It sounds extremely technical, but then so does chronic periapical abscess. Listen, Doc, you’ll be able to follow this blog just fine.
What is medical schema markup?
Schema means a representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model.
In web-speak, schema markup is the application of tags to streamline how search engines read and connect data. Medical schema markup, then, is a special set of schema tags just for medical websites, articles, and information.
There are 5 specific markups for medical information, according to the schema.org website:
- MedicalCondition(information about a specific medical condition)
- Drug(information about a medical drug)
- MedicalGuideline(a medical guideline)
- MedicalWebPage(a single-topic web page about a health or medical topic)
- MedicalScholarlyArticle(a page with a record, abstract, or full text of a medical scholarly publication).
MedicalWebPage is the markup dentist will use on their website’s pages, or webpages. An image of what the schema markup looks like is presented in this article.
Dentists may also use the MedicalCondition, MedicalGuideline, and MedicalScholarlyArticle markups, but rarely with the Drug markup be applicable to a dentist’s online information.
Furthermore, an extensive list of additional markup topics can be found at health-lifesci.schema.org. It includes MedicalCondition, AnatomicalStructure, and MedicalSpecialty – which includes “Dentistry”.
Do dentists need it?
Schema markup affects how your information shows up in search. At present, the news from Google says that the markup is only being used in email.
For instance, if Google’s indexing robots understand that your website has a page about (medical condition here) and that you’re a DDS or DMD presenting the information. Furthermore, if Google understands what each part of the page’s information represents, the page’s content is more likely to be provided to potential patients who are searching for that specific information or related symptoms, etc.
In theory, when Google Search can provide its clients with more accurate results for their queries, your site’s bounce rate will be reduced. The bounce rate indicates the percentage of site visitors who don’t make it off your homepage. They get to your site, then realize that it doesn’t answer the question they had in mind, so they bounce (leave).
Using medical schema markup should help you attract potential patients to your site. Ideally, we want site visitors to hang around awhile, look at different pages of your site, and most importantly, contact you to become a new patient.
Let’s not forget my motto: You gotta play the Google Game.
Whether it’s applying schema markup to your site and blogs, creating a Google Business profile, or getting more Google Reviews, doing what Google suggests is always a good idea for your SEO strategy.
Schema.org was created by Google, Bing, and Yahoo as a collaborative effort to improve how online data points connect. I strongly suggest that you do everything Google tells you to, and Google is telling medical entities to use medical schema markup.
Get Medical Schema Markup and More
As an Identiwrite Creative client, you can keep up with the latest and most innovative tactics in online dental marketing. I’ve intentionally searched for and brought together a team I call the Creative Tribe. Made up of experts in IT, copywriting, social media, graphic design, and SEO, this team helps keep our client dentists on page one of Google Search for the most important and relevant keyword phrases.
Are you ready to talk about initiating medical schema markup on your dental website? Give me a call at 940-395-5115 or email me at shauna@identiwrite.com.