To be successful with a drug rehab center, you need to be visible. Because many, if not most, people use the internet to find certain types of healthcare, it makes sense to have a website to promote your service. However, the key to a successful website is getting traffic to it.
The most reliable way to do that is with SEO. SEO (search engine optimization) is a process that uses various tactics to provide your website with content and elements that draw the attention of search engines. The more search engines, like Google, learn about your website through SEO, the higher your web page will rank when someone searches for the service it provides in drug rehab. This article shows you how to improve your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
The Benefits of Drug Rehab SEO
Although it takes time for SEO to take effect, once search engines start showing your rehab website to searchers, you will see a difference. The number of phone calls you receive for help will increase as will your number of patients. SEO provides other great benefits that make it a logical choice for promoting your service. They include the following:
Discovery
SEO will help individuals dealing with addictions and their families to find your service.
Affordable
The difference between SEO and PPC (pay-per-click) is that results that come from the first cost nothing.
Consistent
SEO is always working for you by promoting your service 24/7.
Image
SEO will increase the authority of your brand which leads to trust and loyalty.
How to Create a Successful Drug Rehab SEO Strategy
Here are a few tactics you can employ immediately to give your website a competitive edge over those of your competitors:
Tactic #1 – Produce High-Value Content
If your treatment center website does not have a blog, you should add one. A blog gives you the avenue to publish new content regularly. The content should be relevant to the purpose of your website and offer something educational or something about addiction and how it can be treated. Future blog posts can go into detail about various treatment programs and beyond. The more interesting and useful the content, the more frequently website visitors will return to learn more. These repeat visitors eventually may become customers or patients.
Tactic #2 – Precise Metadata
Digital Authority Partners said metadata is information that is contained on each of your website pages that is aimed primarily at search engines. They understand metadata and use it to thoroughly index your web pages and more easily match them to user search queries. The metadata required includes meta descriptions, titles, keywords, and relevant images with alt text. Here is an explanation of each of these elements:
Meta Description
This is a short paragraph that describes what will be found on a specific webpage.
Title
The title appears at the top of a page and states what the main focus of the webpage is.
Keywords
Keywords are words that are relevant to your industry and match with words entered into search windows. Keywords help search engines make those matches.
Images with Alt Text
Pictures on web pages are viewed by search engines as spaces with content they can’t identify. By describing what the image is in the alt text function, you are telling search engines what they can’t see. The alt text information helps them index web pages and offer images as part of search engine results pages (SERPs).
Tactic #3 – Regular Content Production
Search engines eat up content. The more often you produce it, the more often search engines will visit your website. Relevant content also helps search engines to better understand what your website is about. To keep the search engines visiting your pages, try to post a new article weekly.
Tactic #4 – Backlinks
Another great way to increase traffic to your drug rehab website is through the use of backlinks. A backlink is a link to another website that sends traffic to your website. It takes some work dealing with website owners for link building, but backlinks benefit both sites by increasing the ranking used by search engines. The higher your website and web pages rank, the more frequently your pages will appear in SERPs. High-ranking sites are considered authority sites on the topic they are focused on. Backlinking from authority sites is always best.
Tactic #5 – Local SEO
If you are seeking more leads, local SEO is a method that produces results. Addiction treatment centers have a hard enough time getting noticed with the level of competition that exists in this field. Using local SEO to reach people in your geographic area is an effective tool. There are two very simple ways to implement local SEO. They are through online reviews and a Google My Business page.
Online Reviews
Reviews that are posted by patients and their families carry significant weight. Anyone seeking information about your rehab center, how you do business, what to expect, and anything else to do with your service, can find out a lot just from reading reviews. In many cases, excellent reviews that are keyword-friendly will get your rehab facility noticed. To get reviews, encourage anyone you have helped to post one on your Google My Business page, website, or wherever you have access to an online review site.
Google My Business
Although Google has switched this feature to Google Maps, you can still create a business page where reviews can be added. For individuals seeking rehab treatment centers in your community, your page should pop up on their handheld devices. IThrough this outlet, potential new patients can learn all about your service, visit your website, see photos, and read reviews.
Final Thoughts
Decades ago, effective drug rehabs were few and far between. Now, there are dozens and dozens. Using technology, you must position yourself so that when people in need search for information on drug rehabs, your facility pops up as an option. The only way to ensure that is with SEO practices. The list above spells out a few of the most effective SEO tactics to get you started. By using them right away, your treatment center can experience long-term success.
