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Best Practices for Writing Online Location Profile Content for Hospitals & Healthcare Systems

What do patients and visitors expect when they visit your location profile?

Your location profile is the landing page for your hospital, clinic, or other type of healthcare facility where site visitors can find location-specific answers to their questions. It’s also your opportunity to communicate the benefits of choosing your organization, and that particular location, for care.

When to Create a Location Profile

Creating individual location pages is good for SEO because it localizes your services to a particular area. Make a location profile if the facility has unique information in one or more of the following categories:

  • Address, including suite number if applicable
  • Hours of operation
  • Phone number

Locations Within a Larger Location

Sometimes, you will have a location within another location that provides specialized services to a distinct audience. For example, an emergency room, outpatient therapy office, pharmacy, or gift shop may be located inside your hospital, or a medical home supply store may be located inside a clinic or doctor’s office. Make an individual profile for a specialized location if it has a unique suite number and different contact information or hours of operation than the location it resides within.

How SEO Fits Into the Equation

Learn strategies that can guide users to what they’re seeking and help search engines like Google understand a location profile’s content and rank the page accordingly.

What are Your Location Strategy Goals?

Before you start writing, understand your location strategy and ask yourself the following:

  • What do you want to accomplish with your location’s web presence? How will you measure success?
  • What do you want users to learn when they come to your location’s webpage?
  • What should they do after visiting your location’s webpages – make an appointment, pick up the phone, download a brochure, or visit?
  • What services does this facility offer and what do you want to highlight?
  • What certifications or accreditations does your location have? What awards has your location received?
  • What does your current online presence do well, and what could be improved?

What to Include in Your Location Content

Your location content should describe the particular facility, distinguish it from competitors, and answer user questions. Consider including the following, when applicable, if they’re unique to the location:

  • Accreditation, awards, and/or certifications
  • Admission criteria and what to bring and expect during admission and discharge
  • Amenities (gift shop, dining options, etc.)
  • Appointment and preregistration information
  • Contact information
  • Hours of operation, including holiday hours and special circumstances
  • Insurance and billing information
  • Interactive map that indicates the location’s address—and, preferably, links to directions. You may also consider adding written directions (“Take the I-380 exit”) and onsite wayfinding details (“Turn right at the front desk”).
  • Parking information
  • Patient forms and information about how to prepare for your visit
  • Photos, videos, and virtual tours
  • Provider team members and their approach to care
  • Proximity to additional services patients may need
  • Wait times
  • Visiting hours

This information improves your SEO and gives users with a better online experience with your location and brand. Google values informative, user-focused content, because it provides web visitors with the information they need and engages them on your site longer. This translates to higher search rankings and more traffic to your site. Valuable content can increase conversions because it makes users feel more confident choosing your facility for care.

User-Focused Keyword Targeting

Through effective keyword research and content development, you can write unique content for your location pages, even when they offer similar services. Research what terms users search for in your area. Then, strategically choose keywords related to your location, and include them in your copy. Use these keywords to build out content about those subjects, answering users’ questions.

Highlight Your Services

List the services you offer at the location. Briefly explain each one to help users who may not be familiar with a procedure or treatment. Strategic, SEO-focused phrasing is important to promote what you offer in a way that attracts users searching for care. For example, if a location offers immunizations and people in your geographic service area are looking for “flu vaccine,” include exactly this phrase. (Just take care to exclude any search terms that don’t accurately reflect your services.)

In-depth information about services and treatments should live outside of the location profile, in the website’s main service-line content. Avoid duplicate content – cross-link to that information from the location profile. This helps users learn about all the relevant services available throughout the health system or organization as a whole and navigate your website more easily.

What “About Us”?

If the location has unique “about-us” information, such as their own mission, vision or history, consider featuring it on the profile. But it shouldn’t take prominence over user-focused content. As always, keep the user in mind, and only present information that’s informative and may help your audience take action or further understand your brand.

Location Profile Conversion Points

Make it easy for users to take the next step and accomplish their goals with actionable links. Featured links may differ depending on a location’s needs, but could include:

  • Appointment scheduling
  • Billing
  • Medical records
  • Patient forms
  • Wait times

Provider Profile Content

Most information about your providers should live on their profile pages. But you can help users get provider information they’re looking for without multiple clicks. Include certain provider content—such as names, photos, and specialties—on relevant location profiles, and then link the photos to the provider profiles for more in-depth information. Geonetric’s software, VitalSite, makes it easy thanks to dynamic content population of related providers or relevant pages of your site.

Get Started Today

Whether you’re creating one robust hospital location profile, three urgent care clinic profiles, or hundreds of medical group office location profiles, find expert help building your strategy and writing keyword-rich, user-first content from Geonetric.

Stella Hart

Senior Web Writer and Content Strategist

Best Practices for Writing Online Location Profile Content for Hospitals & Healthcare Systems