SEO for Chiropractors
A simple (but effective) step-by-step guide to build a targeted SEO chiropractor marketing strategy.
What is SEO for chiropractors?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website or web page to increase its visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.
SEO is crucial for any chiropractor or chiropractic clinic owner aiming to attract more patients. The higher your website ranks on search engines, the greater the likelihood that potential patients will find and visit your site.
Think of it like spinal health for your website.
Just as chiropractic care involves maintaining the health of the spine, SEO ensures that your website is ‘healthy.’ In other words, it helps make sure your site is easily found by search engines, leading to more traffic and, ultimately, more patients.
Did you know?
- 99% of people use the internet to search for local businesses. (Source: BrightLocal)
- Consumer use of Google to evaluate local businesses has leapt from 63% in 2020 to 81% in 2021. (Source: BrightLocal)
- Mobile devices are used for over 50% of all online searches. (Source: Statista)
A person searching for a chiropractor on Google may use a search query like “chiropractor near me” or “best chiropractic clinic in [city name]”.
They may search for specific services such as “spinal adjustment”, “sciatica treatment”, or “sports injury chiropractor”. Or they may even include their insurance information in the search query, such as “Medicaid chiropractor in [city name]”.
In order to benefit from SEO, you want your website to rank for these kinds of searches.
Why is chiropractor SEO important?
Here are some of the benefits of using SEO for your chiropractic practice:
- Increased visibility: SEO boosts the visibility of your chiropractic website on search engines, making it more likely that potential patients will find you when searching for chiropractic services.
- Cost-effective: Compared to traditional advertising methods like print or television, SEO offers a more cost-effective way for chiropractors to reach new patients without breaking the bank.
- Targeted audience: SEO allows you to target specific keywords related to your chiropractic services, such as spinal care, pain relief, or injury recovery, ensuring you attract the right audience.
- Local SEO: Local SEO increases your website’s visibility for individuals searching for chiropractic services within a specific geographic location, which is essential for chiropractors who want to attract local patients.
- Building trust: SEO helps establish trust and authority with both search engines and potential patients by offering high-quality, relevant content. This not only attracts new patients but also builds a strong reputation for your chiropractic practice in your community.
Don’t forget!
Chiropractic practices must comply with regulations such as HIPAA, state-specific healthcare laws, and FTC guidelines. Therefore, it’s essential that SEO strategies and marketing tactics adhere to these regulations while effectively reaching the right audience.
How do search engines work?
Search engines work by crawling billions of webpages with their own web crawlers, known as search engine bots or spiders. These are then stored and saved in an index.
Google Search Essentials (formerly Webmaster Guidelines)
The Google Search Essentials define the actions that webmasters can take to make their websites better indexable or crawlable.
Read them here: Official Google Guidelines
The guidelines are based on three central aspects:
- Crawling – webmasters should support Google in finding websites.
- Indexing – webmasters should help Google to classify and “recognize” the content.
- Usability and user experience – webmasters should support the users of the websites in their use (usability and user experience).
Essentially, according to these Google guidelines, a website should support the search engine in crawling and indexing and ensure a good user experience.
Before you get started with SEO, there are a few prerequisites you want to check off first:
SEO Basics
At a bare minimum, you want to make sure you cover these basic standards before embarking on doing SEO:
- Website Speed – Have a fast loading site so potential customers don’t get tired of waiting for things to load.
- Mobile Friendliness – Make sure your site works on mobile as over 50% of users browse on mobile devices
- Analytics – Setup Google Analytics, Google Search Console & so you can understand what is and isn’t working.
- XML Sitemap – search engines use this to get your site’s URLs
- Robots.txt – tells search engine crawlers where they can (and where they can’t go) on your site.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the process of making website and server optimizations to help search engines to crawl and index your site more effectively (and therefore help to improve organic rankings).
