Search engine optimization is a practice that must be utilized if you wish to have a solid online presence. Ranking in Google searches is your pathway to finding success in the digital world, and there is hardly any way around that fact.

Social media is the other way to reach the masses, but everyone uses a search engine and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who was present on each social media platform.

Medical professionals are no exception to rule. We’re going to talk about SEO for chiropractors in this article, helping you understand the fundamentals of optimization and how you can use it to benefit your practice.

Let’s get started:

SEO for Chiropractors: The Ultimate Guide

The nice thing about search engine optimization is that while each business will take a different approach, the underlying principles remain the same.

We’ll get into specifics for chiropractors later in the article, but you should understand the fundamentals before digging into the particulars. If you already have some SEO knowledge, skip down to the portion dedicated to chiropractors.

If not, you’ve come to the right place.

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an effort to rank in the top results of any given search in a search engine. People tend to click on the first results presented to them because sites like Google have a way of finding the most relevant content and listing it at the top of their results pages.

It isn’t as simple as creating a website and waiting for users to find you. Ranking at the top of the results requires that you have an idea of what you’re doing and take the action needed to be well-optimized.

In order to understand how to optimize effectively, you first have to appreciate the interests of search engines.

What Is the Goal of the Search Engine?

Search engines are just like any other business. They have a group of individuals who they would like to make happy.

They can make users happy by providing the most relevant and useful search results in relation to the keyword searches that get entered into the search bar. When the results are good, users will come back for more.

When results aren’t relevant or cause problems for the users, they’re likely to migrate to another search engine. Google is the most popular search engine on the planet, and this is due to the fact that users trust the site’s results and have gotten used to the platform.

From a user standpoint, the process is simple and effective. In a world with trillions of websites, it’s incredibly useful to have the site you’re looking for presented to you instantly.

On the other side of things, few people think about how those sites got there.

The Search Engine Algorithm

Search engines use algorithms to identify the sites relevant to a keyword search. These algorithms are incredibly sophisticated and they’re constantly improving.

When a user makes a search, the terms entered into the search bar are run against the countless sites in Google’s index and narrowed down through the use of the algorithm.

The algorithm consists of some 200 ranking factors that are noted when a site gets indexed. Things like keyword volume, link networks, website architecture, location, products, and more are all documented and used when a relevant search is made.

Your goal is to craft your site in a way makes Google think you are more relevant than competing sites. As we’ll see this requires an active process of optimization as well as a foundational, well-optimized site.

When SEO for Chiropractors is done right, a business can land itself in the top search results of a number of searches.

Let’s get into the essential tactics you should use to lay establish yourself at the top of the rankings.

Keyword Research

Keywords are the bedrock of the entire search engine process. Without user searches, there would be no need for a search engine in the first place and people would use other means to find the information they were looking for.

When we optimize, we’re optimizing for specific keyword searches. It’s impossible to optimize for “chiropractors” in general, although it is possible to generate enough influence that your page ranks well for most terms in a particular field.

It takes a long time to get to that point, though, so it’s crucial that you focus on keywords that are relevant to you and optimize for them. In many cases, this requires that you key in on a location.

For example, Minnesota chiropractors might optimize for the term “chiropractors in Minnesota.”

Selecting a keyword to optimize for isn’t as simple as picking the thing that makes the most sense to you, though. It’s essential that you do research on particular keywords and know that those terms have a healthy volume of traffic.

Identifying Useful Keywords

There are a number of ways for you to identify keywords to optimize for. Keyword research tools are effective at looking at search volume for specific terms as well as finding out whether or not those terms have too much competition.

For example, there are probably millions of people searching for “used cars.” That term, no doubt, gets a lot of traffic but what are the odds that a small business could rank for the term?

In the face of every business and medical association in the United States, your chances of ranking for general chiropractic terms is probably low. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find your traffic-niche though.

The goal is to identify terms that have a lot of search volume but relatively low competition.

The internet is chock-full of keyword research and SEO tools, but you might be paying for a service that you won’t be able to use effectively at first. Our suggestion for the beginner is to use Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a sophisticated tool that you can use for free and have access to the latest data on specific terms within Google. There are a number of other features in Analytics, but be sure to understand keyword research first.

Create Regular Content

The crux of your success in SEO for chiropractors is whether or not you can regularly produce well-optimized, useful content.

This means writing and posting blog posts in most cases. You can optimize a post for particular keywords, thereby branching out the reach of the keywords that your site is poised for.

You can follow your keyword research to find high-volume, low-competition terms and write or create content that responds to the user inquiry of those terms. In other words, make sure your content is perfectly paired to the keyword.

So, if your keyword phrase is “How to help my lower back,” you could write an informational article on ways to improve the health of your lower back, inserting that keyword at relevant points. You should also direct users back to your website to get more information about the care you could provide them.

Structure Your Posts

The purpose of your content is twofold. First, it should be optimized so that it ranks highly in searches and attracts users. Second, it should be compelling enough to drive users back to your site so that they can engage with your business.

In your case, it means driving potential patients toward your site so that they can come in for your services.

Your content creation should be structured in a way that branches out. Your product and service pages are the ones that will generate business, these are your pillar pages.

The content that addresses user keyword trends are ones that are meant to generate interest, and these are your tertiary pages. Tertiary pages should be optimized for trending terms and include calls to action that direct users back to your pillar pages.

For example, reading about ways to fix your lower back would lead to a link that lists your services, prompting that user to call you and make an appointment.

See How Others Are Optimizing

If you’re concerned about ranking highly in your field, take a peek at what high ranking sites are doing on their pages. Find a search term that you would like to rank for and make that search in an incognito browser.

Using an incognito browser prevents the search engine from tailoring the results to your personal information. When the results come, click on the top-ranking result and look through the page.

Make note of everything from keyword placement to the use of images and videos. Whatever that site is doing is working in the eyes of the search engine. Without copying, you can adjust your page to be more in line with the highly-ranking ones, probably improving your rankings directly as a result.

Need Some Help Moving Forward?

Conducting great SEO for chiropractors requires a little bit of effort. We understand that handling SEO and working at your practice can be pretty difficult. We’re here to help. Contact us to schedule a FREE consultation and website analysis about your chiropractic practice.

Explore our site for more information on how to move forward online with search engine optimization.