The key to any successful functional medicine practice is learning how to market through SEO. If you’re wondering if investing in keyword research and other techniques is worth your time, check out a few of our best tips below on how to get started.
Key Elements of SEO for Functional Medicine Practices
If you’re not familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, you’re not alone. The good news is that it’s not as tough as you may think. We’ll cover some key elements, tips for getting started, and how to avoid common mistakes.
Keyword Research
The more you optimize content on your website, the easier it is for search engines to increase your visibility online. If someone is searching for questions about functional medicine, you want them to visit your website first. The easiest way to do this is to focus on keywords that relate to your services as a functional medicine practice.
Quality Content
When people search for functional medicine information online, they’re usually asking questions related to their health issues. You can help them find answers by creating quality content that provides valuable information and answers their questions.
Backlinking
Have you ever read an article and clicked on a link that sends you to another website? This is called a backlink. It’s when one website links to another to provide authority to the content. Backlinking is another key element of SEO because it can help you gain more visibility online and increase authority in your practice. You can create backlinks by publishing with other articles, magazines, or helpful guides.
Images
Did you know that including images within your content can help drive more traffic to your website? Many people will search for images related to their health issues. Including images and relatable keywords can increase your ranking with Google and help others find the information they need.
Tips for Getting Started with SEO for Functional Medicine Practices
Now that we’ve learned a few key elements for optimization, let’s look at some tips for getting started on your website.
Prioritize Keywords
Although we already mentioned keyword research, let’s talk more about how to use them on your website. When you’re researching keywords, you want to use both short-tail and long-tail keywords. For example, you can use a long-tail keyword or phrases like “functional medicine practice in FL.” This is very specific and helps increase your rankings. Use keywords in your titles, descriptions, and headers.
Optimize Your Descriptions
Meta descriptions and titles also need optimization. Include your keywords and keep the characters under 160 for your meta description and under 60 for your title. These shorter characters will create an appropriate URL to help search engines recognize your information.
Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid
While there are several mistakes when learning SEO, here are a few common ones to avoid.
Duplicate Content
It’s important to always create unique and original content. This doesn’t mean you cannot repurpose your content. It just means you should write it differently each time. Duplicate content is illegal, and it brings your rankings down.
Broken Links
Broken links can happen when you least expect it. You may have an incorrect image description, file path issue, or missing tags. In other cases, you may have an old link from another website. You can fix the issue by updating your content with a new link.
Get In Touch With Us Today
Let the team at Functional Medicine SEO help you get started with your website today. Contact us for a free strategy session and learn more about how our services can benefit your practice. We look forward to hearing from you.