Search Engine Optimization Services for Physicians in USA & Canada $999 Per Month. Using reverse search engine AI based algorithm, PatientGain can improve conversions.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for doctors refers to the process of optimizing a medical practice’s website to rank higher on search engines like Google, making it more visible to potential patients searching online for healthcare services in their area, primarily through the use of local SEO strategies and relevant keywords related to their medical specialty.

SEO services for doctors can cost from $500 to $1000/month for a single location clinic. However it is included in the PLATINUM service, which costs $999/mon. Applies to doctors, surgeons & healthcare practices. SEO for doctors is also known as “Medical SEO” and “Healthcare SEO”. 8 specific steps for achieving great SEO for doctors. If you are a dentist or a dental practice manager, then you will need dental SEO, see this page. Always start with your website. Remove every thing that can slow your medical mobile website to load. Use original content, cannot use copied or regenerated content.
Although the term SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, the term “SEO” can have different meaning to different professionals, but we will assume that you are a doctor, physician, surgeon or an administrator of a practice. In very broad terms, you would like to acquire new patients for your practice, and engage existing patients, using digital strategies. There are certain elements that every provider should look for when looking to hire a good medical marketing company. Proven track record and clear ROI based live dashboards is one of the important aspects.
Example 1: Medical provider, primary care, who offers Semaglutide medical weight loss. You can see that in the month of May 849 new leads were generated.

The leads being generated are primarily from non-paid organic SEO strategy. This client is using PLATINUM Monthly service from PatientGain. See data below – most of the SEO keywords are specific to what the patients are looking for in the targeted area. Using reverse search engine AI based algorithm, PatientGain can improve conversions.

Example 2: Pain management provider, located is the south-west, in extremely competitive area of US. 2 Locations, 8 exam rooms, 5 providers. You can see that in the month of December, 703 new leads were generated. This customer is not using any ads. All leads are being generated from organic, non-paid efforts, primarily Google SEO, and social media posting app, this app generates 20 posts per month for Google GMB, Facebook and Instagram. It is included in the monthly PLATINUM Service from PatientGain.

Example 2 – Continued : Pain management provider, located is the south-west, in extremely competitive area of USA. The dashboard below is of SEO keywords with the highest conversion rates. What this means is that these are not just keywords that appear on the first page of Google search, they are actual clicks that cause a patient to land on a specific page with relevant information.

Let’s face it, as a medical practice owner, it becomes difficult to learn technology and run your business at the same time, it is time consuming and takes you away from your core focus of taking care of your patients and running your medical practice. Hence it makes sense for you to look at a professional service like PatientGain’s GOLD service. More details are located here for the GOLD service. SEO for doctors is also known as Medical SEO, learn more here.
Table of Contents:
Step 1 : Website Overall Strategy
Step 2 : Website Content Marketing
Step 3 : Local SEO and Speech Based SEO
Step 4 : Social Media Marketing
Step 5 : Online Advertising Plan
Step 6 : Online Reviews Management & Marketing
Step 7 : Email Marketing & Email Automation
Step 8 : Texting/SMS Apps and Automation


8 Steps For Achieving Great SEO Results for Doctors
The term “SEO” can have different meaning to different professionals, but we will assume that you are a doctor, physician, dentist, surgeon or an administrator of a practice. We have seen that these professionals mean high search rankings, and simply want to acquire more patients using “SEO”. So based on this, we will define SEO beyond the Search Engine Optimization strategies. In broader term, you want to have higher SEO rankings and you want to take additional steps to attract new patients who are looking for services that you offer. You also desire to attract existing and past patients and “engage” them.
Step 1 : Website Overall Strategy
Get a Website that converts and has high SEO rankings – Website should have certain characteristics. Learn more about website conversion strategy. Website should be built on proven platform like WordPress. It should be mobile optimized, and should load in less than 4 seconds. You can check your website here for free. When designing your medical website, you need to keep conversion rates in mind. You might undoubtedly be familiar with the term “conversion rates” if you have worked with online ads before, but how do conversation rates apply to websites?
Why you need fast loading healthcare website?
Pages that loaded in less than 3 seconds had a highest conversion rate, top tier. We measured mobile patients only, as majority of the patients visit your medical and dental websites from a iPhone or Android phone.
Pages that load in 3.1 to 4.0 seconds conversion rate dropped by 6 % from the top tier
Pages that load in 4.1 to 5.0 seconds conversion rate dropped by 19 % from the top tier
Pages that load in 5.1 to 6.0 seconds conversion rate dropped by 34 % from the top tier
Pages that load in 6.1 to 9.0 seconds conversion rate dropped by 61 % from the top tier
Pages that load in 9.1 to 12.0 seconds conversion rate dropped by 84 % from the top tier
More than 12 seconds, we did not calculate
When talking about conversation rates as it applies to websites, means having as a percentage as possible who visit your website accomplish a task. In the image below, you will see results of www.patientgain.com from the google’s tool called https://web.dev/measure/ This is a good tool to see the results of your website speed. Note that you want to re-run this tool several times, and then take the average. So if you run this tool 4 times, using the URL of your website, the average of the 4 runs is what you are looking for. When you run it the first time, the images are not cached, hence you will see very low scores. Re run the same test again to get an average. In the example below, you will see that PatientGain.com website, developed on WordPress, hosted on very fast Google cloud, memory bound servers, loads as follows : 1) Performance score 97% 2) Accessibility score 100% 3) Best practices score 100% 4) SEO score 100%. This is according to Google.


