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Update: Aug 12, 2025
Patients often turn to the internet when searching for answers. In fact, Google receives over 1 billion health-related searches every day. It's almost second nature; type in a few relevant keywords, hit enter, and voila, a multitude of search results appear, ready to answer your question and give you more information.
This is especially true for patients seeking doctors. While word of mouth used to be the primary way to find a provider, patients now search the internet for terms like "dermatologist near me" or "best orthopedic surgeons."
In 2025, this behavior is even more ingrained, with AI-driven search tools, voice assistants, and hyper-personalized results shaping how patients discover providers.
After hitting the search button, they are presented with a number of results, including local pack listings and organic search results. But are all search results created equal?
Understanding how search results work is crucial for effective digital marketing. The higher your practice appears in search results, the more likely patients are to click on your website and subsequently book an appointment. That's why SEO for doctors is always a high priority in healthcare marketing strategy to boost search rankings.
As your search engine optimization improves, so will your visibility, leading to a higher patient acquisition rate.
For anyone new to SEO, a great starting point is Google's SEO Starter Guide, which outlines essential best practices for helping search engines crawl, index, and understand your content. It's especially useful for small or private practice owners just getting their web presence off the ground.
That said, without an expert SEO for doctors strategy in place, your practice could be missing out on a significant number of potential patients. Only 0.63% of people click on the second page of Google search results, and that number drops even further for subsequent pages. That means if your practice isn't showing up on the first page of search results, the vast majority of potential patients will never see your practice's website.
Knowing how many patients in your area are searching for your specialty, the conditions you treat, and the services you offer is crucial to understanding your online visibility and how to improve it. PracticeBeat by Treatspace was created to help you with this very task. Our team will pull this data for you at no cost, giving you insights into your market share and market leakage.
With this information and our expert guidance, we can help you improve your digital marketing efforts and reach more patients.
Schedule your free assessment today to learn more.
Search engine results pages, commonly referred to as SERPs, are the pages that users see after searching for a term. The SERP will include a mix of organic, local pack, and sponsored listings.
Sponsored listings, also known as paid listings, are essentially advertisements. Businesses pay search engines for these spots. When a user searches for specific keywords, sponsored listings appear at the top of the SERPs, typically in a box with a small "Ad" or "Sponsored" label. While sponsored listings can drive immediate traffic, they don't contribute to your organic SEO, and they require a continuous investment to maintain their position.
Potential patients are more likely to click on an organic listing than a sponsored listing. Organic listings are often seen as more reliable and trustworthy because, rather than paying for their high position, they have earned it through relevance and quality.
Local pack listings appear in a cluster usually under the sponsored listings, and they show local businesses that match the search query. For instance, if a user searches for "PCPs near me," the local pack will show primary care practices in the user's area. These listings often include the business's rating, reviews, address, and hours.
Organic listings are at the core of search engine optimization. These are the search results that appear due to their relevance to the search terms, rather than paid advertising. They are determined by algorithms that take into account a variety of factors, including the quality of content on the page, the number of other pages linking to it, and the relevance of the page's content to the search query. High-ranking organic results are the goal of content marketing and healthcare SEO strategies as they can drive a steady stream of traffic to your site over time.
While local pack listings are useful for attracting nearby patients and sponsored listings can draw in potential patients quickly, it's integral not to overlook the importance of organic search results in your healthcare marketing strategy.
Organic listings are not confined by geography and are not as susceptible to fluctuations as local pack listings. They are sustained by the quality and relevance of your content, making them more stable and reliable over time. When well-optimized, your organic search rankings can continue to drive consistent, substantial traffic to your site long after a page is updated or a blog post is published.
The financial aspect is another major factor. Unlike sponsored listings that require continuous financial investment, organic listings are essentially "free" once you've invested in creating high-quality content, making organic SEO for doctors an efficient and cost-effective part of your medical marketing toolkit.
In short, while local packs lure immediate, geographically relevant prospects, organic search results can cast a wider and more enduring net. A comprehensive approach to digital medical marketing involves balancing your local SEO strategy with a solid plan for organic search optimization. This can provide you with the sustained visibility you need to attract more patients and grow your practice.
80% of clicks on a SERP happen "above the fold," on the part of the page that's visible before scrolling. Of these clicks, about 14% go to sponsored listings, and another 32% go to the local pack. While local pack listings are useful for attracting nearby patients and sponsored listings can draw in potential patients quickly, it's integral not to overlook the importance of organic search results in your healthcare marketing strategy.
This is because organic listings claim 50% of the clicks above the fold, making them a major source of website traffic and patient leads.
