpful how-to posted to your blog. These materials will give your current and prospective clients something useful without having to first make an appointment. Plus, it will make them trust your authority more.

When your audience or another site shares your content, you will receive backlinks. Backlinks are mentions of your content on other sites across the internet. Google’s algorithm will take notice of the number of backlinks you have and rank your site higher because it will deem you as an authority on the related topic.

Manage Business Listings

This tip may be a little less obvious than the previous two, but don’t underestimate its importance. Many of your potential clients are finding your practice online thanks to your business listings, not just your website.

Create business listings where you think your audience might be searching for a business like yours.
A Google My Business Listing is an excellent place to start. When users are making a local search using Google or Google Maps, your business can populate on the search results list if you have created a profile. Other sites, such as Yelp or Citysearch, also often populate when a local search is made. These sites typically have a feature that allows your new clients to map their way straight to your office doors.

These business listings can also help your site populate on Google’s rankings multiple times! And with more exposure comes more phone calls into your office.

Monitor and Update Listings

Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just make a profile or two on business directory sites. You must also manage these listings.

Oftentimes, these sites encourage reviews, so it’s essential that you pay attention to what is being said about your practice online. Respond to happy clients to make sure they know that they are appreciated, but also respond to negative reviews to attempt to correct any issues.

Remember to update your business listings with important information, such as a change of location or holiday business hours. Your audience will benefit from the accurate listings and you will better your chances of getting found online.

Get to Number One

Put these strategies into play at your practice one by one. Remember that success isn’t something that’s achieved overnight. Like with the great baseball players of the world, hard work and dedication reap that top spot!
Does this sound like a lot? Sometimes it helps to have someone to coach you through it. To chat with a member of our team about any questions you might have, give us a call.

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