Step 2 : Website Content Marketing
For higher SEO rankings – start with your own content. Add useful content your website. Base you website on proven software like WordPress.org. Learn more about medical website content marketing. What Is Medical Marketing Content & Why Is It Important?
1) Text, words and sentences – useful information for the reader.
2) Images with relevant tags and links
3) Videos, diagrams, and other visual aids that support the main headings, sub headings and actual paragraph text.
This information is consumed by your prospect and existing patients in the form of Website content pages, Blogs, Facebook Posts, Email Newsletters, Images on Instagram, Feeds on Twitter, SMS text messages on mobile devices. Hence your medical marketing content should be interesting, attractive, useful, and provide value to your prospect patient or an existing patient. Unique quality content on your own website is the single most important factor for higher SEO rankings for doctors and medical practices. Learn more details about medical SEO here.
Once a potential patient visits your website, next most important step is to “convert” into a lead. What is a a lead? and what does it mean to “convert”?
Step 3 : Local SEO and Speech Based SEO
Directories like Google MyBusiness, Yelp, Facebook business page, and Apple maps are very important. Provide a link back to your website. We do not recommend listing your website on dozens of low value directories. You should only list you website where you are able to 1) control and respond to negative reviews 2) the directory has a traffic of high value patients who are looking for your medical services. Learn more about local SEO. Google my business (GMB) is also a very important for the success of your practice. Regular optimization of GMB and posting on GMB is required to maintain good local SEO for your medical practice. Google search is extremely powerful and most important factor for your dental and medical practice’s success. Patientgain.com’s data shows that 78 percent of your online success is tied to Google as a company. Google Search for doctors is equally important. Let’s face it – patients go to Google Search to look for healthcare related services
Step 4 : Social Media Marketing
Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms can provide boost to your medical marketing and advertising. Social media success for doctors requires 3 main focus areas 1) Posting on social media 2) Apps for social media 3) Advertising on social media. As social media and specifically Facebook becomes more important for users all over the world, businesses need to do more on Facebook. How do you stand out from thousands of other businesses who are advertising and working to get the attention and “Likes” of targeted users? The first step in answering this question is to look at the leaders in your space and your industry to see what they are doing on Social Media, and more specifically, on Facebook. PatientGain offers AI based content for your social media posting. This app comes with a dedicated and knowledgeable healthcare project manager. This app is included in the monthly PLATINUM service or can be purchased by itself.
Step 5 : Online Digital Advertising Plan
Consider both offline and online advertising. However most of your patients will come from online advertising. Online advertising for doctors has huge impact on patient acquisition. However, understand that not everyone can build, optimize and improve an advertising campaign. Use only certified companies. Our data shows that proper advertising produces more patients for 99 percentage of the clinics/doctors. However setting up and managing Google, Facebook, Instagram ads is not a simple task. Just one or two mistakes can waste your budget. Our data shows that over 73% of the campaigns have issues, they have incorrect settings, wrong targeting, not enough branded images (for display based campaigns), or improper negative keywords or no negative keywords. List goes on and on. We have seen disasters, but we have also seen good campaigns. In summary, online advertising for doctors, works – question is how efficient is the campaign? and is it optimized?
Step 6 : Online Reviews Management & Marketing
Use a proven system and apps for measuring your patient happiness. Focus on maximizing positive reviews and minimizing negative reviews. Let’s face it – as patients leave your medical practice, either they are happy with the service, unhappy or somewhere in the middle. With a little bit of focus and excellent software on your side, you can turn the entire patient experience into a winning strategy for your practice. Unhappy, disgruntled patients can destroy the reputation of a dedicated doctor. So your strategy should be to proactively address this issue.
Step 7 : Email Marketing & Email Automation
Top practices in USA and Canada use Email Marketing with useful content, focused on medical procedures and services. This is a very effective medium, however most practices do not have time or knowledge to send send monthly campaigns. Learn more about Email marketing. Email Marketing is a vital for clinics and doctors, as it helps you promote your healthcare brand, engage with your patients, and even reactivate past patients. To run effective campaigns, your clinic needs to have a clean data, and a targeted list of patients that you’re marketing to. It is important to make sure that your Email Marketing is Mobile Optimized. You also need to make sure that you understand your patient’s behavior. Every medical practice should send Email campaigns 2 times a month (minimum 1 newsletter a month). In certain cases, 3 times a month. The Emails should be optimized for mobile layout, which is single column layout.
Step 8 : Texting/SMS Apps and Automation
New emerging strategy to differentiate your practice from other competitors. Approximately 80% of your patients will visit your Mobile Website – Using latest Texting/SMS Apps – Engage and Let them contact you using Texting. Learn more about text HIPAA compliant text/SMS apps for doctors. Studies show that well over 95% of all text messages, which are over 2 trillion a year, are opened within 3 minutes of arrival. That is a powerful and compelling reason to use medical text apps on your website. Below are some additional benefits and tips for using this excellent marketing tool to your advantage.
Experienced SEO Professionals Produce Better Results For Your SEO Campaign
In our experience, Google’s SEO is the most accurate SEO in the world. And it is a result of rigorous testing and billions of dollars of investment by Google over the 20 years or so. Google also has a very detailed SEO blog . Read more about Google’s approach to search and SEO here.





