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Results Page
Google’s Search Engine
ANATOMY
OFTHE
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page2
Search Engine Anatomy is comprised of three major structures.
In the case of Google these three structures are:
1. AdWords
2. Google Maps (Local 3 Pack)
3. Organic Search Results
This guide will provide you with a moderately progressive understanding
of these structures and the functions that they serve in the medical and
healthcare industries, all aimed at a single goal of engaging searchers to
become patients and customers of the services and treatments that you
provide.
Get more patients:
80% of US adults have searched for health
information online. Ensure you are found by
patients searching for conditions your treat
and procedures you provide with a better
understanding of Google.
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Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page3
What is AdWords?
1
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page4
The very top of the search results page after entering a search query, is
reserved for customers that pay Google for displaying advertisements.
Google’s advertising service, called AdWords, provides practices with an
opportunity to appear at the top of the Google search results page, on
top of both the Google Maps / Local 3 Pack search results, as well as
Organic search results.
To the right, the adwords search results listings are indicated by this icon:
As you can see there are (2) advertisements listed above the (3) Google
Maps listings indicated by this icon:
Ad
Ad
Ad
Scroll down
What is AdWords?
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Target desired cases:
With AdWords you can bid on patient search
terms to drive new appointments for specific
conditions you treat and procedures offered.
Adwords is also effective for targeting patients
slightly outside your area.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page5
What should a Medical Professional
Know about Google AdWords?
Costs:
The fee for appearing at the top of the search results is largely driven by
two elements, comprised of a variety of factors:
1) How many competitors are bidding on the keywords that you are
also bidding on.
The cost for keywords in Google AdWords will therefore vary by your
practice’s location, as each local business has it’s own unique competition
and search audience. The amount you can expect to pay for the service
is the total number of times that your ad was clicked multiplied by the cost
of the keyword. For example, if the search term, “chiropractor near me”
costs $5.00 per click, and that resulted in your Adwords advertisement
being displayed 100 times, and clicked 20 times; you would owe $100.00
to Google that month for that keyword. Hence the term “pay per click”
(PPC).
2) The belief that a would-be patient is more inclined to click the
very first results that are displayed while searching for a treatment,
condition, medical service, doctor, etc.
Studies of searcher data have proven that there is a higher level of
engagement from searchers who encounter results listed at the top of
the page. In the case of adwords, ads that display your website are listed
at the very top of the search results page, and your practice therefore is
more likely to attract the attention of searchers as a result. The fact that
adwords exists at all, and represents over 77% ($52 billion) of Google’s
total revenue also provides credence that paid search advertising, and
being listed at the top of search results pages, provides a return on your
AdWords investment.
What is AdWords?
Brand New
Chicago
Awarded
Chiropractor
Local
Excellent
Team
Professional
Trusted
Treatment
Experienced
Near Me
Frequency of Bidding:
*This is a sample only. Not intended for actual use.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page6
What is AdWords?
Getting Started:
Because you can determine the approximate cost of the keyword, and
you can use tools that specify how many searchers type in a keyword per
month, you can easily determine a good starting point for your selection of
keywords (likely focusing on least cost, highest search volume) before you
pay for AdWords at all. Based on that, and creating an effective ad, you
can then collect data (clicks, impressions, time of day, etc) for 2-3 months
to determine what portion of the potential audience is clicking your ad.
If you are tracking appointments on your website, you now have data to
substantiate which portion of those clicks convert to a patient filling out a
schedule an appointment form, or calling your phone number. With that
data, you can quickly determine if the expense justifies the revenue.
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Pro Tip:
If you offer a particularly complicated, or unique treatment,
it might have a low keyword cost, and a low search volume.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; AdWords can help you bring
immediate visibility to preferred or specialized procedures that
are offered by your practice.
Understand your investment:
With AdWords you can track what advertising
campaigns are performing the best based on the
number of new appointments that were generated.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page7
Why is AdWords Important to
a Healthcare Service Provider?