Technical errors can hurt a website’s ability to rank. There are potentially a lot of errors, but here are some of the most common that will have the biggest impact when fixed:
- 404 errors
- Broken backlinks
- Poor URL structure
- Duplicate/thin content
- Poor internal linking
- Poor website architecture
- Missing metadata (page titles & meta descriptions)
- Missing H1 tags
Reach more patients with chiropractor SEO services
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases that people use when searching for specific products or services:
Once you understand the keywords your target audience is using, you can optimize your website to appear for these in search results.
Think of keyword research like a diagnostic test for your chiropractic website. Just as a diagnostic test helps a chiropractor understand a patient’s specific health needs, keyword research helps you understand what people are searching for when looking for chiropractic services.
For example, if people are searching for “back pain relief,” “chiropractor for sciatica,” or “spinal adjustment near me,” this information can be used to optimize your website so it ranks higher in search results. This helps attract more patients actively looking for the chiropractic services you offer.
Why is keyword research important?
Keyword research is important for chiropractors because it helps to:
- understand what people are searching for when they are looking for chiropractic services, and to optimize their website accordingly.
- identify the specific needs and pain points of their target audience, which can inform the content they create and services they offer, ultimately leading to more conversion and better patient experience.
- identify the competition in the local area and understand what they are doing, so they can create a more effective SEO strategy.
What keywords are best to target?
Understand that there’s no “best” keywords, just those that are highly searched by your audience. With this in mind, it’s up to you to craft a strategy that will help you rank pages and drive traffic.
The best keywords for your SEO strategy will take into account relevance, authority, and volume. You want to find highly searched keywords that you can reasonably compete for based on:
- The level of competition you’re up against.
- Your ability to produce content that exceeds in quality what’s currently ranking.
Short tail keywords are broad, general keywords that are made up of one or two words:
- Chiropractor
- Spinal care
- Back pain
- Pain relief
- Chiropractic treatment
Whereas long tail keywords are more specific and longer phrases that are made up of multiple words:
- Best chiropractor for back pain relief
- Affordable chiropractic treatment for sciatica
- Chiropractic care for neck pain near me
- Holistic pain relief chiropractic services
- Chiropractor for sports injury recovery
How to do keyword research for your chiropractor practice
To start keyword research: put yourself in your customers shoes.
What words, phrases and terms might they use in order to find solutions to these problems? These are the keywords you want to find and target.
Here is a simple process to follow:
Step 1) Make a list of broad topics
Create a list of general topics related to your business. These might correspond to product categories, services or anything you believe your target audience would be interested in.
For example, broad topics like:
- Spinal Adjustments
- Back Pain Management
- Chiropractic Care for Athletes
- Posture Correction
- Neck Pain Relief
Step 2) Expand topics into a list of phrases
Now you want to take those topics and expand them into a list of related phrases to target.
Imagine yourself as a buyer looking for your product or service and ask yourself: what would I type into Google?
Whilst keyword research tools are useful here, you can do this for free by Googling your keyword.
For example, Google “chiropractic adjustments” and you’ll get a list of related questions people ask (which you can answer with blog content).
As well as related searches which may uncover other keywords to target:
Step 3) Analyze your keywords
Once you have a list of potential keywords, you need to gauge which terms are worth targeting.
You’ll need to use a keyword research tool here to pay attention to the following keyword metrics:
- Search volume
- Trends
- Search value over time
- Difficulty
- CPC
- SERP features
But most importantly, you want to consider relevancy and search intent:
Relevant keywords:
For relevancy, you want to ask yourself:
- Are these keywords relevant to my business?
- Do I have a chance of ranking for these terms based on the competition?
- Is ranking for these keywords going to have a positive ROI?
If you can answer YES to the above questions, chances are you have picked a relevant keyword
Search intent:
Search intent is the goal and purpose of a search query in Google. When someone searches for something, they are typically looking for more information before performing an action.
Search intent falls in four buckets:
- Informational – Searchers looking for information, they’ll use words like: how, what, why, when etc.
- Navigational – Searchers trying to find a specific site, they’ll use words relating to the service/product/brand
- Transactional – Searchers looking to purchase, they’ll use words like: buy, cost, pricing, cheap etc.
