So you’re ready to start Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Ophthalmology? Well, you came to the right place for Ophthalmology SEO.

SEO is not going to push you to the top of page 1 on Google overnight, but a consistent strategy will increase your website traffic over time.

By creating content that is optimized for targeted keywords, you will be able to start ranking organically on page 1 of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Let’s get started!

Chapter 1: New to SEO?

Before we dive into more complex topics-

 let’s answer the question:

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Semrush describes SEO as “the process of improving your site’s organic traffic and ranking on search engines.”

In simple terms:

SEO can be described as telling a search engine “when somebody searches for ‘X’ show them ‘X’ page of my website.”

A simple example of this for optometry could be –

 “When somebody searches for ‘eye doctors near me’ show them the ‘about us’ page on my website.”

The searcher clicks on the page to learn about you, i.e. an eye doctor near them.

And then clicks on your Call-To-Action (CTA) to schedule an appointment. 

In this overly simplified example, we’ve just used SEO to gain a new client.

Communicating with search engines is a lot easier if we understand what the search engines are looking for.

That brings us to the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Understanding The Search Engine

What exactly are search engines looking for when their algorithm determines what will land on the first page of results?

I’ll use an example to answer that question. 

Somebody searches for “Eye Doctor Minneapolis.”

Search engines are going to look for these keywords to be present throughout a website page, in order for that page to rank on the search results.

Here are some examples of where the search engines will look for keywords and how you can write them into your webpage.

The URL – www.abcoptometry.com/optometrist-minneapolis

Note – “optometrist” will rank for the search term “eye doctor” because search engines recognize them as synonyms. 

Page Title – Licensed Optometrist in Minneapolis Minnesota.

On Page Keywords – The search term and variations of the search term, should make up approximately 1-2% of the copy on the webpage. 

If your page has 1,000 words of copy, you will want to have “Eye Doctor Minneapolis,” and variations such as “Minneapolis Optometrist” present on the page 10-20 times.

Image Title – eye_doctor_minneapolis.jpeg

Knowing how to use these keywords and phrases is important; but how do we find the right keywords in the first place?

Chapter 3: How To Find The Right Keywords For Optometrists 

Doing effective keyword research so you have an understanding of what keywords and phrases to write into your website copy is critical.

There are tools all over the internet that you can use for this research.

I’m going to discuss a couple of these tools that are highly effective.

SEMrush –

SEMrush is a great tool that we use on a daily basis. 

It allows for free searches but the number is limited. Once you have reached the capacity, you will need to create an account.

Above is a screenshot I took of the results SEMrush gives for the search “Eye Doctor Minneapolis.”

It gives variations of the keyword as well as other related keywords; 716 to be exact.

For each keyword, it also shows the KD% or keyword difficulty score. 

Keyword Difficulty Score is on a scale of 1-100.

With 1 being the easiest to rank for, and 100 being the most difficult. 

As a general rule, if the KD% is less than 50%, you will stand a good chance at ranking for that keyword with a good strategy.

Keyword Planner – 

I’m not going to deep dive into how to get set up with keyword planner. 

There are plenty of resources already available for that.

Now Adwords is an advertising tool and the search ads you create using this platform are actually considered SEM (search engine marketing) rather than SEO.

That being said, Adwords can be a great tool for discovering keywords to target.

With the same search term used in SEMrush, we get a different set of keyword ideas. 

The four additional “Keyword Ideas” you see above are the most searched, but Adwords actually gave me 26 ideas total.

This is part of what makes Adwords such a powerful SEO research tool. You enter a few keywords that you believe are relevant, and the system generates tens to hundreds of keyword ideas for you.

This is extremely helpful because it helps bridge the gap between industry jargon you may be used to using, and the terms that your target market are actually using when searching for your services.

Chapter 4: On Page SEO For Optometrists

Backlinko.com describes on-page SEO as “the practice of optimizing web page content for search engines and users.”

A very basic form of on-page SEO is making sure the keyword that you are targeting is in the heading and/or body copy on the page.

Other forms of on-page SEO are

• Search Intent
• Page loading speed
• Click-through-rate (CTR)
• Bounce rate and dwell time
• User experience

A simple way to think about on-page SEO, are changes you can make on the page that will result in users staying on the page for longer.

