Keyword optimization is a big part of SEO and improving your orthopedic surgery practice’s search engine rankings.
Strong, original content that focuses around specific keywords tells search engines what each page is about—and what your site as a whole is about—so practices with better content and more keywords will, all else being equal, rank higher than the competition in relevant searches.
But what keywords should you be targeting?
Though it seems fundamental, it’s a question many orthopedic surgeons and even many marketers often ignore. There are already plenty of obvious keywords associated with your practice:
- Orthopedic
- Surgery
- Doctor
Not to mention all of the local keywords you need to be targeting but, what more can you be doing?
50,000 Google Searches Every Month for “Orthopedic Surgeon”
There are over 50,000 searches every month on Google for an orthopedic surgeon. But, is it enough to just go after a core search such as this?
The problem is, what you think of as relevant to your practice might not be precisely what patients think of as relevant when they’re searching for an orthopedic surgeon.
And in the world of online marketing, just as in the world of orthopedic surgery, precision matters.
Granted, you aren’t in danger of losing a leg if your marketer screws up, but you could cost you a proverbial arm and a leg in lost revenue.
Tools for Keyword Success
With tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and plenty of other keyword-testing platforms, there’s no excuse for blind keywording.
You should be regularly tracking what real patients are actually searching for, and creating high-value original content that targets those keywords.
Some of what you find might surprise you, like these five search terms listed below that you can obtain in just a few minutes with the Keyword Planner.
Based on search volume and competition, these five currently chart-topping search terms definitely warrant consideration in your content’s keyword targeting.
5 Orthopedic Keyword Search Term Examples
5. Shoulder Surgery
With a monthly search volume of 6,600 and only medium competition, capturing the attention of patients who need a “shoulder surgery” performed should be relatively easy and potentially lucrative.
There are plenty of shoulder surgeries to choose from—write up a quick 500 to 700-word page for each and watch the clicks roll in.
4. Bone Doctor
You didn’t go through years of medical school and take on mountains of debt just to be called a “bone doctor,” we know, but this is a perfect case in point: you might not ever think of yourself as a bone doctor, but your patients do. 8,100 of them a month use this exact term when searching for a surgeon like you, in fact, and the keyword competition for bone doctor is, not surprisingly, low.
3. Hip Replacement Surgery
Like “shoulder surgery,” “hip replacement surgery” defines a more specific service than “orthopedic surgery” or “orthopedic surgeon.” Not only do these procedure-specific searches have high monthly search volumes (in this case, 9,900), but they’re more likely to convert into actual paying patients than those conducting more generic searches.
Even with the high competition that comes along with it, targeting patients seeking a hip replacement can see lead to a quick uptick in your patient roster.
2. Total Knee Replacement
Sensing a theme here? Shoulder surgery, hip replacement surgery, total knee replacement—again, it’s all about targeting specific procedures. Your patients are hoping to solve a problem; they aren’t looking for a surgeon, they’re hoping to feel better.
Build content around addressing your patient’s needs, including this “total knee replacement” needs that are searched for 12,100 times a month and have only medium competition.
1. Arthroscopy
From “bone doctor” to “arthroscopy.” Quite a leap in terms of sophistication, yet amazingly enough arthroscopy has a monthly search volume of 22,200 and low competition. Pull out the big guns and churn out a half-dozen blog posts on various aspects of arthroscopy, then keep the targeted content flowing at the rate of a few posts a month, and you’re all but guaranteed to start pulling in new business.
Get started today with your own customized practice marketing checkup to diagnose your current condition and discover opportunities in your area.