- Commercial investigation – Searchers researching prior to making a purchase, they’ll use words like: best, review, comparison etc
Not only is it important to select good keywords, but also to pick keywords you have a chance of ranking for.
For example, if you want to rank for the keyword: “Chiropractic Adjustment Benefits” but your page doesn’t actually explain the benefits of chiropractic adjustments, you are not meeting a searcher’s intent and may struggle to rank for it.
Find profitable chiropractic keywords
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO describes specific elements of the pages on your website that you control, such as:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Header tags
- Internal linking
- Images
- Content
Why is on-page SEO important?
On-page SEO is important for chiropractors because it ensures that your website is easily found and understood by search engines, increasing visibility and driving more traffic to your site. This can ultimately lead to more patients seeking chiropractic care.
For example, if you offer a service like “spinal adjustments” but it’s not clearly mentioned on your website, it will be less likely for your site to appear in search results when someone searches for “spinal adjustments” or related terms. However, if your website is optimized with “spinal adjustments” as a focus keyword, it will be more likely to appear in search results, attracting patients looking for that specific service.
Additionally, on-page optimization can improve the overall user experience of your website, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. A well-organized, easy-to-navigate website with clear calls to action, like “Schedule an Appointment,” can help convert visitors into patients.
On-Page SEO Checklist
- Use short & descriptive URLs – this helps people searching to understand what your page is about in Google.
- Write a good title tag & meta description – these show up in Google and help searchers understand what your page is about.
- Linking to relevant resources – this helps users to navigate your website.
- Optimize your images – give them a descriptive filename and alt text.
- Add schema markup – this helps search engines to understand your content
- Add internal links – these help Google understand what your page is about and to navigate your website.
Get actionable insights into your chiropractor SEO
What is off-page SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to specific actions done outside of your website, such as getting backlinks from other websites or social media.
What is link building?
Link building is the practice of building one-way hyperlinks (also known as “backlinks”) to a website with the goal of improving SEO. Common link building strategies include content marketing, building useful tools, email outreach, broken link building and guest posts.
Why is link building important?
Link building is important for chiropractors because it helps to increase the visibility of a website on search engines. Google, for example, use links to a website as a way to determine the authority and trustworthiness of a website.
The more high-quality links that point to a website, the more likely it is to be considered an authority in its field and be given higher rankings in the SERPs (search engine results page).
This increased visibility can drive more traffic to a website, which can lead to more patients for the chiropractic practice.
Link Building Tactics:
- Guest posts (either DIY it or use a done-for-you guest post service)
- Buying backlinks (like authority links)
- Content marketing (like linkable assets or editorial links)
- Tried and tested SEO methods (like blogger outreach, broken link building
- Using what you’ve got (link reclamation and brand mentions)
Additionally, link building can help establish your chiropractic practice as a reputable and trustworthy provider of chiropractic services, which is essential for attracting new patients. High-quality links from reputable websites in the healthcare or wellness industry can signal to potential patients that your practice is well-respected in the field.
Link building can also drive referral traffic to your website, where visitors are directed through links on other reputable sites. This can boost brand awareness and help you reach new audiences who may not have otherwise discovered your practice.
In summary, link building is crucial for chiropractors as it increases visibility, enhances reputation and trust, and drives referral traffic to your website, ultimately leading to more patients.
Get high quality backlinks
Chiropractic SEO Best Practices (+ 4 Tips)
- Use HTTPs (SSL certificates)
- Make sure your web site pages load fast
- Target a relevant topic that has traffic potential
- Meet search intent
- Target a topic you can compete for
- Use your target keyword in your page title, H1 tag and URL
- Use a short (but descriptive) URL
- Write a good title tag and meta description
- Optimize your images
- Write good content
- Add internal links
- Get more quality backlinks
4 Actionable Chiropractor SEO Tips
Here are some things your practice can do to begin the process of developing a good chiropractic marketing strategy.
