Doctors and medical professionals need to be aware of Google’s algorithm updates. Google’s latest update is aimed at providing searchers with more helpful and relevant content. In this blog post, we will discuss what the helpful content update is, how it will affect doctors and their websites, and how doctors can ensure their website provides valuable information to patients.

What Is Google’s Helpful Content Update?

At the beginning of September, Google finished rolling out a new algorithm update. Google’s latest update is called the “helpful content update.” Google’s helpful content update is a new algorithm that will change the way Google ranks pages. It will award sites with “factually precise and comprehensive content” a higher ranking in search results. The update is designed to provide searchers with more helpful and relevant content.

The helpful content update is yet another indication that Google values well-researched, thoroughly written articles. We know that the consumer is the king, and in this digital world content is the kingdom. So, what does this update mean for doctors and their websites? Let’s take a closer look.

How Will the Helpful Content Update Affect Doctors and Their Websites?

Digital marketing is an essential part of any successful medical practice. To attract new patients, doctors need to build a personal brand, have a good marketing strategy, and have a well-designed website that is easy to find and navigate.

P.S. If you would like to learn in detail about digital marketing fundamentals, marketing strategy for doctors, or how doctors should build their personal brand online, check out the links below!

• The Definitive Guide to Digital Marketing for Doctors
• 4 Digital Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Private Practice (in 2022)
• Build Personal Brand as a Doctor in 6 Simple Steps

The helpful content update will have a significant impact on doctors and their websites. The update will change the way Google ranks websites in its search results. Websites that provide helpful, relevant, and accurate information will be ranked higher than those that do not.

The helpful content update emphasizes the importance of writing comprehensive and accurate articles. To rank highly on Google, doctors will need to ensure that their website contains articles that are thoroughly researched and free of errors. While this may seem like a daunting task, there are some steps you can take to ensure your website provides valuable information to patients seeking medical advice online.

How Can You Ensure Your Website Provides Valuable Information to Patients Seeking Medical Advice Online?

The helpful content update is a positive change that will improve the quality of information available to patients seeking medical advice online. You need to make sure your website provides valuable, relevant, and accurate information to patients to achieve a high ranking on Google. The best way for you to ensure your website provides valuable information to patients seeking medical advice online is by taking some simple steps such as focusing on creating high-quality, patient-first content. This would be beneficial not only in ranking but in providing patients with what they are actually looking for when searching.

There are several steps you can take to rank your website on Google after the update:

Tip: If you want to know how your website ranks on Google and how it compares to your competitors in your market try our Rank Checker here: https://compare.mktg.doctor/

• Create high-quality content: First, you should make sure that your articles are well-researched and accurate. In addition, you should avoid medical jargon and use clear and concise language throughout your website. Your website should also be easy to navigate and contain clear CTAs or Call-To-Actions.
• Write patient-focused content: Your website should be created with the needs of patients in mind.
  • Your website needs to have a page with details about you and your medical practice. This page should include your experience, your achievements, your aims, and your contact information. This will allow patients to learn more about you and decide whether or not you are the right doctor for them.
  • As a doctor, you should write articles that address the needs of your patients. You should have service pages that explain the details of the services you offer, including the cost, what to expect at the consultation, and the benefits of the service. When patients see this page, they should be able to get a clear idea of what you can offer them.
  • Make sure to include blog posts since they are a great way to provide valuable information to patients while also promoting your website. You can use blog posts to answer common questions patients have.

Check out our articles on must-have pages and fundamentals of healthcare websites to learn more about creating patient-first content.

• Provide multiple types of content: You should also provide different types of content on your website so that patients can find the information they need in a variety of ways. For example, you could include service pages, blogs, videos, and infographics. This will help patients who prefer different types of content to find the information they need on your website.
• Don’t write about irrelevant topics: The focus of this new update is on providing helpful and accurate information. As such, you should only write about topics that fall within your area of expertise and which are relevant to your practice. For example, a plastic surgeon should write about topics related to plastic surgery, such as different types of procedures or recovery times, while a dentist should write about topics related to dental health, such as cavities and root canal treatment. If you write about topics that are not relevant to your site, it may be considered to be “unhelpful content” and hurt your website’s ranking.
• Carefully plan your SEO strategy: To rank highly on Google, you must carefully plan your SEO strategy to get more organic traffic. You should include relevant keywords throughout your website so that patients can easily find your articles when they are searching for medical advice online. One popular strategy is the E-A-T strategy. This stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Using the E-A-T strategy for creating content is a great way to rank your website after the helpful content update. For more SEO strategies, check out our blog on SEO tips for doctors.

P.S. If you want to learn more about what SEO is and how to utilize it for your website, take a look at the links below:

• How to Rank #1 on Google
• Why Is My Website Traffic Declining?
• What is Google E-A-T? Why Should Doctors Care?
• 3 SEO Tips For Doctors
• How we ranked a dentist on Google (in just 3 months)

Are There Any Other Steps You Can Take To Improve Your Website’s Visibility And Ranking On Google?

There are several other steps you can take to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on Google. In addition to writing accurate and comprehensive articles, you should also focus on:

• Creating high-quality backlinks: Backlinks are links from external websites to your website. Google uses backlinks as a ranking factor, so it’s important to include links from high-quality websites. You can create backlinks by guest blogging or listing your site on trustworthy directories and review sites.
• Optimizing your website for mobile devices: More and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet. As such, it’s important to optimize your website for these devices. This includes ensuring that your website is responsive and that your articles are easy to read on screens of different sizes.
• Using social media to promote your website: Social media is a great way to promote your website and its articles. You can share links to your articles on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Instagram is a great platform for sharing visual content, such as infographics and videos. You can also use social media to interact with potential and current patients. This will help to build trust and credibility for your practice and website. If you want to learn about the different ways to use social media for your practice, take a look at our article on how to make the most of social media.

By taking these steps, you can help patients find the information they need while also improving your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines like Google.

If you do not like the content on your website (or even worse you don’t have a website), try our website builder for free. We will build a multi-page fully functional website for your practice with content specifically written for your specialty and customized to your practice all in under 15 mins. And we will build this for FREE, so you have nothing to lose. Give it a try here!

About Author

Sharanya Chandrasekhar

I write content that ranks for doctors.