Structured healthcare data improves your website's visibility by enabling rich search results like reviews, photos, and key details. Learn how to implement structured data to attract more patients, build trust, and boost your search engine rankings.
People will Google you (some might even Bing you). They will search for your doctors. They will search for your facilities. They will search for anything that helps them know their next step in their journey as a patient.
When this happens, you want the search engine to give them the richest user experience available for your type of content.
You want this:
Not this:
To display a formatted search engine result, you must implement structured data on your website.
Structured data organizes and labels information on your website. It uses a format that search engines like Google can easily understand. It provides a standard way to describe your site's content. This includes services, locations, reviews, and key personnel (like doctors). This helps search engines understand your content's context. This allows search engines to show users relevant contextual information.
Google, in particular, uses this structured data to enhance search results. Properly structuring your website's data lets Google display it in rich search features. These include snippets, knowledge panels, and interactive results. This makes your content more visible, engaging, and easier to find. This structure can also help AI better understand your content.
Schema.org is the framework that provides the vocabulary for structured data. It was created through a collaboration between major search engines.
Fortunately, Schema.org has a wide variety of data structures that are specific to healthcare institutions.
Structured data is key for healthcare SEO. It lets Google display information in a way that stands out from other results. A good example is reviews where it actually displays little stars below the review. Correctly using structured data on a healthcare site can improve search results. It helps make info about services, doctors, locations, and patient reviews more prominent. This can include featured snippets showing your clinic's hours or a doctor's bio directly in search, which makes it easier for potential patients to find and trust your establishment. This better representation boosts visibility, credibility, and CTR (click-through rates). The more relevant and accessible your info is in search results, the more likely users are to visit your site. This could boost traffic and attract more patients.
First, these snippets of information are hidden to the naked eye. It’s rarely as simple as editing a page in your CMS (Content Management System).
But don't despair!
First or all, popular CMSs like Drupal and WordPress have modules that allow you to add individual structured content pieces to your website. These modules are great if your site isn't too heavy on content. But, if you manage a lot of data, it can become tedious.
The best course of action is to contact your digital partner. They can help automate the creation of these structured data pieces. They will also identify the most valuable ones for your business and test them using tools like Google Search Console.
Using structured data, your site can give potential patients all the info they need—right in the search results. This boosts your visibility. It also builds credibility and trust. This increases the chances of attracting new patients. Using structured data to highlight your physicians, services, or reviews is a powerful tool. It will help your healthcare website make a lasting impression.
Now is the time to get your structured data in order and give your organization's website the competitive edge it deserves.