Why is SEO for doctors so difficult? This is a common question asked by doctors & practice managers every day.
If you have a business in the healthcare industry, your SEO strategy needs to be well developed. A great website and top-notch doctors inside your medical practice aren’t going to generate much in the way of revenue if people can not find your website. Your website is going to be the first touchpoint for many potential patients. Once you have a stellar SEO strategy in place, it will serve as the fuel that will drive the engine of patient conversation on your website. To have an effective SEO strategy for your healthcare business, you need to be proficient in the areas mentioned below.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for doctors presents unique challenges due to the highly competitive and regulated nature of the healthcare industry. Here’s an in-depth look at why SEO for medical practices is more complex than for other businesses:
1. High Competition in the Healthcare Sector: Standing out in a crowded market requires advanced strategies and significant effort to build authority.
- Local Competition: Many practices within the same area compete for the same keywords (e.g., “primary care doctor near me” or “OCD doctors in [city]”).
- Corporate Giants: Large healthcare organizations, hospitals, and telehealth platforms often dominate search results due to their substantial resources and established authority.
- Specialty Overlap: Practices offering similar services (e.g., dermatology, orthodontics) target overlapping keywords, intensifying competition.
2. Complex and Highly-Regulated Content: Balancing medical accuracy, regulatory compliance, and patient engagement makes creating optimized content challenging.
- Medical Accuracy: Content must be accurate, well-researched, and align with current medical standards to maintain credibility and meet patient expectations.
- Regulatory Compliance: SEO content must comply with laws like HIPAA, avoiding any mention of patient-identifiable information or making unsubstantiated claims.
- Sensitive Topics: Topics like mental health, chronic illness, or cosmetic procedures require careful and empathetic wording.
3. Ever-Changing Google Algorithms: Keeping up with Google’s stringent and evolving standards demands continuous monitoring and adjustments.
- E-A-T Standards: Google emphasizes Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) for healthcare websites, holding medical content to higher standards.
- Algorithm Updates: Frequent updates, like the Medic Core Update, specifically target health and wellness websites, requiring ongoing optimization.
4. Local SEO Complexity: Local SEO requires precise optimization strategies, especially for practices targeting multiple regions.
- Multiple Locations: Practices with multiple offices must optimize separate location pages while maintaining a cohesive brand.
- NAP Consistency: Ensuring the Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) information is consistent across important tier 1 and tier2 directories is time-consuming but critical.
- Google Business Profile: Managing and optimizing profiles for each location requires effort, especially for generating reviews and handling local competition.
5. The Need for High-Quality Backlinks: Acquiring credible backlinks is a slow and resource-intensive process.
- Authority Building: Healthcare sites need authoritative backlinks from trusted sources like medical journals, local news outlets, or industry associations.
- Outreach Challenges: Securing backlinks from these high-quality sources is more challenging than in other industries.
6. Longer Conversion Journey for Patients: SEO strategies must account for this extended decision-making process and track multiple touchpoints effectively.
- Patient Research: Patients often take longer to convert, as they research doctors, read reviews, and compare practices before making a decision.
- Multiple Touchpoints: Patients might visit the website multiple times or interact with other platforms (e.g., social media, review sites) before booking an appointment.
