SEO for Doctors: 10 Tips to Attract More Patients Online [2025 Edition]

82.8% of patients use Search Engines (Google, Bing, etc.) to find a doctor.

If you are a doctor and want to attract patients online, SEO is the best tool to build trust and improve your online presence. Indeed, thanks to the rise of digital media, more and more people are turning to Google for medical advice and professional help.

For example, consider the search query “best plastic surgeon in London” when a patient or someone interested in this topic is looking for a qualified doctor who can meet their medical needs.

This is where properly optimizing your website for SEO will help your practice appear at the top of Google search results, which will ultimately help you attract more clients.

In this guide, you will learn the following:

Benefits of Using SEO for Doctors
10 Proven Strategies to Attract More Patients to Your Practice Website
Real-life examples and-more

Why is SEO important for doctors?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a MUST for doctors as it offers many benefits, including;

This will help you attract new patients and book appointments online.
It helps you build your online reputation, brand, and authority as a physician in your specialty (e.g. gynecology, cardiology, etc.).
Local SEO will help you attract patients from nearby areas.
SEO gives you an advantage over your peers who don’t have a website or online presence.

Additionally, SEO allows you to optimize your online presence for keywords that potential patients are searching for, such as;

Private practice near me
the best family doctor or
[condition] specialist

10 SEO Strategies for Doctors [2025 Guide]

1. Local SEO: The Basics of SEO for Doctors

Local SEO (Google My Business) is a MUST if you offer healthcare and emergency medical services.

For what? Suppose a patient who needs immediate medical care (e.g., stroke, seizure, etc.) can search for health care providers in their area.

This is where local SEO comes into play and will help your medical services appear at the top of Google search results.

Here’s what you need to do for local SEO for doctors:

1. Claim your company data

If you want your patients to easily find your website and business on Google Search and Maps, you need to claim your business listing on Google Business.

Here are some simple steps to create and verify your business listing on Google:

To create a Google Business Profile account: Sign in to or create a Google Account.
Add your business: Find your practical business and claim it if it already exists. If not, add your business information, including hours, phone number, etc.
Verify your business: Once added, Google will send a postcard to your business address with a verification code. Once you receive it, enter the code online to verify your listing. That’s it, you’re all set!

If you’re looking to simplify your online marketing efforts and increase local visibility, we recommend Semrush Local.

Why should you use it? The biggest benefit is that it can help you optimize your Google Business Profile and automatically list your business in over 150 local directories. It can also help you

Monitor your company’s citations online to ensure NAP consistency.
Respond to reviews and monitor your business reputation
Provide automated responses, AI-powered response suggestions, and more.

2. Use lists

To ensure that patients can find your contact information online, you must provide ACCURATE information, including hours, services, and photos. You can also include special features, such as appointment scheduling, if available.

You can use Google My Business to claim your listing and add this information online. Most doctors and practitioners also use listing directories and citation sites. Here are a few directory sites where you can create doctor listings.

doctor.webmd.com
HealthGrades.com
RatingMDs.com
ZocDoc

Make sure your NAP information (name, address, phone number) is consistent across all platforms, including your Google Business Profile.

3. Get patient feedback

Patient reviews are important for two reasons: they can help you build trust, and Google trusts user signals like reviews.

Top tips for getting more patient reviews:

Make it easy for satisfied patients to leave positive reviews by providing clear instructions on how to leave a review on popular platforms like Google, Facebook, G2, Yelp, and more.
Respond to ALL user reviews to engage with patients and resolve any issues.
Try offering special incentives to patients who leave reviews, such as a small discount or no admission fee.

2. Start with the website

A Stages report found that patients primarily book doctor appointments on hospital websites (83%), followed by health insurance company websites (54%), medical information websites (50%), and online assessment platforms (26%).

So, having your own website will help you as a doctor to attract more patients.

Luckily, creating your website is NOT rocket science. Here’s a simple guide on how to create a great doctor’s website on a budget.

We recommend using the standalone WordPress platform to create a website, as it is the most powerful CMS.

To use WordPress, you’ll need a web host where you can host all of your files, images, blog posts, service pages, etc. Hostmycode is a great choice because not only is it used by millions of sites, but it also offers affordable hosting plans for under ₹1199/year.

