The Ultimate Guide for 2022
How do you do SEO for chiropractors?
Good question.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- Why you need to invest in chiropractor SEO today (and no, I don’t mean hiring an agency)
- How to start getting results fast
- The tools of the chiropractic SEO trade
And so much more.
Let’s dive right in.
Chiropractor SEO: The Definitive Guide!
You know that good chiropractic care can improve people’s lives.
You’ve seen it happen time and time again in your chiropractic practice – people come in with all sorts of pain, ailments, and injuries, and after receiving treatment from you, they walk out feeling better than they have in years.
But even though you know how incredible your chiropractic practice services are, getting new patients through the door can be challenging.
That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in.
SEO for chiropractors is the process of making your website more visible on search engines like Google and Bing.
When potential chiropractic care patients in your area search for terms like “chiropractor,” “back pain,” or “spinal adjustment,” you want your website to be one of the first they see.
To do this, you’ll need to ensure your website has high-quality, keyword-rich content that will help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
You’ll also need to pay attention to other aspects of chiropractic SEO, like link building and technical optimization.
But first:
Why is Chiropractor SEO Important?
You must invest in chiropractic SEO to attract potential patients and grow your practice.
Here are a few reasons why:
1. The vast majority of people use search engines to find health-related information – In fact, a whopping 80% of people use search engines to find health information.
2. Search is the primary way people find new businesses – According to one study, 97% of consumers go online looking for local businesses.
But that’s not all:
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. (Source: Chitika)
3. Attract patients who are ready to buy – When people search for terms like “chiropractor near me,” they’re usually looking for someone to provide treatment.
That means that if you can get your website to show up in their search results, you’re more likely to attract patients ready to book an appointment.
4. SEO is an effective online marketing strategy – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help you attract more leads for your chiropractic office and is an extremely cost-effective online marketing strategy.
In addition, SEO for chiropractors provides a higher ROI than any other form of marketing.
5. SEO is a long-term strategy
Once you’ve achieved good rankings in search engine results pages, you’ll continue to get traffic, leads, and more clients. as long as you maintain your Search Engine Optimization efforts.
Compare that to paid advertising, which requires continuous investment to maintain results.
Before we get into the meat of chiropractic SEO, you’ll need to know the terminology.
Here are some of the basics:
What is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO refers to all the techniques that you can use on your website to improve your ranking in Google search results.
Some actions include optimizing your title tags and meta descriptions and adding keyword-rich content to your website—more on this in a second.
Related: On-page SEO checklist – Follow this checklist (and rank).
What is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to all the techniques you can use outside your website to improve your ranking in Google search results, like building backlinks or getting Google reviews.
What are SERPs?
SERPs is an acronym for search engine results pages.
These are the pages that show up when you do a search on Google or another search engine.
Alright, so now it’s time to learn how actually to do SEO:
7 Chiropractor SEO Actions (That Work)
Now it’s time to show a complete chiropractic SEO strategy. Let’s dive in:
1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile
One of the best ways to improve your local SEO is to create a Google Business Profile for your practice.
This free listing appears in Google search results when people search for businesses like yours in their area.
Creating a Google My Business Profile is quick and easy and can help improve your online visibility. Plus, it’s another excellent way to attract prospective patients to your practice.
To get started, go to business.google.com and follow the instructions to create your profile.
Include plenty of information about your practice and some high-quality photos.
By taking the time to create a robust Google Business Profile, you can give your SEO a boost and attract new chiropractic patients to your practice.
Bonus Tip: You should also embed a Google map with your address on your contact page.
Use this tool.
2. Attract More Google Reviews
Another great chiropractic SEO strategy to attract potential clients is to collect Google reviews. These positive reviews appear in Google search results when people search for businesses like yours.
Google reviews can be a great way to show potential patients that you’re a reputable and reliable chiropractor. They can also help improve your SEO since Google considers these reviews when determining your ranking on SERPs.
Simply encourage your patients to leave reviews by sending them follow-up emails or sending them postcards with instructions on how to leave a review.
By taking the time to collect Google reviews, you can improve your SEO and attract potential clients to your practice.
3. Create More Google Business Profile Posts
Another great way to attract new patients is to use Google Business Profile posts. When people search for your business, these short posts appear in your Google My Business listing.
Google My Business posts can promote special offers, events, or even blog articles. You can also use them to answer common questions people have about your business.
By taking the time to create Google My Business posts, you can attract new patients and improve your SEO at the same time.
4. Optimize Your Website for Mobile
Another critical factor in technical SEO has a mobile-friendly website. Your website must look amazing and work well on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
Otherwise, you could be missing out on a lot of potential patients.
To see if your website is mobile-friendly, enter your URL into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
It will show you how Google sees your website and whether or not it is mobile-friendly.
If your website is not mobile-friendly, there are a few things you can do to fix this:
You can use a responsive design, which means your website will automatically adjust to fit any screen size.
Or:
You can use Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project to create a stripped-down version of your website that loads quickly on mobile devices.
