People turn to the web to find expert eye care. You must be present when your target patients are online. With search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, your optometry website will show up at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more customers.

Optometry SEO is a collection of strategies that improve your site rankings. Let us talk about the five steps you need to create a winning SEO strategy.

1. Research the Most Relevant Optometry Keywords

Digital Authority Partners says that keyword research is essential for making an optimized website that ranks well in the SERP. Your customers use specific keywords to find businesses or practices like yours. So your first step is to identify these keywords.

Research keywords relevant to your industry or practice. For example, “pediatric optometry” if you serve young patients and “optometry services in San Diego” if you want to emphasize your location.

Industry-relevant keywords help you create compelling content. Find them using research tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush. These tools provide keyword suggestions and ideas to improve your marketing strategies. Here are some tips to help you with keyword research.

• List down broad topics. Use your services or products as topics. You can also use specializations like vision checkups, refraction services, contact lenses, or medical eye exams. From these topics, list keywords that your target customers potential use.
• Look for related search terms. Your customers may be using other keywords to find your business, like “eye care,” “vision care,” or “eye doctor.” Include them in your list.
• Find negative keywords. At first glance, negative keywords may seem related to your practice, but they hardly help your business. You want to avoid ranking for these keywords. For instance, if you do not want to rank for “optometry jobs,” list it as a negative keyword.
• Utilize local keywords. People looking for eye care services your are will find you better if you use local keywords. Say you are in San Diego; add “San Diego optometry clinic” or “optometrist in San Diego” to your list.

2. Create Quality, Helpful Content

Create content that ranks your optometry website higher in the SERP. This should be high-quality, helpful, and updated content that your audience looks forward to. And we are not just talking about blogs.

Websites for optometrists that do well use different kinds of content, such as short-form videos, which are the most popular content type among digital marketers right now, according to the latest survey.

Create high-quality and valuable content with the following tips:

• Create content for your audience. Find out what optometry services your audience is looking for. What are their issues and their pain points? You can find these through surveys, social media comments, and reviews.
• Keep content up to date. The healthcare industry in general is constantly evolving, so you stay updated with the latest in optometry care. Update statistics, findings, studies, and approaches to eye care so your audience can make the most out of your content.
• Structure your content well. Ensure your text content, like your blog posts and landing pages, is well-structured with headings and subheadings. Use your keywords in headings to help search engines and site visitors better understand your content.

3. Develop an Effective Backlink Strategy

Develop an effective backlink strategy. Backlinks are links that lead to your optometry site’s pages. Your SERP ranking goes up when you have high-quality backlinks because they show that people trust and respect the optometry services you offer.

The following are ways to improve your backlink strategy:

• Be a source of reliable optometry information. Write ultimate guides, how-to videos, and helpful infographics your audience gladly links to.
• Improve link building by writing guest posts. Ask permission to write on blog sites and link back to your optometry site. Write about eye care, optometry services, and other helpful information and link to your service pages.
• Utilize Google Search Console Reports. This is a free tool for looking for backlink opportunities. Check websites that linked back to you in the past and reach out to these sites to build backlinks.

4. Take Advantage of Online Citations

Getting your optometry business listed in local citations or directories helps your ranking because citations show credibility. Citations are mentions of your business along with your name, address, and phone number (NAP).

Make sure your business is listed in local directories for optometrists like the American Board of Optometry, Optometrist Network, and American Optometric Association sites.

Also, update and claim your Google Business Profile (GBP), because this links to your Google Map page. Your well-optimized website appears in search results because people use your keywords to search for optometry services in their area. Here are strategies to optimize your citations and GBP.

• Ensure all information is consistent. Aside from your NAP, your business hours, website, logos, and description should be the same in all directory sites.
• Prioritize your citations. A lot of citation and directory sites exist but make sure you are in the most popular industry, local, and general directories. You may use software like Moz Local, SEMrush, and Bright Local to manage your citations simultaneously and avoid outdated information.
• Complete your business description. Ensure that your GBP description is updated and complete. Use your primary keywords to create an optimized description of your business.
• Describe your services and products. Introduce your optometry products and services briefly in your business description. This helps Google index and understand your website and show your pages during a search.

5. Establish a Search Engine-Friendly Website

Make an optometry website that is easy for search engine bots to index and crawl so it will rank high in SERPs. One of the many ways to optimize your website for search is by adapting a responsive format.

Mobile friendliness is one of the most important ranking factors for Google, so you need to make sure your website works well on all devices. Your content and site elements must be visible to and clickable by your users. Below are important SEO tips to help you rank your site better:

• Create unique meta titles and descriptions for all your pages. These appear in search results and are the first information your audience sees about your business. Use engaging and descriptive titles and descriptions.
• Follow best indexing practices. Clean your URL for easy search engine indexing. All permanent links should be descriptive, all in lowercase letters, and separated by dashes. Include keywords for easy visibility.
• Improve website loading speeds. This promotes user experience (UX). Use a better hosting service, optimize image sizes, reduce CSS and JavaScript, and avoid plugins to improve site speeds.
• Optimize videos, images, and infographics. Use your keywords to describe these assets. Doing so helps search engines understand what these assets are about and how they are related to your website.
• Promote internal linking. These are links in your content that lead to other website pages. Internal links establish the relationship of your web pages and improve search engine crawlability and indexing.

Summing Up

When you use the right keywords, make good content, and have a good backlink strategy, your optometry website will rank higher in the SERP. You can also guarantee a higher rank when your business is on trusted directory sites and when you follow the best SEO practices.

All these strategies help your business or practice stay visible and attract more patients. You also build authority and promote your optometry brand better with SEO.