To get started, visit this link to go to the Hostmycode website.

Improve your current website design

Once your website is set up, make sure it is user-friendly and professional.

Here are some tips to improve your website design.

Use landing pages because they can help you increase your conversion rate. You can use page builder plugins like Elementor or Hostinger website builder to easily create and customize landing pages for your medical website.
Show social proof on your website as it builds trust and attracts patients. You can include patient testimonials and reviews, patient case histories, awards and recognitions, etc.
Add a live chat feature to your website, as it can greatly improve your doctor’s SEO. Patients often prefer instant communication. Luckily, with the advent of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, you can easily integrate a 24/7 live chat feature on your website that can answer common patient questions, schedule appointments, etc.

Implement SEO best practices for all pages of the site.

Here are some of the best SEO practices to improve organic rankings.

Create Content: It’s a good idea to create regular blog posts that will help you find patients online. You can browse other doctors’ websites for topic ideas.
Optimize meta titles and descriptions: Meta titles and descriptions play a key role in content optimization. Make sure they are unique and compelling to get more clicks from organic searches.
Headings are optimized for writing: headings (h1), and subheadings (h2, h3, h4, etc.) are important when optimizing your pages or content. Be sure to include relevant keywords that describe the services you want to offer. Use descriptive H1 tags that include your main keywords and no more than one H1 per page.
Include keyword-rich URLs: Keep your URLs short and sweet. Naturally, use your primary keyword. Let’s say your target keyword is “Orthopedic Surgery Services in New York City.” You can use an optimized URL like “ny-ortho-surgeons” or “ny-orthopedic-surgeon” instead of a long URL like “orthopedic-surgeon-services-in-new-york.”
Add ALT text for images: Use appropriate ALT tags to accurately describe the images you use on your website. For example, instead of “image123.jpg,” use “doctor’s stethoscope.”

Improve the structure of the site

You also need to improve the structure of your website so that your patients can easily navigate your services. Here are some quick tips.

Create a clear and logical navigation menu. Make sure all important pages are easily accessible and contain internal links.
Create a sitemap so search engines can discover and index your content.
Use a search button and place it in a prominent place so people can easily find what they need.

3. Keyword research

Keyword research is the foundation of any high-traffic website. If you want to drive more search traffic to your medical practice or doctor’s website, find relevant keywords that people are using.

According to a survey conducted by Doctor.com, 52.5% of people enter relevant keywords such as “type of doctor” or “specialist near me” to search for medical services online.

You need to understand patient intent to drive relevant visitors to your site from Google.

Let’s say you want to create a website to offer “cardiology services”, You should find keywords like;

Best Cardiologists in *City Name*
How to care for a sick heart
Types of heart surgery
Cardiology Clinic Services

Make sure the keywords you find are usually long tail (more than 3 words), as they are often easy to rank for.
For keyword research, we recommend a premium tool like Semrush. Want more information? Here’s a free keyword research guide to find the best keywords.

4. Content creation

Creating useful content is the key to developing a successful SEO strategy for doctors. You cannot rank your site without creating content.

Here’s a simple guide to creating content across different platforms.

Blog posts on your site

If you want to establish yourself as a thought leader in your medical field, blogging regularly is a great way to do so. Find relevant topics, identify your target audience, analyze competitors’ sites, and create content that fills the gaps.

Video

If you are a medical expert or doctor, answer common medical questions in videos and upload them to YouTube. Make sure to optimize your videos properly with relevant title and description tags to attract more video views.

Social Media Posts

Use social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to educate, engage, and build trust with your patients. The key here is to create and promote REALLY good content, including preventative care tips, common nursing myths, and inspiring healthy habits.

The key here is to promote your content on social media sites to get more social shares and referral traffic.

5. SEO Optimization of a Medical Practice Website

To better optimize your medical practice website, there are several important factors to consider, which are listed below.

Vitals Core Web Components

Core Web Vitals (CWV) are THREE metrics that measure website loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability of a page. If you improve these elements, you will see better rankings, better user experience, and better engagement.

Here are some tips to improve your site’s CWV:

Optimize page loading speed
Improve overall user interactivity
Add visual stability to improve user experience.

