Taking a plastic surgery practice to the next level?

[ClearPivot]

We have a plastic surgery client in Las Vegas that we've been working with for about a year. We've got all the technical infrastructure of their site running well (running on Hubspot), we've gotten the appropriate keyword markup done like H1s, title tags, etc. We also disavowed a large amount of spammy backlinks that their previous SEO provider had built that was penalizing them last year. Now our ongoing work is primarily blog content production (topics are split between long-tail procedure-specific keywords and more general health and beauty content), as-needed new web page production, and content sharing over email and social media. Their organic search traffic saw excellent gains for several months, but organic search growth has flattened out now. What should we do to restart organic search traffic growth?

[Linda-Vassily]

How does their organic search compare with their competitors'?

[ClearPivot]

Their domain authority metrics looks comparable or above their competitors (see Open Site Explorer screenshot). But they still end up ranking well below those same competitors for search terms like "tummy tuck las vegas."

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[EGOL]

Anyone who responds here is going to be shooting into the dark.

The disavow file might have a technical flaw.  The disavow file might not address all problems.  The content could be targeting common keywords.  The content might be pedestrian.  The low hanging fruit might have been picked already.  Serious competitors from the early days of the web might be commanding the SERPs.

The only way to get valuable input instead of receiving shots in the dark that might completely miss the target is to have a detailed review of the site done by a very experience person.   That is quite a bit to ask in a Q&A question, but if you don't have problems with putting the domain out in the forum you might get specific input that is actionable.

[ClearPivot]

Sure thing. The domain is www.smithsurgery.com.

[EGOL]

As you know... there is a lot of competition for these keywords.  They are big money.  This is not easy turf to take.

Tossing out a few ideas....

This site has tons of content.   So, I would put most of my effort into local results, which does not seem to have gotten the same level of attention.

I see the site in the local results and on the map when I search for many different terms.  I would review the site thoroughly to be sure that every possible thing has been done for local and review all of the off-site efforts for ranking in the local results.

The site heavily targets the preferred medical terminology such as "breast augmentation".  However, there are common usage terms such as "breast enhancement" that get decent amounts of search but few are optimizing for.  Also the longer tail "breast enhancement surgery".   There might be lots of opportunities there.

This site has a ton of content.  There is a lot of content (multiple pages) on many of the primary topics.  In my opinion that calls for either... A) category pages..... or...  B) beefing up the primary topic page into a category type page.  This site has over 100 pages about breast augmentation.   So, I would pick the best and most meaningful of these pages and add links to them in the sidebar or at the bottom of the primary topic page and all other same-topic pages on the site.  Make it look as nice as possible.  Use titles that are as different and in-demand as possible.

I would also make category pages that are a master list of these articles, placing the best at the top, making sure that their titles are different and distinct.   Then, a link to these category pages would be in that collection of links that will appear on all same-topic pages.

I believe that a main topic page should have a copious number of links out to other same topic pages on the site and to a category page that lists all good and distinctly different articles for that topic.  My sites of similar size all rely on category pages and primary pages with lots of similar topic links.  These are the big traffic producers and the pages that perform the best in the SERPs for the most difficult keywords.

That's what I would do.  This is by no means a comprehensive review.  A person could spend a lot of time reviewing the site and its off-site assets.

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Had to leave... back now to continue....

Why did I suggest the extra links to related content or the category pages?   I believe that a page that links out to many related-content pages is more highly optimized than a page that does not.   Pages on my site that do this perform very well.

One comment that I have about this site is that it has a LOT of content.  However, I think that a lot of that content either was produced without a master plan or it is not being properly used.  The physician who owns this site should ask these questions.....

A) What are the most common questions asked by a person who has procedure X done?

B) What information do I want the person who has a procedure done to have but they do not ask?

The site should have all of these articles.  And these are the most important articles to link to from the main topic page of that procedure.   This information presented for easy access for every visitor is an indication of a good website.  Also, google knows what questions are most commonly asked about these topics because that is what people are searching for.   If the master page on this website has links to these most commonly asked questions then it is much more relevant than the list of six "related blog articles" that currently appear on the master pages for each procedure.   I would replace those with "Common patient questions" and "What your physician wants you to know".   Now you have a better website.

I visited the blog and noticed that it contains a lot of articles that are not on the topic of the physicians practice....

** 5 Must-Visit Places in Las Vegas

** 3 Reasons both men and women should practice yoga

** What do green tea, sleep and toothpaste have in common for your skin.

In my opinion, these are a waste of bullets.  Dr. Lane Smith should spend his time whipping this website into a better resource for the visitor.  He should know the important questions that everyone asks, what they need to know but are not asking, and the information that would surprise them.  Get all of those articles written and organized on this website.  If they are on this website they are not presented in an organized collection of documents where the visitor has quick and easy access to them.   Doing this will better serve the visitor and better optimize the website.

[ClearPivot]

Thank you so much, EGOL! I think the "Common Patient Questions" and "What your physician wants you to know" sidebar lists to articles make a lot of sense. We're having our monthly metrics call with the client next week, and I'll talk through these ideas with them. I think it will make a lot of sense to them as well.

The non-plastic-surgery-related blog articles (places to visit, yoga, green tea, etc.) were being done on the recommendations of another consultant who suggested doing broader health/wellness topics and then socially promoting them to reach a larger audience, to increase the likelihood of getting mentions and backlinks from a wider array of influencers beyond the plastic surgery space. It made logical sense, so we did it for a few months but got little to no traction in terms of mentions or backlinks from others. What are you thoughts on a strategy like that?

[EGOL]

What are you thoughts on a strategy like that?

I would not do them.  As long as there is other work that could be done on the site, I would not be writing about irrelevant topics.