Higher Placements
Google AdWords is an immediate way to get your practice ranking in the
top 3 search results, with top results getting a large portion of searchers
clicks it is important to be listed highly and targeting keywords that your
potential patients are likely to be entering. There are two significant benefits
to being listed highly:
1. As mentioned above, more patients are likely to find (and engage with)
search results the higher they are listed. The lifetime value of a patient
should be greater than the cost of acquiring them through Google
AdWords.
2. Learn quickly about the best strategies to influence your local and
organic search results. Because AdWords is usable by anyone, and
immediate (it can take up to 24 hours for your very first ad to begin
displaying), you can reharvest the data you’ve obtained from your pay
per click campaigns (by comparing things like impressions, clicks, and
ad copy) to guide your other online marketing efforts.
Immediate Contact Information
In addition to the ad message, you’ll notice on the two AdWords Ad results
also display the practice’s phone number. This provides potential patient
searchers an immediate way to get in touch with you, without needing to
visit your website, especially important due to the increase in the number
of searches coming from mobile phones, where a searcher can simply
click the link to your phone number to automatically place the call.
What is AdWords?
You’ll notice the very top ad, also displays the practice address; which
provides would-be and current patients searching for you a simple way
to get directions to your location. Again, especially in the scenario of a
mobile user, providing them an opportunity to simply click on your address
to bring up Google Maps directions to your office, removes one more layer
of potential resistance in engaging the patient (i.e. they won’t have to click
through to your website, or find your contact page).
Highlight Particular Treatments
Perhaps you’re one of the few orthopedic surgeons in the country able to
perform a certain cutting edge robotic surgery, or you’re a dermatologist
that has specialized in a particular treatment that provides great results
or is especially lucrative. Often times these specific advertisements will
cost far less, and in many cases you’ll be the sole advertiser, which can
provide you with a very qualified patient, that is inexpensive to acquire.
Perhaps patients searching for keywords that indicate a condition you can
treat aren’t aware of the best and most innovative procedure, since many
of the organic search results, or common treatments all echo very similar
messages (making it less likely for them to select you).
Pro Tip:
Seasonal advertisements can also provide great results. Are you
an orthopedic surgeon in Salt Lake City, UT? Why not use AdWords
to run seasonal, highly targeted campaigns that emphasize your
practice in both the top search results, and with a message
that resonates with their specific scenario. For example, from
November to April creating a campaign that targets keywords
around “broken leg skiing /snowboarding” and paying special
attention to having your Ads displayed at peak winter-sports
times (usually weekends).
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page8
What is
Google Maps?
(Local)
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Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page9
Google Maps, also know as Google Local search results, are displayed
below AdWords results, and above organic search results. Under Google’s
current search algorithm only 3 search results are displayed here, giving
way to other names: with variations of “Google / local / 3 pack / maps” but
are all referring to the same structure.
Below, the image shows the three Google Maps search results, indicated
by along with their business name listed in bold on the map.
These three results are then also displayed below Google Maps in the
Google Local search results.
What is Google Maps (Local)?
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Location matters:
Google knows where your patient’s are located
and that they are more willing to engage with a
provider who is close to them.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page10
What Should a Medical Professional Know
About Google Maps?
New Google Maps Improvements and Effects
In the past 18 months Google has significantly changed both the
function and structure of their local results, driven by the maturity of their
algorithm and Google’s relentless motivation to provide searchers with the
search results they are looking for (allowing them to continue to dominate
the online search market).
It might be hard to remember, but even as recently as a few months ago,
local businesses did not display on Google Maps in the local search
results structure (displayed in the image above). Go back a little bit over
a year ago and you’ll remember times where you could search “plumber”
(or any business category), and you would encounter search results that
were from entirely different area’s of the country or your state. Obviously
this doesn’t produce the fastest, most bona fide search result, as most
searches looking for services are also looking for the most practical search
result.
Google identified that layer of practicality, and implemented their search
algorithm to take into consideration that searchers are more likely to engage
with a business in walking range than biking range, and biking range more
than driving range (and so on). One significant factor to localizing results
was identifying the searchers location (by IP address), and comparing the
distance between their exact location and the exact business location.
Formerly local search results typically displayed 7-8 business names and
an option to visit their website or an icon to click on, that would show
the business on Google Maps. As you can see in the screenshot, local
search rankings are limited to just 3 spots, but now include a much richer
snippet of information: reviews, ratings, address, phone number, business
category, website, and directions are all displayed instead of just the
business name and website.
