Marketing drug and alcohol rehab and addiction treatment can be a delicate beast.
You want to make sure people know about you and that they can get help, but you don’t want to be intrusive about it.
It doesn’t help that some advertising platforms, including Google Ads, don’t allow rehab centres to buy adverts in the UK. Based on our experience, the best option for addiction treatment centres is to use an SEO agency that specialises in the rehab niche.
Let’s look at how treatment centres can benefit from optimising for search and some SEO strategies for rehab centres.
How Can Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres Benefit From SEO?
There are several potential benefits to rehab SEO. Here are some of the most important.
Improved Visibility and Rankings
The leading SEO benefit for treatment centres is they get better visibility. An optimised page or website appears higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Results to the top of the page get the most traffic and clicks. Most people will never bother to look at the second page of search results, much less the third.
You should invest in rehab SEO to ensure your centre appears in one of the coveted top spots of search results. Your visibility can change at the drop of a hat because of changes to search engine algorithms and website content. The more control you have over that, the better.
Better Authority and Link Building
Google uses several factors to determine the ranking for your website. One such factor is the website authority. The authority for a website is determined by the quantity and quality of links leading to a website.
Let’s say, for example, that your rehab centre was featured in the news for a popular website. The news website likely has a high authority itself. Your website would also be considered a high authority by association.
If your competition had dozens of similar links from similar websites, however, then they would be regarded as more of an authority and would outrank you.
Better Quality Content and User Experience
An integral part of website SEO is the quality of the content, design, and graphics used on the site. The faster and more efficient a site is, the better. Users expect quick loading times for websites, and search engines may penalise your site if it doesn’t operate to their standards.
The algorithms used by search engines are complex and change all the time. Google can now tell when users visit websites and leave immediately. If this happens to a website a lot, then the website drops down in the search results.
Taking the time to boost the quality of content on your website makes it more user-friendly and can improve your search engine ranking.
Tried & Tested Alcohol and Drug Rehab SEO Strategies
As an experienced provider of SEO for drug and alcohol rehab centres, here are a number of actionable strategies that will produce more leads and traffic for your business, if done properly.
Go After Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are an essential part of any SEO strategy. Keywords are words and phrases that people search for when looking for something. You need to use the best keywords for your website to boost your rankings.
Long-tail keywords are the best keywords for addiction treatment SEO. Broad terms such as “addiction treatment” or “rehab centre” are competitive enough as they are, but they are also searched for by people outside of your target audience.
Try including your location in the keyword phrase. For example, “drug rehab centres in London” is more effective for finding potential clients in London and is an easier term to rank for in general.
Location-based searches are only one option. You can also base the keywords around the services and treatments you offer, such as holistic rehab or 12-steps. You can also use keywords related to the substances you specialise in.
Use Infographics
Infographics might not be the first thing most people think of when it comes to advertising, but they are better than you might expect. While people generally use infographics to display information in a lighthearted way, they can be used for more serious issues such as addiction and mental health issues.
Infographics present information in an easier-to-consume way. People have an easier time reading infographics than they do by looking through statistics. The reason they are suitable for SEO is that they help to generate more links.
Anyone familiar with SEO understands the importance of link building. Links from authoritative and credible sources improve the reputation of your rehab centre, meaning that you will rank higher in search engine results pages.
The way to get those crucial links is to offer other people something worth linking to in the first place – which is where an infographic comes in.
When done right, infographics are appealing to all audiences, meaning that you get links from all sorts of sources. Bloggers, news sites, and informational sites all share relevant infographics with their audience.
Create Content for Loved Ones
Content is king for websites, but you should think about the audience for the content you create. Keep the people you are trying to reach in mind.
While your most likely potential client is someone with an addiction problem, they aren’t always the people who make the first move to get help. It is often the loved ones of the addict who first search for rehab centres.
The content you create for your site should be aimed at friends, family, and other loved ones of addicts as well as addicts themselves. These two groups require relatively similar information, but they can use different searches to find said information.
For example, a person looking for addiction treatment can use Google to learn more about the rehab process, what it is like, what to expect from withdrawal and similar things. Concerned loved ones are more likely to search for ways to talk to their loved ones about their addiction or recognise addiction in others.
Create website content that deals with these questions, and you’ll have more success with rehab SEO.
Get Started with Addiction Treatment Centre SEO
Now that you understand the basics of addiction centre rehab, you’re ready to get started.
Contact our award-winning SEO agency to learn more about search engine marketing or arrange a free SEO audit.