Making sure your website is mobile-friendly can improve your SEO and attract more patients to your practice.
5. Optimize Website Speed
In addition to having high-quality content and optimized meta tags, you should also ensure your website loads quickly. Website speed is a ranking factor for technical SEO, which means that if your website loads slowly, you’re less likely to rank highly on SERPs.
Google has announced that it will introduce a new ranking factor called “Core Web Vitals” in 2021. Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure a website’s performance.
The three metrics that make up Core Web Vitals are LCP, FID, and CLS.
LCP stands for “Largest Contentful Paint” and measures the time it takes for the largest element on a web page to load.
FID stands for “First Input Delay” and measures the time it takes for a user to be able to interact with a web page.
Finally, CLS stands for “Cumulative Layout Shift” and measures the stability of a web page.
Google has said that these metrics are essential for SEO because they impact the user experience. So, by improving the performance of your website on these metrics, you can help improve your ranking on SERPs.
You can do a few things to improve your website’s speed.
First, make sure your website is well-optimized for performance.
You can reduce the size of your images and code and use caching to improve loading times with a tool like WP Rocket.
You should also ensure your hosting is on a fast and reliable server.
Finally, you can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to identify areas where you can improve your website’s speed.
6. Conduct Keyword Research
Another critical factor in SEO is keyword research.
And there are a few different ways to do keyword research.
Use the Google Keyword Planner
One way is to use Google’s Keyword Planner tool, which allows you to enter a keyword and see how many people are searching for it each month.
Use Google Suggest
You can also use Google’s Suggest feature to see what keywords people search for when they start typing in a search query. Start typing in a relevant keyword and see what suggestions Google gives you.
Use Google Trends
Finally, you can use Google Trends to see a particular keyword’s popularity over time. The trends will help you determine whether or not a keyword is worth targeting.
Bonus Tool: Use Answer the Public
Answer the Public is a free tool that lets you see what questions people ask about your topic, which gives you new content ideas or keywords to target.
To use the tool, enter a keyword and choose your location. The tool will then generate a list of questions people are asking about that keyword.
Using Answer the Public, you can develop new ideas for blog posts, articles, or even YouTube videos. You can also find new keywords to target, which can help improve your SEO.
7. Never Forget: Content is King for Chiropractic SEO
When it comes to SEO, content is king. That’s why your content should be high-quality, relevant, and informative.
One way to ensure that your content is high quality is to use keyword-rich titles and descriptions. This will help Google understand your content and match it with relevant search queries.
You should also ensure your content is well-written and free of grammar and spelling errors.
Not only will this help improve your SEO, but it will also give potential patients a good impression of your practice.
Finally, you should regularly update your website’s content. That may mean adding new blog posts and articles or changing the text on your website.
Keeping every blog post fresh can show Google that your website is active and relevant, which will help improve your ranking on SERPs.
8. Acquire Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website.
They’re an important ranking factor for SEO because they show Google that your website is popular and relevant.
Therefore, the more backlinks you have from other websites, the higher you’re likely to rank on SERPs.
Related: Are backlinks still important? Find out the truth.
There are a few ways to get quality backlinks for your website.
Write Guest Posts
Search “YOUR NICHE + write for us” on Google to find opportunities.
Then reach out and pitch at least three ideas. Once an idea is accepted, create something awesome for their website. Rinse and repeat.
Broken Link Building
Search “YOUR NICHE + resources” on Google.
Then use the Check My Links plugin to find broken links on the page.
If you find some, reach out with this template:
Create Link Bait
The best types of link bait are data-driven and easy to reference.
I recommend finding and creating data in your industry. Then create a case study around this data.
You’ll still need to promote it, but it’s much easier to earn links with this content model.
Here are a few examples:
9. Always Track SEO Performance
Finally, it’s essential to track your local SEO performance over time. This will help you identify areas where you’re doing well and need improvement.
There are a few ways to track your SEO performance.
Google Analytics
GA4 is a free tool that allows you to track your website’s traffic and performance.
For example, you can use it to see how much traffic your website gets from search engines, what keywords people use to find your website and more.
Google Search Console
Another way to track your SEO performance is to use Google Search Console.
This free tool from Google lets you see how your website performs in Google’s search results.
Related: SEO benchmarks – see the 6 KPIs you need to benchmark today.
For example, you can use it to see which chiropractic keywords you’re ranking for, how much traffic you’re getting from search engines, and more.
Semrush
Semrush is another tool that you can use to track your SEO performance.
Again, it’s a paid tool but offers many features that Google Analytics and Search Console don’t. For example, Semrush allows you to track your competitors’ SEO performance to see how you stack up against them.
SEO for Chiropractors: What’s Next?
Now you have a decision to make:
Try to do SEO yourself as a chiropractor (who is likely wearing many hats already).
Or:
Work with a qualified SEO company like ours that will rank for your most crucial chiropractic keywords.
The choice is yours, of course.
Either way:
Doing SEO for chiropractors (the right way) starts with taking action. So don’t wait because the best time to start SEO was yesterday.