Latest / The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers / How to Rank for “Near Me” Searches in Your Area | Local SEO | Ep. 113

Transcript

How to Rank for “Near Me” Searches in Your Area | Local SEO | Ep. 113 · The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Clinic Marketing Podcast, where we help chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, med spas and other clinic owners attract more local patients and grow their business through smarter digital marketing efforts.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, darci Sullivan from Propel Marketing and Design, and today we're diving into one of the most common and powerful types of local search the near me search.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: If you've ever pulled out your phone and typed something like gas station near me, restaurant near me or anything of the sort, you know how valuable it is.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: And if we flip the script and look at your patients, who go to their phones or computer and usually type in something like massage therapist near me or chiropractor near me, we know how important it is to rank.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Millions of people search this way every day, especially when they're ready to book an appointment or visit a business.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: The big question is how do you make your clinic show up in those results?
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Let's break it down Near me searches are intent driven.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Near me searches are intent driven.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: That means the person searching is actively looking for a solution, now usually close to either their home, their work, where they're staying, if they're on vacation or wherever they're searching from, because they are looking for near me results.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: These types of searches often lead to action.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: We're talking about phone calls, map directions and booking appointments all within minutes of hitting that search button.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: So if your business isn't showing up for these results, you're likely missing out on some real quality website traffic.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Now, if you've listened to our podcast for a while, you know that we talk a lot about SEO and we had an amazing episode on what ranking factors matter when it comes to Google Map rankings, when it comes to local rankings, when it comes to organic rankings, when it comes to Google Map rankings, when it comes to local rankings, when it comes to organic rankings, when it comes to a variable of different rankings and we're not going to get into that specifically in this episode.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I will leave links in the show notes that will guide you towards some of those resources, but today I just want to give you some tips for ranking for that near me search.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: It's important to understand how Google handles near me searches.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: When someone types in acupuncturist near me, google just doesn't look for the word near me on your website, which is what some people try to shove in and think is the right answer.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Instead, it uses a combination of factors to figure out who to show.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Those include proximity how close your clinic is to the searcher.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Relevance, how well your business matches the search query.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Prominence, how strong your online presence is.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: This includes content on your website, content on your Google business profile listing, reviews, links and other things.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Again, you can look at that episode that we did that broke down all of the factors if you want more detail on specific ranking factors for search, but right now we're just talking about near me search, and with this it means that ranking for near me ranking for near me doesn't require magic.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: What it requires is a solid local SEO strategy, and this is starts with step one, which is optimizing your Google business profile listing.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: We have tons of resources Again, we'll include those in the show notes specific to your Google business profile listing but when it comes to ranking in those near me searches, there are a couple of things that I want to highlight.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Right now, you need to make sure that your Google business profile is fully optimized.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: If you are a member of our DIY SEO group, ready Set Rank, within that program you'll find the latest training on how to optimize your Google business profile listing.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: If you're interested in joining Ready Set Rank, you can find out details by visiting propellyourcompanycom.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: But what we want to do is we want to make sure that your business name, your address and your phone number are accurate and consistent throughout the web, that you've chosen the right categories.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: You want your primary category to be just that, whatever your primary category is.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: But don't stop there.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: If secondary categories work for you, make sure you add them.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: For example, if you're a chiropractor who also offers massage therapy, list them both.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: List your primary category as chiropractor, but massage therapy as a secondary category.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that you add detailed service descriptions focusing on those keywords, that you upload real photos, not stock photos, to your Google business profile listing and that you encourage those positive reviews.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Those are all actions you should take on your Google business profile listing.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Those are just some of the few actions you should take on your Google business profile listing, but if you're just getting started, those are some really great steps.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: But we also have location-specific keywords on your website To help Google connect your website to local search queries when somebody's searching online.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: You need to include location-based content throughout your website.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: This does not mean that you just put together a page that's about the city where your clinic is located.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: I've seen those pages.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Those pages might rank for a few keywords, but they're never usually related to the services or what somebody is searching for.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: For example, if you're a chiropractor, let's say you're a chiropractor in Boston and that does not mean that you need a page on your website that's just about the city of Boston, because somebody looking for information about the city of Boston is probably either visiting there or looking for other specific information, not information related to chiropractic care.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that you add keyword what I would call amplifiers that relate to your location.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: So your city or your neighborhood should be on your homepage.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Right, it could be chiropractorcom in Boston or the leading sports chiropractic care in Boston.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that we're including those location-based keywords, or keyword amplifiers, because they're going with the other keywords.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Right, the keywords that identify the services that you offer.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that we're including those in the headers, that we're including them in your meta descriptions.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Service pages can include phrases like chiropractor or chiropractic adjustment in Boston, or whatever city you're referring to, or acupuncture clinic near, and then list the landmark or neighborhood.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: See how we're not using the phrase quote unquote.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Near me we do see people trying to do that, that they're just trying to type in the phrase near me, thinking it's going to help them rank, and it doesn't.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: You also want to embed a Google map of your location.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: You can do this in your footer on your homepage, on your contact page or on your about page Whatever makes the most sense for your business.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: You also want to build local authority through reviews and citations.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I think everybody knows how important it is to gather reviews these days, and it's really good to gather them on Google.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: We also suggest that you try to gather a few reviews on Yelp, because Yelp reviews do display.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Yelp reviews will display on a few other listings, like your Apple Maps listing or your Bing business listing.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Those usually pull in some of your reviews from Yelp.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So we do suggest that you grab a couple reviews on your Yelp listing, but mainly that you focus on gathering reviews on your Google business profile listing, because those will display on your Google Maps listing.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Now for citations.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: These citations are listings online and we want to make sure again that your NAP your name, your address and phone number matches congruently online.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: This includes your Google business profile listing, your website, yelp health grades being places and more as you go about creating a content strategy for your website.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that it highlights local relevance, and you can do this through a number of different ways.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: You should get creative with this right.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Maybe you blog about local events that you partner with.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's 5k, charity run, health fair or school ties.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: You can create specific content like how to stay pain-free during Fort Myers marathon season.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: See, when you create content like that, you're addressing your target audience while adding quality and value.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: This kind of content signals to Google that your business is deeply rooted in the community.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: As always, we want to make sure that your website is mobile friendly.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Most near me searches happen on smartphones is mobile friendly.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Most near me searches happen on smartphones.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: If your website takes forever to load, it's hard to navigate on a phone, or somebody just can't figure out how to book an appointment, people will move on.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: So check your website for fast load speed, easy navigation, clear, call to actions and make sure that it's easy for them to click to talk, meaning they can click on the phone number on your website and call you, and that they can easily find your address and get directions from your website.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: So, to recap, what actions can you take this week to help you start showing up in near me searches.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Focus on these five things Fully optimize your Google business profile.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Use local keywords throughout your website.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Collect and respond to reviews.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Work on building those citations and creating local content.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: And make sure your website is mobile friendly.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Even if you only have time to implement one or two of these strategies this week, you can still make a difference and see notable changes in your visibility online.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Showing up for near me search doesn't require a massive marketing budget.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: It just requires a focused local SEO strategy and, as a clinic owner, ranking higher in those results can mean more foot traffic, more phone calls, more booked appointments from people who are ready to take action.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: So take 15 minutes today, check out your Google business profile listing or look at your services pages.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Those little steps can help add up to big wins over time, and if you need more help, please feel free to reach out to us and book a discovery call.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: You can do so by visiting propellyourcompanycom.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.