For example load speed. If your website takes 10 seconds to load, users will not likely stick around.

On the other hand, if your site loads in less than half a second, users are much more likely to wait through the load time.

Bounce rate and dwell time are also important because that tells the search engines whether users are staying on your page.

If users click on your page in the search results and remain on the page for a long time, that tells the search engine that they found your site useful; i.e. relevant to their search.

If users bounce before taking any action on your page, that tells the search engine they don’t find your site useful and it will stop ranking as high.

Chapter 5: Developing a Website for Optometrists

A website that is effective at converting visitors into leads is more important than a website that looks nice.

Not to say that a website can’t be both. You’re definitely able to create a site that is visually appealing and converts.

My main point is that you do not skip the emphasis on converting visitors because you are so focused on making everything look appealing.

Make sure you have a clear – 

Call-To-Action (CTA)

What is a CTA? In short, it is an action you are asking your visitors to take.

There are countless CTA’s out there, but I want to give an example relevant to an optometrist.

“Schedule your free consultation” could be an effective CTA for a LASIK surgeon to get visitors to take action.

Don’t wait until your contact page to have this CTA present.

As you can see from the example from our website above, our CTA, is present as soon as visitors get to our home page.

Have your CTA present in the header of your home page as shown above, and present multiple other times throughout your site.

Not only will this help convert more visitors to leads but it can also (in a way) boost your Ophthalmology SEO.

Part of what search engines measure, is how long users stay on your site and how much they interact with it.

This is a metric often referred to as “Dwell Time.”

If your CTA causes visitors to interact with your site more frequently and remain on your site longer, that will increase your domain authority. 

Which will help you rank higher for your given keywords.

Chapter 6: Backlinking & Boosting Optometrists Authority 

Backlinking is crucial to increasing your website’s authority score, and increasing the authority score will make it easier to rank for relevant keywords.

Backlinko.com describes backlinking as “links from one website to a page on another website.”

Google has confirmed that backlinks are one of the three most important factors in their search engine’s ranking.

Basically, backlinks are seen, by the search engines, as votes for the web page.

Every time another website links to your page, it is telling the search engine that your page is credible and relevant. 

The more of these links you gain, the more your authority score will increase.

To gain these backlinks, you will have to put some effort into creating linkable content.

Linkable content can be in the form of a blog post, video, survey, or a variety of other options.

Chapter 7: Where To Start & Setting SEO Goals

Setting your Ophthalmology SEO goals is as important as setting any other business objectives.

Being realistic about the timeline for your goals is also important.

SEO is a long-term strategy; changes will not happen overnight.

You are not going to write one blog and tomorrow have hundreds of additional visitors to your website.

Over time, however, through continuously adding new content and updating your pages, you can rank for additional keywords and grow your monthly traffic.

If you don’t see significant changes in 3-6 months, that’s okay and normal. Stick with it.

Long-term Ophthalmology SEO plans/content strategies can take in the range of 1-2 years to make significant differences.

But it will be well worth the effort when you are generating more traffic than your competitors.

One quick way to make an impact, however, is to set up your Google My Business account.

Though most SEO will take a while to produce results, Google My Business can help your local SEO ranking quickly. 

This will help your business show up when people search “Optometrist Near Me.”

Ophthalmology SEO Key Take-Aways

Ophthalmology SEO is not an overnight success but can make a big difference in your monthly website traffic.

If you have the time to commit to, and be consistent, with a content strategy, then SEO can be successful for you.

If you are too busy already running your business, but know that a good Ophthalmology SEO strategy will help your business, consider working with a digital marketing firm.

If you are ready to dive into building your strategy for Ophthalmology SEO, remember these takeaways – 

Know what the search engines are looking for (Chapter 2)

Do effective keyword research (Chapter 3)

Continue to update your On-Page SEO (Chapter 4)

Have a clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Create linkable content to grow backlinks (Chapter 6)

Set your goals and be consistent. Good Ophthalmology SEO takes time

If all the above information seems like a lot, here’s what I always like to say.

You don’t have to do everything, but you do have to do something.

As long as you get started and stay consistent with your efforts, your Ophthalmology SEO strategy will develop.

If you have questions or need additional help please feel free to contact us.

I wish you the best of luck in marketing your Ophthalmology business!