ZocDoc SEO

From PatientGain’s perspective, Zocdoc competes with your practice’slocal SEO by dominating search engine results pages (SERPs) through a massive, platform-based strategy that individual practices cannot match. While Zocdoc presents itself as a partner for patient acquisition, it simultaneously functions as a powerful, centralized marketplace that pulls potential patients away from a practice’s own brand and website. 

ZocDoc’s methods for competing with your local SEO

• Dominating local search results: Zocdoc uses its high domain authority and aggressive SEO strategy to rank for a huge volume of “city + specialty” search terms. This pushes individual practices’ organic listings further down the page.
• Example below: A patient is looking for EKG test in Orange City FL. You can see a Google PPC ad from ZocDoc. The objective of this ad is to drive traffic to ZocDoc platform. Imagine the cost of the click is $5.65 and if the patient books on one of ZocDoc listsings, they charge $96.00 for the booking fee. This means that ZocDoc’s strategy of diverting potential patients to their listing is working. However, if you have a practice in this area, now you are competing with ZocDoc for the same patients.

• Competing in paid search: Zocdoc invests heavily in paid advertising, often buying ads for the same high-volume, generic search terms that a practice would use. These Zocdoc ads frequently appear above the individual practice’s ads and organic listings, diverting traffic to the Zocdoc marketplace.
• Funneling traffic to its marketplace: When a patient clicks a Zocdoc ad, they are sent to the Zocdoc website, not the individual practice’s site. This puts the practice in direct competition with other providers listed in the Zocdoc marketplace.
• Undermining brand experience: The patient’s initial interaction is with the Zocdoc brand, not the provider’s practice. This reduces the practice’s ability to build its own brand loyalty and relationship with the patient.
• Creating self-competition: For a practice that advertises on both Google and Zocdoc, there is a risk of competing against its own ads. A patient might see both, but a click on the Zocdoc ad results in a platform booking fee, even though the patient was already aware of the practice.
• Influencing Google Business Profiles (GBPs): Zocdoc can create a “sneaky control feature” through partner syndication feeds that integrate its booking service directly into a practice’s GBP listing. This funnels potential patients into the Zocdoc platform, potentially without the practice fully understanding the dependency it creates.
• Centralizing reviews: While Zocdoc profiles include patient reviews that can be used for local SEO, they also centralize that content on the Zocdoc platform, further reinforcing its authority and marketplace function. 

The PatientGain counter-strategy

To regain control and compete effectively with ZocDoc, PatientGain would advise practices to focus on building their own sustainable, long-term SEO assets:

• Own your patient acquisition channel: PatientGain’s approach emphasizes directing all marketing efforts toward the practice’s own website and brand. This avoids expensive transactional fees and reinforces the practice’s brand identity.
• Enhance your Google Business Profile (GBP): Optimize your GBP with accurate information, high-quality photos, and regular posts. Actively encourage patient reviews directly on Google, as this is a powerful local SEO signal that you control. DO NOT ADD ZocDoc Book Now on your Google Business Profile (GBP).
• Invest in a strong website and content: Create valuable, patient-centered content, such as blog posts and detailed service pages, that are optimized for local search terms. This builds your own website’s authority and relevance with search engines.
• Develop a transparent marketing funnel: With a platform like PatientGain, all marketing efforts are directed to your own website, allowing you to clearly measure ROI without the added fees and brand dilution of a marketplace.
• Focus on long-term value: Instead of paying high, one-time patient acquisition costs to a platform like Zocdoc, a practice should invest in assets like its own website that will continue to generate value over time. 

Example of a primary care practice leads funnel: Majority of the new website inquiries, leads, referrals, contact-us, appointments and new patient calls are from Website SEO .