As a consolation for only listing 3 locations, when clicking on “more places”
the searchers now sees the results of as many as 20 local businesses
(again prioritized by distance and optimization), but all of them will again
now include a much richer “digital business card” for the organization or
medical practice than existed in Google’s local search results prior to
these updates.
An important point, because this means that if there are three other
providers in your speciality all achieving the same level of online presence
optimization, you potentially won’t show up in the top 3, simply because
there are 3 other providers closer in proximity to the searcher. To overcome
this it’s critical for healthcare business that are serious about online patient
acquisition to optimize all of their overall online presence, and not just their
website (a significant change from the recent past).
What is Google Maps (Local)?
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page11
5 Ways to Get Placed and Rank Highly on
Google Maps Local Search Results
1. Fill out your Google My Business page
Be thorough with your listing. Include as much information as they’ll allow:
a long and short profile, multiple images, hours of operation, specialities,
etc. are all important, as they are an indication to Google that you are
serious about your online presence, and want to make engaging with you
as easy as possible for searchers.
The most complete, and the richest listing is often the difference between
obtaining that 3rd spot on the local results for a patient searching for
services on the opposite side of town (or county). It’s also the difference
between ranking 4th or 5th on the top 20 results, as you’ll soon find that
some competitors are not aware of, and doing the things necessary to be
listed highly in Google search results. This means that you can still outrank
your competitors, even if they are in closer proximity to the searcher.
2. Earn positive Google+ Reviews
Online reviews, especially on your Google+ profile is another indicator to
Google that your presence online is authentic, and that you are genuinely
interested in engaging with patients online.
Earning reviews can be as simple as providing written instructions to
patients who’ve recently visited your practice, or as easy as using an
automated tool (like repcheckup) to both send authorization, collect, and
post (or triage) the patients review. For ideas on how to increase online
reviews and gathering patient feedback, read more.
What is Google Maps (Local)?
However it’s done, continually earning reviews on your Google+ profile is
a great way to ensure you are listed ahead of competitors in local search
results. As you continue to collect more reviews over time, you’re further
protecting your placement in local search results, making it more difficult
for you to lose your placement. Of course, not to be overlooked, is the
fact that collecting reviews and feedback allow your practice to benefit
from positive praise and grow from criticism.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page12
3. Complete Online Citations
There are 30 medical related directories and citations we recommend be
completed for your medical practice (like Healthgrades), an additional 60
that are relatively important (ranging from Angie’s List to Yellowpages),
and many hundreds more exist but provide limited value.
The most obvious place to start are medical and healthcare online directories
that are used most frequently by patients looking to review or read reviews.
Though almost all citations in these directories add value (read more here)
they add no value if they are not consistent and complete. Your name,
address, phone number, must be listed exactly! The more complete the
citation profile (more pictures, longer descriptions, etc), the better.
4. Proximity
Google will rotate results in their 3-pack (based on time of day, popularity
of the number of visits, even/odd numbered day of the week, etc) if all
healthcare providers (targeting the same keywords) are equally optimized.
In the situation of a tie, Google will more often prioritize the service provider
in closest proximity to the searcher.
Proximity is one thing you can’t control. Gone are the days where
businesses could obtain a P.O. box, and therefore be qualified as unique,
allowing for multiple listings all across a locality (offering no advantage to
searchers, as search were therefore less diverse).
The only way to overcome (and benefit from) Google’s preference
for searcher proximity is to take the steps above, optimize your online
presence (which often can include your website) and provide Google with
information that their search algorithms are seeking.
What is Google Maps (Local)?
5. Backlinks Local Sponsorships
Websites all have one thing in common, a domain name: (www.
yourdomainhere.com). A link from another site: (www.anyoneelsedomainhere.
com) that references www.yourdomainhere.com anywhere on their site
counts a banklink.
For example, a local softball team that you sponsor probably (or should)
have a list of sponsors on their website. That listing of your practice name
on their website (however it exists) provides an opportunity for them to link
back to your website.
