7 Essential SEO Tips for Treatment Centers

Keeping treatment centers booked solid is all about getting the word out. These 7 essential SEO tips can help you do just that.

With most small businesses spending 35% of their marketing budgets on digital ads, making sure you're getting a return on your investment is key. Treatment centers face a lot of competition from a variety of types of facilities. In order to keep your schedule booked solidly, you need to know SEO.

Search engines use a tool called a web crawler to index every site across the web and rank them for relevance. They look at how often a site is updated, how strong their keywords are, and how close they are to someone searching in order to rank a site. Making sure your site is search engine optimized is key for any brand.

Treatment centers that need to rank higher need to be using the right tactics for their niche.

Follow these 7 SEO tips to make sure you're attracting the customers you need for your center.

1. Go Mobile First

One of the things that search engines rank sites for is how fast their sites load on mobile devices. They also test whether their images are optimized for mobile loading.

On top of that, you'll want to make sure you're doing mobile advertising right. Your ads should be unobtrusive and yet well placed. Taking up half of the screen with ads isn't going to help you with search engines.

Make sure your contact information is easy to find. Treatment centers that are difficult to contact won't find their phone rings very often.

2. Make Any Ads Relevant

If you're advertising on social media or across the web, make sure you're aiming at the kind of audience you need. There's no point advertising your rehab program focused on veterans of foreign wars on a site for a kids cartoon. You need to know your audience.

On top of that, know the language that your customers are expecting from you.

You only have a little bit of space so make sure you're making it count. Use terms that you know are going to be relevant for your audience when they see it.

If you use video ads, make sure they're targeted for the kind of people you're aiming for. Include subtitles in order to improve your SEO ranking. Search engines also look through subtitles to see whether or not a video is relevant to a search.

3. Make Your Landing Pages Direct

When people are searching for treatment centers, they end up on a lot of landing pages with a lot of information. This can cause a sense of information overload when customers are trying to look for help. You could end up frustrating your customers accidentally while you're trying to assist them.

People are also easily distracted when they're online, so make sure your information is short and direct. Make any text scannable, broken up into short sections and easy to get the gist of.

Have that contact information front and center with buttons that read "book now" or "call now". Be direct in your language and your users will respond positively.

4. Use Local SEO

One of the hottest trends in SEO is to be local. As algorithms for search engines improve, they're able to use location services and past searches to pinpoint where users are. This way they can offer them the most relevant searches to them all of the time.

If you search "pizza" right now, you'll get a list of pizza locations nearest to you. The increased focus on relevance and local search results means that local SEO has never been more important.

5. Write Content

Starting a blog is another big trend in SEO, especially for treatment centers. People who are struggling with addiction issues and in need of treatment or rehab will search for a company a bunch of times before calling. They'll look at places like Beverly Hills TMS a dozen times before they call.

Write content that can encourage people to get treatment. Write about their perspectives and their experience. Write about what people go through before they decide to get treatment and warning signs to look for. Write openly and honestly about the kinds of struggles people deal with every day and you'll find people will repost, comment, and subscribe to your posts.

Use links in your text to back up facts and figures from reputable sites. Encourage partnering companies and local businesses to also share your posts. Trade links and you'll build a strong local reputation.

6. Photos and Video Are Key

People want to know the type of facility they'll be spending time in if they decide to work with your treatment center. Have video showing the grounds, interviewing staff, and showing people socializing. This could relieve a lot of the concerns or reluctance people have about joining one of your programs.

For every video and photo that you add, make sure your metadata describes the image, using those local keywords. Something like "Opioid rehab Omaha" can go a long way to connecting you with the people you would want to do business with in Omaha.

7. Link To Social Media

Search engines don't only check out your site. They check out the most reputable and highest trafficked website online. If you have a strong social media presence, you'll do well.

Make sure you're updating and posting on your accounts as often as possible. Try using ads in social media for a broader impact.

Treatment Centers Can Use SEO Intelligently

If there's one business that can use SEO better than any others, it's the industry of treatment centers. By giving out lots of advice, how-tos, and testimonials, you can build trust with your audience. Ultimately, trust is the most important characteristic in this industry.

If you're ready to find out more about how you can boost bookings with a few simple changes to your site, check out our tips on SEO for healthcare providers.