4 SEO Tips Chiropractors Can Use to Increase PageRank

One fallacy I see chiropractors embrace when starting a chiropractic blog is that once they publish a few posts they’ll be quickly found. Unfortunately, nothing can be further from the truth. Building an online presence takes time, persistence, and a basic understanding on how search engines work.

Yes, your chances increase if your blog’s built within WordPress, uses the proper mix of plugins, and is indexed with major search engines like Google and Bing. But, if you don’t pay attention to the details, your blog will be just one of the hundreds of millions that clutter the blogosphere and waste valuable bandwidth.

So, before you start a chiropractic blog, you really need to understand its purpose, commitment level, and power. I won’t elaborate on the aforementioned since I’ve written about them before; but, suffice it to say, when blogs are used properly, they can put you on the map and drive hundreds of new patients into your chiropractic practice’s door.

One part of a blog’s equation to success involves search engine optimization. Since there are many bad resources online regarding SEO, chiropractors should be cautious when hiring so-called SEO specialists whom guarantee first page rankings with Google in a matter of weeks. This type of shananagans is not only a ripoff but can get one banned from organic search in a hurry.

Instead, chiropractors can turn to professionals like Aaron Wall, founder of SEO Book, for their training or incorporate the plethora of tips offered by services like WordTracker.

Regardless, chiropractors need to be cognizant of how important search engine optimization is to the overall page ranking of their sites.

What is PageRank?

Before I reveal my four SEO tips chiropractors can use to increase PageRank, a definition of page rank needs to be established.

Google describes PageRank as the following:

PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results.

PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page’s importance.

Wikipedia continues the discussing by stating this:

In other words, a PageRank results from a “ballot” among all the other pages on the World Wide Web about how important a page is. A hyperlink to a page counts as a vote of support. The PageRank of a page is defined recursively and depends on the number and PageRank metric of all pages that link to it (“incoming links”). A page that is linked to by many pages with high PageRank receives a high rank itself. If there are no links to a web page there is no support for that page.

Google assigns a numeric weighting from 0-10 (but 0 is used just for penalized or non analyzed-pages) for each webpage on the Internet; this PageRank denotes a site’s importance in the eyes of Google. The PageRank is derived from a theoretical probability value on a logarithmic scale like the Richter Scale. The PageRank of a particular page is roughly based upon the quantity of inbound links as well as the PageRank of the pages providing the links. It is known that other factors, e.g. relevance of search words on the page and actual visits to the page reported by the Google toolbar also influence the PageRank. In order to prevent manipulation, spoofing and Spamdexing, Google provides no specific details about how other factors influence PageRank.

So, if you want to dominate your market online, you need to start thinking in terms of PageRank. But, before you can increase your PageRank, you need to focus on writing keyword-rich, niche-specific, search engine optimized content that will be deemed valuable in the eyes of Google.

How do you do this?

By adhering to the following four tips:

1. Determine the primary topic of each blog post.

This will be your initial keyword or keyword phrase and should be the central theme for the content of the page. The more closely the page is related to the keyword phrase, the more relevant the page will be ranked by the search engine. The goal is to write a full page of content centered around one keyword phrase.

2. Write search engine optimized titles.

A few pointers include keeping the title within 72 characters and at least four words in length. Make sure you include the keyword phrase within the title. This will increase the relevancy of your content for that keyword phrase. Furthermore, the title usually becomes the headline for the SERP, and including the keyword will increase the potential for click-throughs.

3. Pay attention to the description of each blog post.

The description needs to include a pre-defined keyword phrase that will be displayed in SERPs once the post is indexed. Its length should not exceed 165 characters so that its full description is visible in a search result. In addition, make sure primary keywords are used toward the beginning of the description to increase relevancy within search engine indices.

4. Pay attention to the body of each blog post.

The content that makes up the body of each blog post needs to be at least 300 words in length centered around one or two keyword phrases. However, to avoid keyword stuffing, make sure the keyword density doesn’t go over 5.5% of the total words used for each post.

Also, make sure you include at least one hyperlink for every 120 words that is relevant to your selected keywords. By placing a hyperlink at the beginning of the body will show search engines its keyword prominence and relevancy to associated links, whether their internal or external.

If the above seems like too much work, then I recommend you invest in Scribe SEO. It’s built-in algorithm calculates all of the above for you in a matter of seconds and takes the pain out of SEO.

Nevertheless, even though SEO’s not easy, chiropractors can see significant gains in their SERPs by adhering to the above formula. But, if you don’t apply what’s required, then don’t expect results to line up with your minimal efforts. Just like any worthwhile venture, the key to success is persistence, determination, and discipline.

Question: Do you pay attention to your chiropractic blog’s PageRank? If not, do you at least have a better understanding on where to start? How about SEO? What techniques have you deployed that’ve made significant gains in site traffic?

Let us know in the {comments} section below.