The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

SEO for Physical Therapists: 3 Steps to Get Found, Get Clicks, and Get Patients [Special Episode]

• Darcy Sullivan

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Physical therapists are in a competitive industry which means their SEO (search engine optimization) must be up to par to compete online. SEO is a crucial element of your digital marketing campaign and an effective way to get patients through your doors. 

So, how do you find new patients? Or, should we say: How do new patients find you? 

Getting your website in front of your target audience is the answer. This is done through a strategic search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. Whether you’re a physical therapist new to SEO or have been utilizing it for years, this post will give you invaluable insight into creating a stellar SEO campaign that makes your visitors, Google, and ROI happy.

 🎉Grab your FREE Physical Therapy SEO Quickstart Guide

We’re going over:

  • What SEO is
  • Why SEO is crucial to your success
  • The three pivotal SEO steps every physical therapist needs to take
  • What to know about your Google Business Profile 
  • And more

Episode website and blog post: https://propelyourcompany.com/seo-for-physical-therapists/

Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you!

NEW Webinar: How to dominate Google Search, Google Maps, AI-driven search results, and get more new patients.

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In this 1-Hour SEO Planning Session, you’ll learn what it takes to thrive online and convert online traffic into foot traffic.

Plus, Get a Free Patient-Centered SEO Action Plan to Kickstart Your Strategy!

🎉 Webinar: 

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📞Book a discovery call - Book a discovery call with Propel to see how smart SEO and website design can help your clinic get found online.

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Welcome And Goal Of Episode

SPEAKER_00

Hey there, it's Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing and Design, and you're tuned in to the Clinic Marketing Podcast Bite-sized strategies that help busy clinic owners grow visibility and book more patients online. Today we're zeroing in on physical therapists. If you've ever wondered, how do I outrank the practice down the street? Stick with me for this episode. You'll learn the three CO moves that put you on page one of Google in the Google Maps pack, help you show up in AI-driven search results, and ultimately on your ideal patient's calendar. And by the way, if you want to follow along with a simple step-by-step checklist, grab my free physical therapy SEO Quick Start Guide at propellyourcompany.com slash Pt SEO dash quick start dash guide. It's got everything from today's episode laid out in an easy to follow format, plus a Google Business Profile Cheat Sheet and a blog post outline you can start using today. Let's start with the basics. Search is still king. There are 8.5 billion Google searches every single day, and 67% of clicks go to the first five organic results. Physical therapy is hyper-local patients rarely scroll past page 1 or travel far. That means if you have no CO, you're practically invisible. But if you have good ZO, you'll see a steady flow of qualified nearby prospects. So, what does that look like? Let's walk through the big three SEO steps for physical therapists. First, identify your place in the market. Define your ideal patient, what's their age, activity level, goals, and pain points. Figure out where they spend their time online by checking Google Analytics, Social Platform Insights, and even competitor blogs. Then, listen to the words they use. Pull keywords from Google's Autocomplete, Answer the Public, or free tools like Moz Explorer. A quick win here is to draft a master list of 25 keyword phrases that combine a condition plus physical therapist plus your city like Rotator Cuff Rehab Philadelphia. If this feels like a data swamp, reach out. One consult session, and you'll walk away with a crystal clear keyword map. Next, focus on on page SEO, the stuff on your website that delights both Google and human visitors. Your site should be mobile responsive, load in under 2 seconds, and have clean navigation with no more than 5 to 7 main menu items. Make sure there's a prominent contrasting book now button on every page. On the content side, have a dedicated page for each therapy and condition you treat with at least 500 or more words per page written in patient-friendly language. Use real photos or short demo videos instead of generic stop shots. Technically, every page needs a unique title tag under 60 characters and a meta description under 160 characters. Add internal links from blog posts to service pages and from service pages to your contact page. Give every image alt text that uses your keywords so instead of image 123, it's dry dash needling-shoulder pane dot jpeg. Here's a quick win. Run your site through Google's PageSpeed Insights and compress any image over 150 KB. And if your site needs more than a tweak, we can redesign, migrate your content, and launch it for you. Finally, let's talk about off-page SEO and your Google Business profile. This is non-negotiable. Claim and verify your profile and fill in every single field. Your address, phone, hours, services, insurance, accepted, photos, and logo. Collect and respond to reviews, asking happy patients at checkout, and replying to each one. Make sure your name, address, and phone number are identical across directories like Yelp, HealthGrades, Apple Maps, Bing, and others. Another quick win: add frequently asked questions to your Google Business Profile. It signals relevance and answers a top patient question. And if you're stuck below the map pack, we can run a Google Business Profile audit. If you want to put this into action, here's a simple 30-day plan. In week 1, build or refine your keyword list. In week 2, optimize or rewrite your top three service pages with better speed, titles, and calls to action. In week 3, claim, complete, and add plenty of photos to your Google Business profile. And in week 4, publish one 800-word blog post targeting a high-value keyword from week one, then share it as a post on your profile. Track your results in Google Analytics and adjust as needed. Of course, there are times when it makes sense to get help, like when you don't have the time or desire to write, optimize, or post. Or when you run into technical errors and don't have a tech team. Or when you're stuck on page 2 after doing the basics and just need that final push from link building or content expansion. Head to propelyourcompany.com and hit Book a Discovery Call. 10 minutes zero pressure will tell you straight if DIY tweaks are enough or if a done for you campaign makes more sense. CEO isn't magic, it's a repeatable process. Nail your audience and keywords, create a site that delights visitors, and own your Google business profile. Do that and you'll watch bookings climb. And remember, your free physical therapy SEO Quick Start Guide is waiting for you at propelyourcompany.com slash PT dash SEO dash quick start guide to help you get started right away. Thanks for listening to the Clinic Marketing Podcast. If you found value in this episode, share it with a fellow PT and leave a quick rating on Apple Podcasts. It helps more clinic owners discover actionable tips like these.

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Darcy Sullivan

Host