In 2019, 68% of all online activity started with a search engine — and over 90% of those would have started with Google. In other words, if you want prospective patients to find your home-care business online, you need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO).

Good SEO enables home care agencies to reach large numbers of people and target their ideal prospective clients with information designed to convert. It deserves a major role in your home care marketing plan.

Keep reading as we explore home care SEO strategies for attracting potential patients and caregivers alike. We’ll break down core concepts such as how to do keyword research for home care services, create an optimized website, and target users in your catchment area.

Understanding SEO: Its Definition and Relevance

SEO refers to common practices that help you receive more and better-quality, organic web traffic from search engines such as Google and Bing. These include writing blog posts, gaining backlinks, and making your website mobile-friendly.

While SEO can take a while to affect your home care business’ online visibility, it often represents an excellent return on investment. A top ranking for a relevant search term, such as “home healthcare in [your area],” can generate significant leads for years to come.

However, SEO isn’t always easy. Most clicks and conversions occur on the first page of the search results, and over 90% of web content receives zero traffic from Google. A good home care agency's SEO strategy is critical to success.

Attracting Potential Customers with Home Care SEO

Potential patients and their loved ones will turn to search engines to find a healthcare business offering in-home care. With some home care SEO best practices, you can increase your chances of them clicking through to your website and signing up for your home care services.

Attracting Potential Caregivers with Home Care SEO

Caregiver retention rates pose a major challenge for home care agencies. The good news is that SEO for home care can also support you in targeting caregivers looking for new roles. Don’t just rely on your website’s Careers page: put our SEO techniques for home healthcare into practice so caregivers discover your business.

Now that we’ve established the importance of SEO for home care agencies let's delve into the finer details of healthcare SEO. We’ll share essential tips that can significantly improve your agency's search engine rankings.

Keyword Research and Strategy

Keywords are the phrases that users search for, and you hope to rank for. Selecting the right keywords is “key” to the success of your content marketing strategy.

The most popular SEO tools for home healthcare agencies to use for keyword research include Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. Your aim should be to identify keywords that:

• Your target audience is using

• You have a reasonable chance of ranking for (your chosen tool will indicate how difficult that will be)

• Can lead to conversions

Double-check that your keywords are actually relevant to your business. For example, you’ll want to discard keywords that focus more on family caregivers than professional home care services.

Next, plan one piece of content for each keyword. Make sure it matches the user’s search intent.

On-Page SEO Optimization

On-page SEO is the practice of improving your website. It can be split into two parts: the coding (i.e., technical SEO) and the content (i.e., the text, images, and videos on your website). 

Let’s cover some website optimization for home healthcare best practices:

Website Structure

A well-structured website helps readers find the information they’re looking for and helps you rank for the right searches. We’ve got a detailed guide to building a great website, but here are some of the points you should tick off for SEO:

• Avoid orphan pages: every webpage should be linked internally so that users can find it

• Optimize your URLs: include relevant keywords, e.g., yourwebsite.com/home-care-services-in-your-city

Tags

Tags are snippets of text that describe your content. They’re only visible to search engines and machine readers; each tag serves a different purpose. The most important ones are:

• Alt tags: these describe what’s in an image and will help you rank on Google Images, as well as make your content more accessible 

• Title tags and meta descriptions: these are what readers see in the search engine results pages, so they need to be compelling enough to inspire a click 

Website Content

Your website content should:

• Naturally work in your target keywords 

• Be well-structured, with plenty of headings and subheadings

• Honor search intent with helpful content that answers a searcher’s question 

Local SEO for Home Care Businesses

Not all website hits have direct value: views from the other side of the world will almost never convert into paying customers. That’s why local SEO, i.e., targeting users in your local area, plays a core role in home care business SEO optimization.

Here are the key things to consider when doing local SEO for home care businesses:

1. Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile will ensure that your home care business is visible on Google Maps, plus it will boost your ranking in queries for local home care agencies. It’s one of the most important steps for improving SEO for your home care business in your city — plus, it’s free and easy to do. Our Google Business Profile guide will talk you through setting it up.

2. Online Directories 

Including your senior care business in online directories enables potential patients to find you. It also helps Google better understand your relevance for local search queries. Check out our guide to home care directories, and make sure you include all your contact details, including your address and phone number, in your profiles. 

3. Customer Reviews 

Reviews help build trust with prospective patients and demonstrate to Google that you’re an established local business. Encourage testimonials on your Google Business Profile and online directories.

4. Local Keywords 

We’ve already covered the importance of keyword research for home care services. Don’t overlook location-specific keywords like “in-home care in [your city].”

5. Location-Specific Content

Once you’ve identified your target local keywords, add them to your content strategy. Content marketing for a home care business should include specific landing pages for towns and cities in your catchment area. Consider including local pictures with appropriate alt tags and testimonials to reinforce your local SEO.

Driving Agency Growth Through SEO 

Mastering SEO, from keyword research to on-page optimization and your Google Business Profile, will help you attract potential customers and caregivers to your website. 

Home care SEO strategies can take time to show results: most web pages take years to rank on the first page. But when done well, SEO can represent an enormous return on investment. It will enhance your online visibility for years to come.

Once you’ve successfully attracted new clients, you’ll need the right tools to quickly onboard them and schedule their services. ShiftCare’s home care software helps you automate the admin side of running your agency so that taking on new clients is easy. Try ShiftCare for free.