Latest / The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers / SEO for Physical Therapists: 3 Steps to Get Found, Get Clicks, and Get Patients | Ep. 128

Transcript

SEO for Physical Therapists: 3 Steps to Get Found, Get Clicks, and Get Patients | Ep. 128 · The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

• 0:26
  Speaker 0: Hey, there, it's Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing and Design and you're tuned in to the clinic marketing podcast.
• 0:33
  Speaker 0: Bite-sized strategies that help busy clinic owners grow visibility and book more patients online.
• 0:41
  Speaker 0: Today we're zeroing in on physical therapists.
• 0:44
  Speaker 0: If you've ever wondered how do I outrank the practice down the street, stick with me for this episode.
• 0:51
  Speaker 0: You'll learn the three SEO moves that put you on page one of Google in the Google Maps pack, help you show up in AI-driven search results and, ultimately, on your ideal patient's calendar.
• 1:04
  Speaker 0: And, by the way, if you want to follow along with a simple step-by-step checklist, grab my free physical therapy SEO quick start guide at propellyourcompanycom slash pt-seo-quickstart-guide.
• 1:19
  Speaker 0: It's got everything from today's episode laid out in an easy to follow format, plus a Google business profile cheat sheet and a blog post outline you can start using today.
• 1:31
  Speaker 0: Let's start with the basics.
• 1:32
  Speaker 0: Search is still king.
• 1:42
  Speaker 0: There are 8.5 billion Google searches every single day and 67% of clicks go to the first five organic results.
• 1:46
  Speaker 0: Physical therapy is hyper-local.
• 1:47
  Speaker 0: Patients rarely scroll past page one or travel far.
• 1:50
  Speaker 0: That means if you have no SEO, you're practically invisible.
• 1:54
  Speaker 0: But if you have good SEO, you'll see a steady flow of qualified nearby prospects.
• 2:00
  Speaker 0: So what does that look like?
• 2:03
  Speaker 0: Let's walk through the big three SEO steps for physical therapists.
• 2:07
  Speaker 0: First, identify your place in the market.
• 2:10
  Speaker 0: Define your ideal patient what's their age, activity level, goals and pain points.
• 2:16
  Speaker 0: Figure out where they spend their time online by checking Google Analytics, social platform insights and even competitor blogs.
• 2:25
  Speaker 0: Then listen to the words they use.
• 2:27
  Speaker 0: Pull keywords from Google's autocomplete answer, the public, or free tools like Moz Explorer.
• 2:34
  Speaker 0: A quick win here is to draft a master list of 25 keyword phrases that combine a condition plus physical therapist, plus your city-like rotator cuff rehab Philadelphia.
• 2:46
  Speaker 0: If this feels like a data swamp, reach out one consult session and you'll walk away with a crystal clear keyword map.
• 2:55
  Speaker 0: Next, focus on on-page SEO the stuff on your website that delights both Google and human visitors.
• 3:02
  Speaker 0: Your site should be mobile, responsive, load in under two seconds and have clean navigation with no more than 5 to 7 main menu items.
• 3:12
  Speaker 0: Make sure there's a prominent contrasting Book Now button on every page.
• 3:17
  Speaker 0: On the content side, have a dedicated page for each therapy and condition you treat, with at least 500 or more words per page, written in patient-friendly language.
• 3:29
  Speaker 0: Use real photos or short demo videos instead of generic stop shots.
• 3:35
  Speaker 0: Technically, every page needs a unique title tag under 60 characters and a meta description under 160 characters.
• 3:44
  Speaker 0: Add internal links from blog posts to service pages and from service pages to your contact page.
• 3:51
  Speaker 0: Give every image alt text that uses your keywords.
• 3:55
  Speaker 0: So instead of image 123, it's dry-needling-shoulder-painjpg.
• 4:02
  Speaker 0: Here's a quick win.
• 4:05
  Speaker 0: Run your site through Google's PageSpeed Insights and compress any image over 150 KB, and if your site needs more than a tweak, we can redesign, migrate your content and launch it for you.
• 4:20
  Speaker 0: Finally, let's talk about off-page SEO and your Google Business profile.
• 4:25
  Speaker 0: This is non-negotiable, is non-negotiable.
• 4:27
  Speaker 0: Claim and verify your profile and fill in every single field your address, phone hours, services, insurance, accepted photos and logo.
• 4:38
  Speaker 0: Collect and respond to reviews no-transcript.
• 4:45
  Speaker 0: Make sure your name, address and phone number are identical across directories like Yelp, healthgrades, apple Maps, bing and others.
• 4:54
  Speaker 0: Another quick win add Frequently Asked Questions to your Google Business profile.
• 5:00
  Speaker 0: It signals relevance and answers a top patient question, and if you're stuck below the map pack, we can run a Google Business profile audit.
• 5:10
  Speaker 0: If you want to put this into action, here's a simple 30-day plan.
• 5:14
  Speaker 0: In week one, build or refine your keyword list.
• 5:18
  Speaker 0: In week two, optimize or rewrite your top three service pages with better speed, titles and calls to action.
• 5:25
  Speaker 0: In week three, claim, complete and add plenty of photos to your Google business profile and in week four, publish one 800-word blog post targeting a high-value keyword from week one, then share it as a post on your profile.
• 5:41
  Speaker 0: Track your results in Google Analytics and adjust as needed.
• 5:46
  Speaker 0: Of course, there are times when it makes sense to get help-like when you don't have the time or desire to write, optimize or post, or when you run into technical errors and don't have a tech team, or when you're stuck on page two after doing the basics and just need that final push from link building or content expansion.
• 6:07
  Speaker 0: Head to propellyourcompanycom and hit book a discovery call.
• 6:12
  Speaker 0: 10 minutes, zero pressure, will tell you straight if DIY tweaks are enough or if a done for you campaign makes more sense.
• 6:20
  Speaker 0: Seo isn't magic.
• 6:22
  Speaker 0: It's a repeatable process.
• 6:24
  Speaker 0: Nail your audience and keywords, create a site that delights visitors and own your Google Business profile.
• 6:32
  Speaker 0: Do that and you'll watch bookings climb and remember your free physical therapy SEO quick start guide is waiting for you at propellyourcompanycom slash pt-seo-quickstart-guide to help you get started right away.
• 6:49
  Speaker 0: Thanks for listening to the Clinic Marketing Podcast.
• 6:52
  Speaker 0: If you found value in this episode, share it with a fellow PT and leave a quick rating on Apple Podcasts.
• 7:00
  Speaker 0: It helps more clinic owners discover actionable tips like these.