If you’re reading this there’s a 97% chance you have a website for your practice, and if you have a website for your practice there’s a 100% chance you people in your community to find it when searching for what you offer.  

 

From Google Reviews to backlinking strategies… it’s an ever changing strategy and there are few that know the rules.

 

Let me start by saying this is one of the most untrusted areas of chiropractic marketing because of all the spammy emails you likely receive from “experts” who tell you they can rank your website at the top of Google.

 

I know this because I get these emails about twice a day myself, and because I’m a member of many “groups” in the internet marketing realm and there are so many wantrepreneurs who start their journey by becoming an SEO expert.

 

So who do you trust?

 

Search Engine Optimization is like cooking a big steak (for those of us who haven’t taken the vegan approach)… once you figure out the right ingredients, ratios, temperature, and timing, you can create predictable results time and time again.

 

One man that I wouldn’t necessarily trust with my steak, but would put my Credit Card down for local SEO goes by the name “Mike Wu”.

 

(Wu happens to be his “stage name”. That Good.)

 

Mike has cracked the code (or the recipe in this metaphor) on what it takes to make big shifts on Google in your local area to generate more eyeballs on your website, and he helped me create this checklist for you!

 

First, let me explain why this is important to you this year.

• 97% of consumers use internet when researching local products/services (BIA/Kelsey)
• 54 percent of Americans have substituted the Internet and local search for phone books (comScore)
• 98% of searchers choose a business that is on page 1 of the results they get.
• 88% of consumers consult online reviews before they purchase local services

 

That means there is a significant amount of potential for your website! No matter how big or small your city is, you want this traffic to go to YOUR site over your competitors.

 

**Make sure before you start this process, you have an inviting and well-converting website to send them to, or you’re just wasting more dollars.

I mean, you wouldn’t send invites to a big party at your place and not clean up before the party, right?!

“ 32% of consumers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a website”

So once you’ve cleaned your house (ensured your website has good forms, a good offer and an aesthetically pleasing look to match the character of your office)

Then you can dive into these 3 steps:

#1. OnPage Optimization

Your “web guy” will know what to do here but you need to ensure they are doing it. Onpage optimization is the process of making sure that the inside pages and posts of your site have the correct data to allow the search engines to find your properly.

 

Many sites “should” have their keyword such as “Toronto chiropractor” as the main keywords when you search the site, but I too often see the main keyword cloud being words like “family, home” etc.

 

Well these words are great, they won’t put your higher on Google’s popularity contest.

Here’s an example pulled from Google’s 1st page results from “Toronto Chiropractor”. I tested with a bloor-west downtown chiro site.

This website scores a B- for SEO and actually has a lot of elements done correctly, but this is their top used keywords pulled:

 

This tells Google a lot of things it needs to know to rank it on the first page, knowing the location, the industry, and down to the street location.

BUT there is no reason “email” should be pulling in their main keywords tags.

 

So as Mike suggests, download the free tool “Yoast SEO” for WordPress and update the “Title, Description & Keywords” for every post and page to make a significant difference in how Google understands your content.

 

PRO TIP:

Go to Google Keyword tool and search for your city’s hottest keyword term, changing the flow of the world can make the difference between 1,000 searches and 10,000.

See ex of ‘Toronto Chiropractor’ vs ‘Chiropractor Toronto’. This will make a huge difference in your online marketing.

Keep a list of the top 5 for your city.

 

Start at the Google Keyword Tool here

**you’ll get a lot more out of your search if you create an adwords account.

 

#2. Claim Your Google Listing

This is all too simple and it’s amazing how many chiro’s I come across that have unclaimed profiles.

Google maps is one of the best ROI you can get for the price if optimized correctly. If you google “your city + Chiropractor” there will be maps location listings that come up after the ads.

Click on More places and you will (hopefully) come across your own listing.

 

This is a great test to see how far down you rank. It is best to get someone else to do this for you or hide your information so it looks like a regular potential patients perspective.

 

Once you find your location, make sure you click “ Own this business? “ and setup the listing properly.

This means crafting the description, making sure the Name, Address, Phone number are accurate and adding proper office hours and pictures.

 

I would then Google “Business Name + Citation” and look at all the other sites that come up to claim and optimize (Rate MD’s, Yelp, Facebook, etc)

 

#3. Schema Markup on Site

This one is a little more technical but can be done in house or hired out.

Google openly admitted that schema is a factor in its ranking algorithm and has been supporting those who use it.

Ever see a website who has a ranking underneath the URL right on Google?

 

The stars show up because its written in the site to tell Google to show the ranking.

Very few people do this and VERY FEW chiropractors have this.

 

With a good content strategy and some consistent reviews, your schema markup will stand out above the rest.

 

So how is this done?

You can pay for a wordpress plugin called Project Supremacy and has a free trial.

Or you can code it by hand using this guide, or hire it out.

 

This will tell Google to highlight some of the key terms, articles, reviews, product details etc.

 

POWERFUL.

 

Just by doing those three things you should see some improvement (unless you are already at the top).

 

There are actually 7 steps that Mike shared with us. You can find out the other 4 steps your CA can do by downloading the full infographic here.

 

We also put together a full training video that you can access as well that will walk you through the Why and the How to implement these 7 factors.

 

By implementing these {7} steps, you will start to see your Google report will start to look like this:

 

This can all be done in office by your CA with a little bit of training. If not it is easily hired out.

 

Click Here to Get the Download and start attracting more new patients in your chiropractic practice.

 

 

 

 

Stats via Brightlocal