You can use Google Insights PageSpeed to measure and improve key web metrics.
This is what it looks like:

6. Backlinks

One of the best SEO strategies for doctor websites is link building. Backlinks are a key factor in ranking your website at the top of Google, as search engines view links as “votes.”

The more links your site has from authoritative and relevant sites, the higher the authority your site will have.

Building Backlinks: Make sure you spend time building links. There are many ways to build links, including guest blogging, working with bloggers, influencer marketing, etc.
Improve Internal Links: Links to your internal posts and pages are equally important as they pass link juice to the relevant pages. So, learn how to connect other important pages with SEO-optimized anchor text.

7. Biography of the author “Real Doctors”

Gone are the days when you could create a website and still rank, Google now takes EEAT signals into account when ranking pages.

This is why you should add a REAL doctor’s author bio to build trust and make your site a reliable resource.

Here’s what you should do: Be sure to include the author’s name and provide a short bio highlighting their credentials, knowledge, and experience on EVERY blog post.

If possible, create an exclusive page with articles, testimonials, and experiences from doctors who write for your site.

8. Find other sources to get traffic

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – don’t rely on Google alone, you MUST diversify your traffic sources.

Here are some of the BEST platforms for doctors to get links and traffic to your sites.

Quora: Quora is the #1 Q&A platform used by millions of people. It’s also the best source of traffic, especially if you plan to provide users with practical medical advice.

For example, a dermatologist might answer Quora questions about acne, skincare routines, and common skin conditions.

By providing practical advice and linking to relevant blog posts on your website, you can build your authority and attract potential patients. Here are some more tips for increasing your site traffic from Quora.

Reddit: If you want to directly engage with the public and offer medical advice, Reddit is a great place. You can find relevant subreddits and participate in them to provide credible and professional advice to build an audience.

Medium Pain: If you want to share in-depth articles, research findings, and patient stories, Medium is a great platform. Like a blog, you can create posts, optimize them, and showcase your credentials to build an audience.

9. Integration with free analytics tools.

You MUST integrate your website with Google Analytics and Search Console, as they can help you with many things, including;

To understand the effectiveness of your website
Track your website traffic (including various search queries)
Analyze click-through rates, bounce rates, etc.
Troubleshooting technical issues and more

10. Update content

If you are looking for advanced SEO tips for doctors, update your existing content. If you have published more than 100 articles or case studies on your website and are still struggling to handle traffic, update your existing content. Make the content patient-centric.

Additionally, use Google Search Console to find your top 10 traffic-generating posts and include relevant terms like “best cardiologist in [city]” or “diabetes treatment” (or any keyword you want to rank for).

The key here is to prioritize articles with high traffic potential. Here are some quick tips;

Add new FAQ sections, statistics, or examples to existing content. For example, a 2021 article about “the best weight loss supplements” could be updated with the latest scientific findings about weight loss supplements.
Make it visually appealing by replacing old images with high-quality visuals. You can also add infographics or videos to make the content more interesting.
Finally, don’t forget links. Combine old content with new, relevant articles to improve your site’s navigation, link building, and SEO.

Final Words on the Top 10 SEO Strategies for Doctors

SEO can help you find more patients and build your brand as a physician. Using the right tactics, such as keyword optimization, creating useful content, and local SEO strategies, you can create a successful practice.

Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments.

Frequently asked questions

What is Local SEO for Doctors?

Local SEO for doctors is an online marketing strategy that helps patients find doctors by searching online for medical services in their specific geographic area. Local keywords typically look like “dentist near me,” “pediatrician in [city],” or “general practitioners in [area].”

How much does medical SEO cost?

It depends on your domain, the experience of the agency you choose, keyword competition, etc. However, small medical SEO can cost anywhere from Rs 15000 to Rs 3,5000 per month, while full-scale medical SEO can cost anywhere from Rs 3,0000 to Rs 5,0000 per month.

What does SEO mean in healthcare?

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. In healthcare, SEO is about improving your website’s visibility in search engines like Google so you can attract more patients and book appointments online.

What is a doctor search engine?

Google is the BEST search engine, as it dominates the search market (91.02%), followed by Bing with 3.88% and YANDEX with 1.37%.