How to Get More Patients For Your Medical Practice Using Online Listings

For healthcare and medical businesses, a strong online presence is crucial. Whether you’re a psychiatrist, a medspa owner, or a functional medicine practitioner, listing your business in the right places can enhance your visibility and drive patient traffic, ultimately helping you get more patients to your clinic.

Here's a guide on how to get more patients into your practice by maximizing your exposure and improving SEO through strategic online listings. 

Don’t forget to download our free resource to streamline the process:

35+ Top Places to List Your Practice + Attract New Patients

Why Listing Your Business is Important

Enhance SEO - Help More Patients Find You and Your Website

Search engines prioritize businesses with consistent information across multiple trusted directories. Listings can improve your local SEO (search engine optimization), meaning higher ranking for your website in search results when potential patients search for services in your area. This is a crucial step in how to get more patients to your practice.

Increase Visibility - Help Patients Find You Directly

Online directories make your business more accessible to potential patients who are actively searching for your services. Appearing on platforms like Google Business Profile or Healthgrades ensures you’re present where your audience is looking, increasing the chances of getting more patients to your practice.

Boost Credibility - Encourage Patients to Reach out and Schedule

Being listed on reputable directories lends credibility to your business. Patients view listings as an indicator of professionalism and trustworthiness—especially if you’ve started building out your page with content and reviews. This encourages more patients to reach out and schedule an appointment.

Get Started: The Information You Need to Prepare

Before you start listing your business, gather the following essential information:

Basic Details

• Business Name (as registered)
• Physical Address (if you’re not a telehealth provider)
• Phone Number
• Website URL
• Business Hours (including holiday hours)

Specialties and Service Description

• Description of services offered
  
  • Draft a short paragraph - 2-3 sentences - that describes your practice
  • Include any keywords relevant to your practice that patients might search on (e.g., "psychiatric services," "ketamine therapy")

Logo and Any Assets

• Business logo
• High-quality photos of your office, staff, or procedures
• Videos introducing your team or showcasing services (nice-to-have - you don’t need this to get started!)

Policies and Credentials

• Licenses and certifications
• Patient care policies or unique offerings
• Accepted insurance providers (if accepting insurance)

Don’t worry if you’re still working on these! Listing your business early is important to start building your online presence - and you can always come back and edit/add to any of the content you post.

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List Your Business

To get more patients into your practice, list your business across a number of reputable sites. These “backlinks” (that is, links back to your website) help your site rank higher on search engines, making it easier for patients to find you. Here are some top sites to consider:

• General Directories like Google Business Profile and Yelp
• Social Media Platforms like Facebook Business
• Local Listings
• Healthcare-Specific Directories like Healthgrades or CareDash

Get Reviews for Your Practice

Patient reviews are a cornerstone of online success - when patients find your business, they want to verify that you are a legitimate provider. It’s hard to do that in the early days of your business, so enlist existing patients to help! Here’s how to encourage reviews, and manage them effectively:

1. Ask for Reviews Proactively

• At the end of a successful appointment, invite patients to leave a review.
• Provide a direct link to your review page via email or text (you can do all of this through OptiMantra too).

2. Offer Incentives

• Run review campaigns offering discounts or small gifts (e.g., 15% off your next appointment or $20 gift card) to encourage feedback. Ensure compliance with healthcare advertising regulations when offering incentives.

3. Respond to Reviews -> especially Mixed or Negative Ones

• Engage with reviews to show responsiveness and professionalism.
• Thank patients for their feedback and address concerns constructively
  
  • It’s important to reread your responses before you post, so it doesn’t sound defensive.
  • But don’t (typically) engage in further 1-on-1 debate on a negative review after your first cordial response! 🙂

4. Leverage Positive Reviews

• Reuse and highlight stellar reviews on your website or social media.
• Incorporate testimonials into marketing materials with permission.

Free Bonus: 35+ Top Places to List Your Practice & Attract New Patients

To make your listing process even easier, we’ve compiled a downloadable resource with links to essential platforms for healthcare businesses: Get Your Copy Here.

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