SEO for Therapy Websites - Enhancing your Google Presence
Over the past year or so there have been substantial changes in the way that search engines, in particular Google, rank and index various pages and search results. It is estimated there are around 200 different calculations that occur in micro-seconds to return any search result. An entire industry has emerged trying to figure these out, some more reputable than others!
The simple reality is that no company can guarantee you top rankings and claim to know the secrets as, frankly, nobody does besides the clever folk at Google!
However, further to my previous post, what we do know is that quality content is king! We also know that relevant links to your site still matter. (Have a look at our previous article Simple Steps to Optimise your Private Practice Website to find out more.)
You may have noticed that certain search results on Google return looking like this...
Recent research by Search Metrics shows that results with verified authorship (the profile picture) are present on page one for around 1 million keywords(http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2012/04/23/rel-author-study-approximately-17percent-of-serps-showing-rel-author-tag/).
More importantly these results tend to show a better "click-through-rate" than traditional text-only results. This may be simply down to the fact that as people we tend to be drawn towards visuals and faces, and the picture makes the search result stick out more. Another aspect is that the presence of a profile photo instils a greater degree of trust in the link.
How to make sure your profile picture shows on Google results for your therapy website
The first thing you should have set up is a personal profile on Google Plus. That's free and quick to set up by following this link...
Upload your profile picture to your new Google profile. Without this, the link will not be registered. Don't neglect the importance of a well-taken, friendly picture. For more information, please see our article on the Importance of a (Good) Profile Photograph
Once that's done, look for the "contributor to" section on your Google profile. Add your website address in this section.
Next step, follow the verification process here ...https://plus.google.com/authorship
At this stage we would insert the relevant codes and test the system for our clients. The enhanced results would usually start to appear after a few days.
If you have any questions regarding Search Engine Optimisation for therapy websites, please contact us on 07714 398 776 or use our contact form.