Unlike local pack listings, organic listings are not confined by geography. Instead, they're sustained by the quality and relevance of your content, making them more stable and reliable
The financial aspect is another major factor. Unlike sponsored listings that require continuous financial investment, organic listings are essentially "free" once you've invested in creating high-quality content. This makes organic SEO for doctors an efficient and cost-effective part of your medical marketing toolkit.
In short, local packs attract immediate, nearby patients, while organic search results have a broader and longer-lasting reach.
A comprehensive digital medical marketing approach involves striking a balance between local SEO strategies and organic search optimization. This can help you gain sustained visibility, attract more patients, and grow your practice.
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Organic search engine optimization is a crucial component of any effective digital marketing strategy. Here are some best practices to optimize your organic SEO efforts and improve your website's visibility in the SERPs:
With all of these things to take care of, optimizing your website for organic search can be a complex and time-consuming task. It requires specialized knowledge and a considerable amount of time to keep up with the ever-changing algorithms of search engines. That's why it's often best to leave it to the experts.
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Understanding and implementing the right search result strategy is imperative for the growth of your healthcare practice. By optimizing your organic SEO for doctors, you can establish a comprehensive online presence that enables you to attract and retain potential patients from diverse sources, thereby expanding your patient base and promoting your practice.
Maintenance, or upkeep of your strategy, is crucial in this fast-paced digital world. Search engine algorithms are continually changing, and so are the needs and search behaviors of your prospective patients. By regularly reviewing and updating your SEO strategy, you can stay ahead of the curve and prevent patient leakage. This involves monitoring your site's performance, collecting and analyzing data, updating your content and keywords, and continuously improving your site's user experience. Remember, an outdated site or a drop in your search rankings can cost you valuable patient interactions.
At Treatspace, our PracticeBeat platform offers comprehensive digital healthcare marketing solutions, tailored to meet the unique needs of your practice. Our team of experts is dedicated to helping your healthcare practice achieve enhanced visibility in SERPs. We utilize a data-driven approach, leveraging the power of analytics to understand your current performance, identify areas for enhancement, and implement effective SEO strategies.
We offer a comprehensive suite of services including regular website audits, site optimization, content creation, and keyword research, all tailored to your specific needs. With our diligent maintenance and upkeep, we ensure your strategies continue to align with the constantly changing digital landscape, thus securing your website's high ranking on SERPs.
Our mission is to help you maximize your online presence, attract and retain more patients, and ultimately, grow your practice. By entrusting your SEO efforts to PracticeBeat, you'll get to focus more on what you do best—providing excellent patient care.
Don't let the competition leave you behind. Let PracticeBeat begin by preparing a detailed assessment of the top performers in your market and specialty.
We will demonstrate how you perform, share insights into your performance, and provide guidance on how to outperform your competitors. Sign up for a free assessment and demo today or visit our website to learn more.
A: Sponsored listings serve as a temporary boost to your visibility in search results. They might get you immediate attention, but it's essential to remember that this is often a short-term solution. Before investing heavily in sponsored ads, make sure you have solid organic SEO strategies in place. These will form the backbone of your long-term online visibility and brand credibility.
The most effective way to assess whether sponsored ads are the right move for your practice is to discuss your situation with a digital marketing expert. At PracticeBeat, we offer a comprehensive analysis and strategic recommendations tailored to your practice's specific needs.
A: Ranking higher on Google is a multifaceted process that requires a thorough understanding of SEO best practices. It begins with creating high-quality, relevant content, but also encompasses technical aspects such as mobile optimization, site speed, and link building. Then, it's crucial to keep up with Google's ever-evolving algorithms and the latest SEO trends. In short, effective healthcare SEO strategies require specialized knowledge and ongoing maintenance.
At PracticeBeat, we provide the resources and expertise you need to optimize your digital presence and stay ahead of the curve. Our team is committed to staying updated on the latest search engine changes and adapting our strategies to help your practice maintain a strong online presence. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you improve your search engine rankings.
A: Local SEO and organic SEO are both essential components of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, but they serve distinct purposes.
Local SEO focuses on making your practice visible in the area where you operate. It's about reaching potential patients in your locality when they search for healthcare services. This is achieved through local pack listings, which appear in the search results for location-based queries, like "doctors near me." These listings provide the user with essential information, such as your address, operating hours, and customer reviews, ultimately attracting local patient traffic.
On the other hand, organic SEO targets a wider audience. It's about making your website visible in search engine results for relevant keywords, regardless of the user's location.
A well-executed organic SEO strategy can attract a steady stream of traffic to your site from across the web and establish your practice as a trusted authority in the healthcare field. Unlike local listings, organic listings are not limited by geography and can attract patients from a wider area. They are also less susceptible to fluctuations and provide more stable and long-term results.