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You may have heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is a long-term process that helps your website rank higher in search results. SEO helps optimize your website so search engines know what your page is about. It helps improve your visibility in the search results for specific words or phrases related to your practice. Although to get really advanced with SEO, it’s likely best to hire a professional to work with, there are some simple steps an RMT can take to help build a strong SEO foundation, even if you don’t have much knowledge about website optimization.  

1. Add your site to Google My Business. This is free and allows you to control what users see when they search for your business on Google. You have the ability to manage your address, hours of operation, contact information, business description and link to your website. Google My Business also adds your business on Google Maps which helps you rank well in local search results, which are very relevant to an RMT’s business.
2. Optimize keywords on your site. You can use various tools to determine what keywords your audience is already searching for. For example, Keyword Generator can help you come up with keywords people are using to find similar businesses. Your keywords should be in titles, headers and throughout your content. But don’t go overboard on keywords. Include your most important keywords on your home page, and keywords should be about 2-4% of your page to be effective.
3. Use internal links, which are links to other pages on your website, which can help with your SEO ranking. For example, as an RMT clinic, you could have links on your main page to appointment booking, therapist bios and your massage therapy blog. This helps keep people on your site longer and helps ensure Google is pointed to more pages on your site.
4. Encourage backlinks by creating quality content. Backlinks are links to your site on another site, and having backlinks to your site will help improve your rankings in search engine results. One way to encourage people to link to your site is by creating engaging, informative blog posts about different benefits of massage therapy. This is information many RMTs want to share with their audiences, which could encourage links to your site. By completing your free RMTFind listing as part of your RMTAO membership, you can also include a link back to your website.
5. Take advantage of social media. Sites with more visitors are considered by Google to be more reliable and trustworthy. Social media is a great way to increase visits to your website, which you can learn more about in the RMTAO Social Media Toolkit.
6. Make sure your website is easy to navigate. When a site is structured clearly and logically, it’s easier for search engines to understand what parts of a site are important, and what the site is about. It also encourages people to stay on your site longer and engage with your content. Both of these things improve your search engine results. You can improve your website navigation by using URLs that are clear and reflect your page content, organizing your content into logical categories and subcategories, and making sure your website is mobile friendly and works quickly.
7. Make your call to action clear and easy. For example, if your call to action is to get people to book appointments, make the book appointment button large and easily visible on the main page. Make sure the online appointment booking can be done quickly and easily.
8. Monitor your analytics. By using Google Analytics to track things like traffic, bounce rate, and time on your site you can figure out which pages are most popular and how people are interacting with your content. This can help you determine appropriate keywords, determine where people are leaving your site, and identify what content people are interacting with.
9. Update your content regularly and continue to add new relevant content as needed. Search engines prefer content that is updated regularly which proves the content is not old or irrelevant. This could be creating new relevant blog posts, adding relevant stretching recommendations for patients, or regularly updating your holiday hours.
10. Add your clinic to local directories such as Yelp or Yellow Pages, which can increase your rankings in the search results. When your website is on directories that are considered well regarded, it’s considered a more locally relevant result.

Many people turn to search engines to find the best businesses for them. Although professional website developers can help you to get more in depth, the simple things in this article can help your website’s ranking in the search engines. These tips aren’t just to get your website ranked high in search engine results. They also help make your content more useful to your patients and potential patients and can also help promote the benefits of massage therapy. By having an optimized website, you can both grow your patient base, as well as keep current patients engaged and coming back for as long as they need massage therapy treatment. Although there is even more you can do with the help of a web designer, these tips give you somewhere to start by yourself.

Tags: website optimization, marketing, website