7. Limited Opportunities for Keyword Differentiation: Balancing competitive keywords with specific, low-volume ones requires advanced keyword research.
- Generic Keywords: Many practices target the same high-volume keywords (e.g., “family doctor near me”), which are difficult to rank for due to competition.
- Long-Tail Keywords: While long-tail keywords (e.g., “best pediatrician for asthma in [city]”) are less competitive, they often have lower search volumes.
8. Patient-Centric Content Challenges: Creating content that resonates with both search engines and patients requires expertise.
- User Intent: Patients search for a mix of informational content (e.g., symptoms) and transactional content (e.g., booking appointments), making content strategy more complex.
- Medical Jargon: Simplifying medical terms for patient understanding without losing accuracy is challenging.
9. Reputation Management and Reviews: Review management demands constant attention and directly affects local search rankings.
- Importance of Reviews: Reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades significantly impact SEO and patient trust.
- Time-Consuming Management: Generating positive reviews and addressing negative feedback requires ongoing effort.
10. High Expectations for Mobile Optimization: Ensuring a seamless, fast, and mobile-friendly experience is critical but technically demanding.
- Mobile-First Indexing: Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, especially in the healthcare industry, where patients frequently search on mobile devices.
- Appointment Integration: Mobile users expect seamless integration with features like online booking and telehealth.
11. Limited Time and Resources: SEO requires consistent effort, which can be hard to sustain without dedicated resources.
- Doctor Availability: Physicians often lack the time or expertise to manage SEO efforts themselves.
- Budget Constraints: Smaller practices may not have the budget for advanced SEO tools or hiring specialized teams.
12. Reliance on Patient Privacy: Balancing effective marketing with patient privacy creates unique challenges.
- Limited Case Studies: Unlike other industries, healthcare practices cannot easily showcase specific patient success stories due to privacy concerns.
- Regulatory Constraints: Marketing must avoid oversharing, which limits creativity and personalization.
SEO for doctors is challenging due to high competition, strict compliance requirements, ever-changing algorithms, and the complex nature of patient decision-making. Overcoming these obstacles requires a combination of technical expertise, medical industry knowledge, and a patient-first approach.
Solutions
- Hire Professionals: Partner with an experienced healthcare marketing agency.
- Focus on Local SEO: Prioritize strategies like Google Business Profile optimization and local backlinks.
- Create Quality Content: Develop authoritative, patient-friendly content tailored to your audience.
- Track and Adapt: Use analytics to measure performance and adjust strategies as needed.
While difficult, a well-executed SEO strategy can significantly enhance visibility, attract more patients, and grow your practice.
PatientGain offers the SEO for doctors service for medical practices in US and Canada for $799/mon to $1299/mon. Medical SEO is also known as Healthcare SEO and Dental SEO for dentists. Medical SEO stands for Medical Search Engine Optimization. Majority of the searches happen on Google search engine, hence we will focus on how Google search engines works and can add value to your healthcare practice. However, Bing search engine (Microsoft) should not be ignored. If you use PatientGain’s GOLD or PLATINUM service, we also focus on Bing SEO rankings for your practice. Based on our years of experience, search engine optimization for a healthcare practice has the highest ROI (Return On Investment). The only issue is that it takes time, and it is not easy. It is understandable, because it is estimated by the industry that there are approximately 4 to 6 billion number of searches happening on Google each day. What this means is that if your medical practice is not appearing in the top area of page 1, for your services, you are leaving food on the table for your competitors.