Reputation SEO for Orthopedic Providers: An Introduction
Reputation SEO for Orthopedic Providers: An Introduction
Today, 86% of patients read online reviews when searching for healthcare services. A 14-point jump from the year before, this upward trend has made one thing clear: the way patients choose their providers has changed.
As online reviews become more integral to the patient journey, orthopedic practices of all sizes have been forced to adapt the way they acquire and retain patients. Among the many solutions available, online reputation management has quickly become one of the most popular.
A modern approach to trust marketing, healthcare reputation management (HRM) enhances a practice’s perception among its current and future patients, with the overarching goal of boosting new patient acquisition. HRM largely seeks to elevate a practice’s online presence through the improvement of its provider and location listings, ratings and reviews, and patient engagement.
As reputation management becomes more widely adopted, Reputation SEO has emerged as a pivotal strategy for acquiring and retaining patients.
Building upon HRM’s primary strategies, Reputation SEO presents providers with an innovative way to improve their visibility in search engine results through the power of patient-generated content — an easier and more cost-effective approach than traditional search engine optimization methods.
In this article, we introduce this key digital marketing strategy, explore its primary benefits, and share why it's a perfect fit for healthcare providers.
Contents:
- What is Reputation SEO?
- The Three Primary Benefits of Reputation SEO
- Why Reputation SEO Matters to Orthopedic Groups
- Maximize Your Practice’s Reputation SEO with rater8
What is Reputation SEO?
Reputation SEO uses patient-generated content to maximize a practice’s online visibility and rankings in search results, particularly in local “discovery” or “category” searches such as “best orthopedic practice near me.”
The distinction between traditional SEO and Reputation SEO is demonstrated on search engine results pages (SERPs). Both strategies seek to improve the position of a practice’s website in the organic results section; however, Reputation SEO also focuses on a practice’s ranking in the local results section.
Displayed above organic results, the local results section — commonly known as the “Google 3-Pack,” — showcases Google Business Profile listings and patient reviews. Reputation SEO employs HRM strategies like complete listings, frequent reviews, and consistent patient engagement to improve rankings in this area.
Reputation SEO also deviates from conventional on-page and technical SEO tactics. For example, Reputation SEO generates better SERPs results through the cultivation of 5-star patient reviews, as opposed to keyword stuffing, content tagging, and page speed optimization.
A step above traditional SEO methods, Reputation SEO elevates a practice’s overall visibility in search results, rather than focusing solely on organic rankings.
The Three Primary Benefits of Reputation SEO
Local search domination
The Google 3-Pack holds the number one spot in 93% of all searches. Listings in those top-ranking positions receive five times more views and twice as many actions as other local search results, averaging a 113% increase in clicks or actions. Healthcare providers average a 183% increase in total listing views.
Website visits and phone calls increase by 76%, while direction requests spike by 88%. The growth of these three actions is notable because they’re indicators of “high-intent patients” — those who are most likely to schedule an appointment.
With an effective Reputation SEO strategy in place, orthopedic practices with multiple listings can dominate all three positions in a Google 3-Pack to dramatically increase the visibility of their listings, boost high-intent patient interactions, and stifle their competitors’ online presence.
Ease of execution
Conventional digital marketing strategies like pay-per-click and traditional SEO require far too much time and technical expertise to execute effectively and consistently.
Because Reputation SEO builds upon HRM’s primary results, orthopedic groups can execute an impactful Reputation SEO strategy through the enhancement of their online reputation. To make things even easier, leading HRM solutions manage the majority of review-building efforts, turning Reputation SEO into a hands-free digital marketing strategy.
Cost-effective marketing
Because improved Reputation SEO can be achieved through the same methods as online reputation management, practices need only invest in an HRM solution to maximize their local search results ranking.
Essentially two-for-one purchases, leading HRM solutions are more cost-effective than the average marketing campaign, making Reputation SEO the obvious choice over more conventional strategies.
Why Reputation SEO Matters to Orthopedic Providers
When it comes to improving a practice’s online presence, HRM focuses on three key elements as drivers of trust marketing:
- Complete and accessible provider and location listings.
- Patient-generated content like reviews and ratings to serve as social proof of quality care.
- Consistent patient engagement to demonstrate a positive patient experience.
Google and other search engines have shifted from prioritizing traditional SEO, to instead favoring local search results validated by customers in the form of ratings and reviews.
In other words, social proof reigns supreme: consumer trust in a business has become more valuable to Google’s algorithms than the quality of information found on a business’s website. This means orthopedic providers excelling in each of the above three areas will rank higher in search results.
How to get to the top? A comprehensive Reputation SEO strategy increases the likelihood that your listings will appear in the Google 3-Pack, where they will receive the vast majority of web traffic and actions. Effective Reputation SEO means optimizing the “Four R’s” of your practice’s online image, each of which contributes meaningfully to Google’s algorithms:
- Reviews: How many total reviews do your listings have?
- Ratings: Are your star-ratings high enough (4.8+)?
- Recency: Are you receiving reviews regularly?
- Responses: Are you responding to patient reviews?
Many variables used to determine search rankings are outside of your control, such as your physical address. However, you can easily control and quickly improve each of the “Four R’s” to maximize your Reputation SEO. All other conditions being equal, Google prioritizes listings that have the best combination of reviews, ratings, recency, and responses.
Not only does Google use patient-generated content to determine which listings to prioritize and promote in search results (Reputation SEO), but virtually all prospective patients use the same online ratings and reviews to make decisions about their providers (trust marketing).
The same “Four R’s” that make you more visible to patients online are the very same factors that will influence a patient’s decision whether or not to choose you. Abundant and frequent reviews, higher star-ratings, and responsiveness all contribute to a patient’s sense of trust and confidence that you’re the right provider to care for them or their loved ones.
Cost-effective, simple, and efficient, there’s no better strategy than Reputation SEO to foster brand awareness, inspire patient trust, and boost acquisition.
Maximize Your Practice’s Reputation SEO with rater8
When it comes to meeting today’s patients where they are, there is no solution better fit for orthopedic providers than rater8.
A comprehensive HRM software, rater8 offers the industry’s only goal-based online review builder, designed to cultivate 5-star patient reviews via post-visit text and email requests. In addition to boasting an average response rate of 28%, the solution’s powerful internal algorithm, pollin8™, intelligently distributes review requests. Each patient is directed to the listing and review platform that needs the most attention, optimizing every provider and location listing across multiple review sites to maximize a practice’s Reputation SEO.
Importantly, rater8 seamlessly integrates with over 100 leading practice management and EMR systems, ensuring all review requests are fully automated and sent exclusively to verified patients.
To begin a 30-day free trial and start maximizing your Reputation SEO, schedule a live demo with rater8’s team of experts.
