When looking at a marketing strategy, you’re going to look at Return on Investment (ROI). You’re also going to want to evaluate the speed of that return.
So, what is the average time it takes for physician SEO to start attracting new patients?
The answer of course is, it depends.
Your local market and the existing competition are both significant factors.
From a technical standpoint, a significant factor in how quickly physician SEO can begin attracting new patients is Site Age – how long your website has been published.
Of course, consistently creating content plays a significant role too. But let’s focus on Site Age for now.
Why Does Site Age Matter?
In an effort to reduce the number of low-quality websites showing up in searches, Google in recent years has begun to factor a site’s longevity into their ranking algorithm.
We know that on average, almost 95% of newly published pages don’t rank on the first page of Google within a year.
However, if you’ve had your own physician website that has been published for years, the timeline to rank well in Google should be much shorter.
Note: If you’ve had your own physician website for over a year, and are not yet seeing results, you might want to contact me for a consultation and website audit.
If You Don’t Have Your Own Physician Website
If you don’t already have your own personal physician website, then it will probably take around 12-18 months to begin ranking well organically (showing up in Google results without paying for ads to be there).
Of course, this depends on your specific market. Some markets will take less time. Some will take longer.
The important thing is not to wait and get started now.
You have probably heard the old proverb about the best time to plant a tree. It’s also true about building a personal physician website:
Question: When is the best time to build a website and focus on physician SEO?
Answer: Seven years ago.
Question: When is the second-best time?
Answer: Today.