Search Engine Optimization and Marketing for Chiropractors
Chiropractors are in a hyper local business environment. Your potential clients are looking for you on the internet, and the way they are searching has dramatic implications. If you aren’t positioning yourself to be not just at the top of the search engines, but all over the first page, you are missing out on significant opportunities. Done right, a holistic search engine marketing campaign can yield a minimum of 10-15 additional clients per month for your business.
Consider the value of 10-15 additional clients per month as threefold:
- The initial consultation fees.
- The recurring, ongoing revenue from lifelong clients.
- The value of referrals from these new clients.
Clearly an additional 10-15 clients per month equates to six figures of additional annual income. If your business is not currently capitalizing on these opportunities, here are the things that you should be doing:
ü On-site optimization – Your website needs to be properly set up for the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) to find you and rank your site for the keywords you’re targeting. Title tags, properly formatted headings, meta descriptions, keywords, etc. If you don’t have somebody paying attention to these things, Google is most likely penalizing your site.
ü A well-designed internal linking campaign – Your clients are searching for you in all sorts of manners, but very often it’s by their specific city or zip code. They might type “Gotham City Chiropractor” or “63011 Chiropractor” and when they do, you need to be the site that they click on. Achieving this for all of your surrounding cities and zip codes should be your goal.
ü Keyword Research – A successful internet marketing strategy starts with identifying the keywords that are most relevant, while at the same time being attainable in search rankings. This forms the basis for much of your campaign, as well as your content development.
ü Link Building – Improves the perceived authority of your site with the search engines. Helps to rank for keywords you are targeting. Just having a well-optimized site with keywords in the right places won’t get you to the top of Google. You have to combine that with what is called backlinking, the process of acquiring links from other websites. These links point to your site, and indicate to Google that you are important for your keywords. It is an ongoing effort to continually build links pointing back to your site.
ü Article Marketing – Creating content is one of the greatest drivers of web traffic. There are two types of content that you should create:
- Quality Articles for Use on Your Site Only – Keeping your site updated with new content is important for a slew of reasons. From a traffic standpoint, search engines want to see that your site is alive and being updated on a regular basis. This helps you move up in the rankings. Furthermore, you want to use your keywords (previously identified in keyword research) within these articles to further boost your search engine rankings.
- Articles for Backlinking – Create articles to be placed on various directories and sites around the internet. These articles will provide links back to your site for the keywords we have targeted. This is part of a broader link building strategy.
ü Third Party Site Development – There are certain “social bookmarking” sites that Google ranks very well. Building one of these sites and maintaining it is a great way to not only boost your keyword rankings, but you will often see these pages find their way to the first page of Google. Your customers will visit the page, which features your company information.
ü YouTube – Video is one of the best ways to quickly get on the first page of Google for your targeted keywords. You should create a number of videos targeting various keywords, paying most attention to the SEO characteristics, while at the same time presenting a professional image to prospects.
ü Videos on Other Sites – YouTube is the place to be, but there are many other video sharing sites that your videos can be syndicated to. This provides more exposure and valuable links back to your site.
ü Google Places – Having a properly optimized google places account is critical for being found on the internet. Just having a Google Places account is but the first step. Properly preparing it and optimizing it so you show up number 1, that’s where the real work comes in.
ü List your business on hundreds of other online directories. You can no longer be concerned with just one listing. You have to get your business listed in hundreds of places that prospects might be looking for you. Doing this provides links back to your site as well, from high authority sites, further improving the authority of your site with the search engines.
ü Google Adwords – You can pay Google to be ranked at the very top of the paid section. This is nowhere near as valuable as the organic search results. But if your internet marketing efforts are just beginning, it’s a good way to make sure you are being found. As your internet marketing work progresses and you begin to rank well organically, you may decide to stop the paid ads with Google. On the other hand, some business owners elect to continue with Adwords, enjoying the additional exposure on the first page of Google.
ü Other Paid Search – While Google is the behemoth, Yahoo and Bing still have a formidable share of the market. As of September 2011, Hitwise reported that Bing and Yahoo searches represent approximately 43% of searches by U.S. internet users. That’s too big to ignore. A little less than half of your audience is not using Google. If you are going to spend money on paid advertisements on search engines, you should consider spending 1/3 of your budget on Yahoo and Bing.
ü Email Marketing Campaigns – For some chiropractors, an email marketing campaign is a great way to stay in front of prospects. When they’re ready to buy, you’re the one they think of.
ü Special Reports – A great fantastic way to encourage prospects to engage with your business is to offer a free report. This report can help grow your email list quickly, increase your base of prospects, and establish your expertise.
Here’s the goal: Establishing a web presence so strong that your pipeline of new clients is constantly full.
This requires:
- 1. Having your business appear on the first page of Google in 4-5 different places.
- 2. Having a website that is properly optimized to convert prospects to real leads.
As with anything that is worth having, this too takes hard work. And it doesn’t happen overnight. Internet marketing efforts can take time, although some work will show results quickly. If you need help, my information is below. Send me a note and we can talk about the best way to get you ramped up.
Drew Stevens…
Sick of struggling and want more help to get this done for you. Then we need to speak Contact Me Now for A Quick Assessment.