- Add relevant keywords
- Optimize for local searches
- Start blogging
- Earn links
1. Add relevant keywords to your website
People looking for chiropractors also search for specific services like back pain relief or sports injury treatment. Long-tail searches typically have fewer searches, but the traffic they bring is often highly targeted and ready to convert into real patients.
For example, instead of just focusing on optimizing your website for “chiropractor” or “chiropractic services,” you could add keywords like “chiropractor in [your city]” or “sports chiropractor in [your area]” or “sciatica treatment in [your city], [state]” to attract more relevant traffic to your website.
2. Optimize your site for local searches
If your SEO plan doesn’t use local SEO to target specific areas, you’ll likely miss out on some great leads. Adding the name of your town and nearby towns to your website copy is the easiest way to get better results.
But don’t forget about things on your site besides writing copy. You should also add places to the titles and URLs of your pages.
Also, make sure that your business is listed on Google Maps and local directory sites. This will help your business show up more in local searches.
3. Start writing useful content
The main goal of chiropractic SEO is to get more patients by making your website more visible in Google.
One way to do this is to write a blog. If you write a blog with tips on how to maintain a healthy spine or manage back pain, you’ll start attracting interested readers and potential patients. As your traffic grows, so will your search rankings, and people looking for a chiropractor in your area will turn to you as a trusted source for chiropractic care.
4. Earn quality links
How high your site ranks in search results for keywords and phrases related to your business depends on how many and how good the links are to it. This means that you need to get good links if you want to keep your rankings.
You can do this by making good content and reaching out to bloggers and leaders in your field to ask them to share it. This will not only help you move up in search results, but it will also make your chiropractor practice look like a leader in the field.
Backlinks are a very important part of SEO for chiropractors. They are like a vote of confidence for the content your practice puts out. Because of this, links are one of the most important ways that search engines like Google decide how to rank pages.
- Not doing enough keyword research
- Not matching user/search intent
- Targeting keywords that are far too difficult
- Not building enough quality backlinks
- Breaking Google’s Terms of Service when building backlinks
- Missing out on internal link opportunities
- Not allowing Google crawl your content
- Not allowing Google index your content
- Having a very slow site
- Treating SEO as a one-time thing
How does chiropractic SEO work?
SEO for chiropractors means making sure that your website is optimized for both search engines and users. This makes your website more visible in relevant and organic search results.
Optimizations include:
- on-page SEO
- link building
- technical SEO review
- content audit
- local citation audit
Why do chiropractors need marketing?
It helps you set your practice apart.
Your patients are your customers. A marketing plan not only helps you identify your target market, but it also helps potential patients understand why they should choose your chiropractic care.
A good chiropractic marketing strategy should attract new patients, retain your current ones, and raise awareness of the services you offer. The main goal is to get potential patients to call or schedule an appointment online.
How long does chiropractors SEO take?
Typically, chiropractic SEO takes at least six months to deliver results.
In some cases, practices may start to see results like increased traffic, phone calls, and appointments, in faster time frame than this.
Although typically 6 months is a good benchmark as SEO is a long-term strategy vs. a short-term strategy like PPC.
How much does SEO for chiropractors cost?
Prices for chiropractic website SEO depend on multiple factors, but the average cost for chiropractor SEO is $1500 – $5000 per month.
If you’re looking to partner with a consultant or chiropractic SEO expert, the average rate is $100 – $300 per hour.
What’s Next?
Guest Posts
We do guest posts better than anyone else with complete transparency. You get to approve all placements before they’re made and even the exact anchor text that’s going to be used. Site owners themselves will produce your content to guarantee its a perfect match.
Content
Crafting the right message isn’t just a matter of choosing the right words. We develop site content and blogs using the latest tools to determine the right keywords and balance of terms to build high-performing content.
Managed SEO
Sometimes, it takes more than just one service to make a difference. Multiple services working in concert can amplify the effect and create the growth that’s evaded you in the past. Talk to us about managed SEO campaigns built around any of your goals.
Too busy running your chiropractic practice to do SEO?
Grow your business with a monthly SEO package focused on building quality backlinks to your highest priority pages.
