Designing your physical therapy clinic's website to make sure it is capable of effectively meeting the needs of patients in your city and surrounding areas is an important step for your marketing strategy. Creating a strong SEO strategy increases the likelihood that the right people will see your website and that you will begin ranking higher on Google. For example, in 2022, 93.4% of our FYZICAL franchise clinics rank on page 1 of Google for 'Physical Therapy [city/near me]. To help you get started, here are five local SEO best practices for your physical therapy clinic to incorporate.
Google My Business gives you more control over the information that comes up when your physical therapy clinic is searched for, such as specific details about where your business is, when it is open, and how customers can get in touch. Using this tool gives your business a prominent position next to the typical list of search results, which gives your current and potential patients an at-a-glance look at everything they need to know if they are considering your physical therapy clinic. This strategy can be especially effective if your competitors are not using Google My Business and your potential patients have to look harder to find information about other clinics they are considering.
However, simply claiming your physical therapy clinic on Google My Business is not enough. To get the most out of using this strategy, you will need to take the time to fill in accurate information about your business and keep it updated. No one wants to find out the clinic or other business they were planning on visiting closes several hours before they thought it did or the contact information that is listed online is outdated and there is no clear way to get in touch with the business.
Inviting past patients to share their experiences with your physical therapy clinic is a simple way to make sure your potential patients can learn as much as they want to about your clinic before making a decision. Any company can only say so much about how much it can benefit its potential patients or other clients, but building a strong portfolio of strong testimonials from real patients in your community that are willing to share their firsthand experiences and point out specific things they liked about your physical therapy clinic can be an excellent strategy for growing your reputation among locals.
This strategy can be as simple as asking patients to leave reviews that share what they thought of your physical therapy clinic on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and similar pages that provide information about local businesses to help potential patients and other clients make the most informed decisions possible. Writing a quick review only takes your patients a few minutes, and building a trail of five-star ratings and positive comments gives your potential patients plenty of strong sources of information when they search for your physical therapy clinic. 
Current SEO rankings focus heavily on pulling the keywords or phrases that your potential patients search for from your website, which means that it is important to anticipate what the most popular searches from patients that are looking for a local physical therapy clinic are likely to be and incorporate them naturally into the information on your clinic's website. Your website should emphasize your location and list your services as they are most likely to be searched for to increase the likelihood that Google's latest SEO guidelines will determine that it is exactly what your potential patients are looking for.
Google search results generally show searchers results from businesses that are located near them first, and the majority of the people who will ultimately visit your physical therapy clinic live in your area. For this reason, making sure your website is optimized to clearly identify your location and the specific neighborhoods or cities you primarily serve is a must in order to make Google show your physical therapy clinic's website and social media pages to people near you. Including your state is also important because it is common for cities with the same name to exist in more than one state, and you do not want to inadvertently send your top search results to people in another city with the same name as yours instead of your own.
Making sure that the majority of people who find and visit your website live close enough to actually use it is an important step in increasing your overall conversion rate and making sure that as much of your site traffic as possible is the right kind of traffic. Simply increasing your site traffic may look good on the surface, but site visitors that do not live near your physical therapy clinic are unlikely to actually benefit your business.
Creating blog posts and other digital content that are designed with your location in mind is another helpful strategy for incorporating more local keywords that make your website content applicable to your area. From emphasizing descriptions of the services that are most commonly needed in your area to incorporating feedback and glowing reviews from prominent local individuals to sponsoring and otherwise partnering with other local businesses, This type of content naturally includes more terms that people in your area are likely to search for and showcase what makes your physical therapy clinic the best fit for patients in your area.
Getting your physical therapy clinic's SEO strategy just right is an important step in making sure that people who are in need of your services in your community are able to find your website and social media pages easily. Many people do not look beyond the first page of search results, and making sure your online content is on it plays an important role in making sure your website gets the level of local traffic it deserves and brings in as much business as possible. Contact FYZICAL today to learn more about the benefits of franchising with us or how we can help you optimize your local SEO strategy!
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