Health marketing
SEO for
health clinics.
Clinic SEO is three jobs: pages that answer what patients search, a Google Business Profile set up the way Google allows for practices and practitioners, and listings in the directories patients and AI tools read, including healthdirect's National Health Services Directory. Health content is held to a higher standard, so every page should show who wrote it and why they're qualified.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Health pages are
held to more.
Google's quality rater guidelines treat health as 'Your Money or Your Life': topics where poor information can hurt someone. Raters are asked to judge who made the content and whether they have the right expertise. Raters don't set rankings directly, but the guidelines describe what Google is trying to reward.
For a clinic, that means a byline with the practitioner's name and registration, a 'last reviewed' date, and claims that stay inside Ahpra's rules.
A page for each
thing you treat.
Patients search the symptom first. A page for 'heel pain in the morning' reaches people a list of services never will. Write only about what your clinic genuinely treats, and keep promises about outcomes out.
- What it is, in plain words.
- Common causes, without diagnosing the reader.
- When to see someone, and when to see a GP or go to emergency instead.
- What a first visit involves, and what it costs.
- Who at the clinic sees it, linked to their page.
Google profiles for
clinics and practitioners.
Google allows individual practitioner profiles for doctors, dentists and similar professionals who are public-facing and can be contacted at the location during stated hours. If several practitioners work there, the practice needs its own profile too, and a practitioner's profile carries only their name.
Search Google Maps for each practitioner's name. Claim any profiles that exist, and check they point to the right clinic.
Directories that
feed other sites.
Healthdirect's National Health Services Directory feeds the healthdirect Service Finder. You can register directly or through Provider Connect Australia. Practices in the bulk billing incentive program must list as 'bulk billing only', which shows a logo.
Booking directories like HotDoc and HealthEngine are typically worth keeping current as well: patients use them, and AI tools may also draw on directory listings. Keep the name, address and phone identical everywhere.
Tell Google
what you are.
Google says to use the most specific type of local business in structured data, and that review and rating markup is only for sites that review other businesses. Google only shows review stars for local businesses when the site reviews other businesses, so marking up your own reviews won't earn stars.
Clinic schema builder
Tell Google exactly
what you are.
Structured data is code that tells Google your clinic's name, type, address, phone and hours in a format it reads directly. Fill this in and paste the result into your site's head, or give it to your developer.
Your JSON-LD
Don't mark up your own reviews: Google only shows review stars for local businesses when the site reviews other businesses. Test the code with Google's Rich Results Test before it goes live.
What I see most often
What I see
most often.
- 1
Condition pages from a textbook
General text about a condition, with nothing on the clinic's approach, the first visit or the cost.
- 2
No author on health pages
Pages about back pain or anxiety with no name, no registration and no date.
- 3
Practitioners without a page
Their name appears only in the booking system, so searches for them find a directory, not the clinic.
- 4
Directory details out of date
An old phone number or address on a directory nobody checked after the clinic moved.
The honest bit. SEO for a clinic is slow: months, not weeks. If the diary is empty this month, ads fill it faster. SEO is what means you need fewer ads in a year's time.
Questions
people ask.
How do I get my clinic to rank on Google?
Set up the Google Business Profile properly, build a page for each condition and service you treat, list in directories like the National Health Services Directory, and keep your details identical everywhere.
Can each practitioner have their own Google Business Profile?
Yes, if they're public-facing and can be contacted at the location during stated hours. A practice with several practitioners needs its own profile as well.
What schema should a medical clinic use?
The most specific local business type that fits, such as Dentist or Physiotherapy, with name, address, phone and hours. Marking up your own reviews won't earn stars.
How long does SEO take for a clinic?
Usually months. Profile and directory fixes can help within weeks. New pages take longer to rank.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
search audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.