That link back to your website (even from your small town T-Ball team) is
a strong indication to Google and other search engines that you are an
undisputed origin. The more authority the websites have that link back to
you is of course beneficial (for example, a reference to your practitioners
or your practice on a .edu domain), but any link to your website from any
legitimate website provides benefit to your online rankings, and the priority
given to you on Google Maps.
Here are three ways doctors can get involved in their community
(and earn a few links along the way)
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You can’t control proximity:
You can’t be right next door to everyone searching for your
services but a multi-pronged attack of an optimized Google My
Business profile, positive reviews, accurate online citations, and
backlinks can help to overcome that.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page13
What are Organic
Search Results?
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Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page14
Organic Search results, are listed below Google AdWords, and below the
Google Maps / Local 3 Pack search results.
To the right, the image shows the last Google Map listing and “More places”
and the top 6 organic search results.
The first website address shown is 1
st
of the 10 spots displayed on
Google’s first page search results.
Noticeably, the organic search results lack the flashy color of the map on
the local search results, and do not have any icons next to the results.
This is done intentionally to allow searchers to better distinguish the
search results page, and allows Google to enhance their other products,
particularly Adwords.
What are Organic Search Results?
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Organic is good for you:
Creating authoritative, original content on your
website that targets phrases patients are search
for is how you bolster your organic search results
and can help you to outrank your competitors who
aren’t making the same effort.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page15
3 Main Elements of Organic Search Results
1. The Page Title
Search engines like Google read from up to down, and left to right, just like
us; the page title is listed as it’s prioritized as a primary indication of what
the page is about.
2. The Page URL
The website domain is listed in green, any keyword appearing in the URL
is bolded.
3. The Type of Page
The page as it’s listed in the site index in this case “Homepage” (or if it’s a
content article, the date it was published). Along with a brief description of
what content you are likely to encounter after clicking on the page.
What are Organic Search Results?
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The power of 3:
Build a good foundation for your online content first
with properly formatted page titles, page URLs, and
types of page. These three elements are the key
pieces that can have a big impact on organic search
results for the keywords, search terms, and medical
topics that you are focusing on.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page16
Why are Organic Search Results
Important in Healthcare?
The priority that websites are displayed in organic search results is
based on the relevance Google’s search algorithm gives to the webpage
compared to the searchers entry into the search engine.
This means that searchers will find organic search results highly relatable
to the search and subsequent search results. By providing content within
a healthcare providers speciality, and deploying that content on web pages
that reflect the off-line reality of what patients are searching, you greatly
increase your chances of introducing a potential patient to your website,
and therefore increase the likelihood of a patient making the choice to do
business with your doctors and your practice.
1. Top placements means a larger audience
Website’s listed in organic search results play an important role in online
searchers behavior: as many as ⅓ of all searchers click on the top 3
organic search results. These searchers often overlook AdWords due
to skepticism, and look past Google Maps search results to find further
information about the the topic they are searching.
2. Distinguishing your practice as authoritative
Because organic search results display a brief snippet of information on
the page prior to clicking, searchers landing on organic search results are
likely to be educating themselves about a course of action of a treatment,
or information on a condition. Providing thorough information to searchers
visiting your website is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to solve
their problem.
What are Organic Search Results?
2. Being listed on the first page three times
The latest update to Google’s search algorithm prevented businesses
(including medical practices and their physicians) from completely
dominating the first page of search results. Google believes that by
providing searchers with diverse results it provides them with the best
search results.
Organic search results allow your practice and practitioners to be listed as
many as three times: Once on Google AdWords, once on Google Maps,
and finally once in Organic Search results. Since it is no longer possible
to be listed more than once in the organic search results, the top The
more times you are listed on the first page, the more likely a searcher is to
find your website, and the services you provide. Because it is no longer
possible to flood the first page with your website, each of these three
positions.
