Physical Therapy SEO for Your PT Private Practice Website

 

In today’s competitive online world, finding a reliable and effective physical therapy SEO company can be hard. Unfortunately, many SEO companies just aren’t good enough, and their sub-standard methods can hurt your physical therapy clinic more than help it.

As an expert in the field, I’m here to tell you about the five clear signs of a bad SEO company that you should know about.

1. The “One-Size-Fits-All” Method

Be wary of SEO companies that say they can handle SEO for any business…in any market. SEO is a dynamic and complex process that has a lot of moving parts for different kinds of businesses (e.g. retail businesses, e-commerce, service area businesses, and bricks & mortar businesses [like outpatient PT clinics]). Look for SEO companies that focus on certain areas, like website design, conversion optimization, and customer service. By focusing on these key areas, you can ensure that your SEO efforts align with your general business goals.

2. Using Old and Outdated Physical Therapy SEO Strategies

Meta tags is a great example of an SEO ranking factor that used to be very important, but their value has decreased over time. If an SEO company talks to you a lot about meta tags, that’s a clear sign that they may be using out-of-date methods. A good SEO company knows that meta tags are only one part of an overall SEO plan. Instead, they will stress how important it is to have good content, a good user experience, and keywords that patients use that will actually convert your website viewers into patient calls & digital appointment requests. Look for an SEO company that stays up-to-date on industry trends and puts modern optimization methods at the top of its list.

3. Promises that You will be on the 1st Page of Google (especially if it is in a short time period)

Stay away from SEO companies that promise to get you on the first page of Google. Most of the time, these claims are false and confusing. Remember that the true measure of SEO success is getting targeted traffic to your physical therapy business and making money from it (not where you rank). Look for companies that focus on long-term growth tactics like content marketing, building links, and showing up in the maps listings. Showing up in the natural listings for service-based searches (like vertigo treatment near me) can matter too. Information searches like “back pain treatment in (your city)” are a waste of money in most cases. A trustworthy SEO company knows that it takes time, work, and a plan to get results that matter.

Bottom line, Google is constantly changing their algorithm and your top rankings today can be gone tomorrow – it’s part of the SEO game, and Google knows it.

4. They Old PT SEO Audit Report (Translation = It’s a Sales Report to Make You Think Something is Wrong)

If an SEO company gives you a generic audit report with generic advice, it’s important to understand that these are primarily sales tools to peek your curiosity (and make you think something is wrong).  As an agency that works only with small PT private practices, there are lots of similarities between businesses; however, a good SEO company will take the time to learn about your subtle nuances, your practice’s goals, target audience, and the landscape of your competitors. They create a plan for you that features your particular service expertise and helps you stand out from your competitors. Look for an SEO company that does more than just the basics and gives a personalized service.

5. A Website that Hasn’t Been Update in Years

An SEO firm’s website can tell you a lot about their company. Explore their website, read what they have to offer and consider some of the following:

• Do they appear to be knowledgable?
• Do they have an up-to-date blog?
• Are they ranking for common search phrases?
• What’s their mission?
• Do they have great social proof & examples of success?

You can learn a lot by checking out the website and seeing where they rank with common search phrases. There are a number of tools you can use to look at their organic traffic numbers and get a sense of how knowledgeable they are.

Bonus Tip: Look for an SEO company that has worked with other clients in the physical therapy business and done a good job.

If you want your PT practice to do well on the search engines (Google is the big one, and arguably the only one that matters), you need to find the right physical therapy SEO firm. Keep the above points in mind, make sure that the firm demonstrates expertise in the PT niche, provides PT specific strategies, and good communication.

Let’s Connect and See How We Can Help Your Physical Therapy Clinic SEO

If you’d like to learn more about how E-rehab.com is helping PT practices with their SEO, give us a call at (760) 585-9097 or click here to schedule a time with us.