4. It’s the most accessible
If adwords isn’t in your budget, and while your local search strategy is
developing, one of the best things you can do is to begin optimizing your
website. Though a well optimized website might not appear on the first
page of organic listings right away (the first 90 days is critical to getting
your site indexed properly), if your long term strategy is to remain relevant
in the eyes of search engines there’s no better time, or cost-effective way
than to begin rankings your website for organic search results.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page17
3 Ways a Medical Practice Can
Take Advantage of Organic Search Results
1. On-page SEO and technical SEO
Learn all about SEO including on-page and off-page SEO here. By providing
search engines with a structured pattern (specific to how they evaluate
(crawl) your website) and strategically optimizing keywords based on your
practice specialities, your doctors, and the conditions and treatments you
provide patients are more likely to encounter those pages.
Recall how you search on search engines, versus how a patient might,
compared to the variations in search terms that might produce. For
example, if you’re looking for a restaurant do you type “steak restaurants”,
“restaurants serving delmonico”, etc. Good keyword planning, and
understanding the education level and position that your searcher is likely
to be in, allows for medical practices to eliminate confusion about what your
practice is about “pain management” versus “hip pain”, and substantiate
what you are about “hip replacement”, “robotic hip replacement”.
What are Organic Search Results?
2. Offer Specific Treatment and Condition Pages
Specifying and creating content for these pages is critical to any practice
that wants to acquire more patients by marketing online. It’s best to start
with research on the types of things your searchers are searching for (by
using keyword research tools, and simply typing in search phrases and
checking the results) and develop an outline of potential pages sorted
by terms that are either treatments or conditions. After you’ve developed
an outline, prioritize by the number of searches for those treatments and
conditions per month, or by your willingness and interest in providing
services for particular treatments and conditions.
Treatment and condition pages are critical to a being placed in organic
search results, as searchers, especially new patients aren’t likely to
be familiar with the practice, or the practice name. Most prospective
patients are familiar with what’s closest to them: perhaps “carpal tunnel
symptoms”, or “wrist pain”, “numbness in my wrist”; having pages and
content that reflect that will provide you with a qualified audience that finds
your website.
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KEYWORD
#1
85%
44%
61%
52%
72%
KEYWORD
#2
KEYWORD
#4
KEYWORD
#3
KEYWORD
#5
Know your patients:
With the right keyword planning you can know
what your patients are searching for and create
content for your website based on those topics.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page18
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3. Well Written Content
Well organized and well written content gets the attention of both Google’s
search algorithm, and the prospective patients that are therefore likely to
encounter it. Patients want information about the services you provide in
plain english. Though adding the specific terminology has merit, the bulk
of the content should be read through the eyes of a patient.
Because this isn’t a medical paper, you won’t need to worry about
including citations for the types of procedures and treatments that you
provide. Though other medical professionals are likely to be impressed,
patients will simply gloss over it, particularly if viewing your website from
a mobile device. Organic search results are highly relatable in the minds
of a searcher; particularly if the person searching for the information is a
novice.
Providing content that is succinct, to the point, and intended for today’s
fast-paced (frantic) society will increase the chances that your pages
will be viewed, regardless if the searcher is viewing from a tablet or PC,
provides the search algorithm responsible for organic rankings evidence
that your site is authoritative and likely something that other searchers
would be interested in viewing, causing your page ranking to rise.
What are Organic Search Results?
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Google wants quality, not quantity:
Having a lot of poorly written and improperly formatted content
will do you no favors with Google’s search algorithm. Google
wants to provide the best experience for searchers which means
well written content that solves a problem
or answers a question.
Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page19
Working in
Harmony
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Anatomy of Google’s Search Engine Results Page20
Diligently following strategies to improve your practice’s visibility online is a
significant way to grow your business and increase the number of patients
who make appointments at your practice.
Achieving a placement in all three structures of Google search engine
results requires a good strategy and an investment of a little time and
money. Our aim at InboundMD is to enable providers of the healthcare
industry to grow their practice by engaging more patients.
InboundMD.com strategies for leveraging the three primary structures of
Google’s search engine results in success for our clients and minimal
commitments.
If your practice is in need of enhancement online or is just beginning to
develop its online presence, we can provide you with a path to efficiently
achieve your goals.
Working in Harmony
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No silver bullet:
There is no single thing that you can do to
make your practice website rank first for your
specialty or favorite treatment overnight. However,
a combination Google AdWords, Google My
Business and Organic Search Engine Optimization
will help you maximize the number of appointments
you can drive through the search engine.
