SEO Guide: Improve Organic Position For Your Derm Practice
By following the tactics outlined in this SEO guide, you can drive more organic traffic to your website and attract more patients.
My dad is a dermatologist, and over the past 15 years, we have helped him rank well on Google by following many of the tactics outlined below.
SEO for dermatologists can be lucrative. On average, a new dermatology patient generates $1,000 to $1,500 in revenue during their first year with the practice. This compounds over time with more visits and the potential of patient referrals, making SEO one of the highest-ROI marketing investments for your practice.
Let’s dive into the tactics your dermatology practice needs to take to improve its rank on Google.
How To Rank On Google As a Dermatologist
There’s not a single, quick solution to ranking well on Google. There are many pieces to the puzzle, all interconnected. Before we dive into each specific tactic, here’s a high-level overview of where you need to focus on for dermatology SEO:
- Competitive Analysis: Reverse engineer what’s working for top-ranking practices
- Market Assessment: Understand local competitiveness, keyword difficulty, authority scores, and CPC
- Website Optimization: Structure your site with the right foundation based on medical and cosmetic procedures, while optimizing your site for your primary local markets
- Local Pack Dominance: Capture 44% of clicks in the 3-pack results
Important Note: This guide focuses on dermatology-specific SEO strategies. We won’t cover technical fundamentals like page speed optimization, fixing broken links, or proper redirects – these technical requirements are nearly identical across all industries and should be addressed as part of your basic website maintenance. Our focus here is on the specialized tactics that separate successful dermatology practices from those struggling for visibility.
How We Gauge Competition in the Dermatology Industry
It’s going to be more challenging to rank in New York City (the most populated city with more dermatologists) than in Butte, Montana, where there might be only 1-2 dermatologists.
Before devising your SEO strategy, analyze the following:
- Power of your website versus competitors
- Competition in your local market
- Competition for the keywords you’ll be targeting.
This will give you realistic expectations of how long it will take to rank, and you can prioritize accordingly.
Tools to help you with this analysis
- Keyword Difficulty
- This tool within SEMRush will tell you how hard it is to rank for specific keywords.
- Takes into account the competitiveness of your local market
- Authority Score
- This tool within SEMRush grades the power of your website on a scale of 1-100
- There is a strong correlation with sites that have a strong authority score and rank well on Google
- Compare your score to other dermatology practices.
- This score is based on how many authoritative backlinks link back to your site (continue reading to learn how to execute on a backlink acquisition strategy)
Related Guide: What is a Good Authority Score?
- Average Cost Per Click
- The average CPC represents the maximum amount someone is willing to bid on a particular keyword in Google Ads.
- The higher the bid, the higher the SEO competition will be in most instances.
Comparison Chart
The comparison chart below shows you the top-ranking dermatology practice in three markets of varying competitiveness: New York City (most competitive), Miami (Top 10 metro), and Columbus (Top 25 metro).
Analyzing this data helps you gauge where you stack up versus the competition, allowing you to create the best SEO strategy.
If we were to take on a client (for this example, Smith Dermatology) in Miami with an authority score of 2, it’s going to be an uphill battle to outrank Miami Dermatology and Laser (DA = 37).
For Smith Dermatology, we’d start with a blog strategy geared at acquiring backlinks, getting more backlinks from the tactics mentioned further in this guide, and building out medical and cosmetic pages optimized for their local market, which tends to be less competitive.
Market Comparison: Competition, Authority & Search Metrics
How keyword difficulty, search volume, and authority requirements vary by market
| Market | Practice | Target Keyword | Ranking | KD% | Volume | CPC | Authority Score | Backlinks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | Spring Street Dermatology | "Dermatologist NYC" | #1 | 54% | 12,100 | $4.70 | 37 | 5,000+ |
| Miami | Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute | "Dermatologist Miami FL" | #2 | 26% | 480 | $2.51 | 28 | 1,500 |
| Columbus | Signature Dermatology | "Dermatologist Columbus OH" | #1 | 41% | 2,400 | $3.28 | 23 | 298 |
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Market Paradox:
Columbus is tougher to rank for than Miami (41% KD vs. 26% KD) despite having 14x fewer dermatologists (93 vs. 23). This happens when concentrated markets create intense local competition.
Authority Isn't Everything:
Signature Dermatology has the lowest authority score (23) and fewest backlinks (298) of any practice shown. They compensate through exceptional E-E-A-T signals—proving that content quality and expertise can overcome raw authority in smaller markets.
Source: This data was retrieved utilizing SEMRush tools.
Regardless of your website’s authority score, you want it to feature outstanding, authoritative content. If you have better content than a competitor with a higher authority score, you can surpass them in the rankings. Let us show you how Signature Dermatology has done this.
We Don't Just Work with Dermatologists
We have extensive medical marketing experience. From 30+ location practices to solo practices.
Multi-Location
30+ location practices
Solo Practices
Independent physicians
How Signature Dermatology Compensates for Lower Authority
Signature Dermatology in Columbus ranks at the top of the search engines for “Columbus Dermatologist.” This is quite the feat for the only 100% dermatologist-owned practice in the city. They are also ranking with the lowest authority score of the three dermatology practices in the comparison chart. This is an indication that Google likes its content.
They’ve created a website with a great user experience that leverages E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to outrank some large competitors.
First, watch this walkthrough – we’ll show you what Signature is doing right with their E-E-A-T implementation and where they’re missing SEO opportunities.
Now let’s break down their E-E-A-T strategy:
Expertise & Experience:
- Comprehensive physician bios with education, credentials, and specializations
- Before/after photo galleries demonstrating skill and real patient outcomes
- Breadth of Procedures
Authoritativeness
- Strong affiliations (OSU, OhioHealth, VA)
- Recipient of Entrepreneurs of Columbus “Top Rated” Dermatologist
Trustworthiness
- “100% dermatologist-owned practice” messaging on homepage
- Genuine patient reviews are prominently displayed on the homepage
- Professional imagery of staff and facilities
Room for SEO Improvement
Signature doesn’t have individual medical service pages (acne, wart removal, rosacea). They have a single page that lists all their medical services, providing a high-level overview of each procedure.
If they were to build individual pages for each medical service, they could rank for more high-intent queries aside from just “Columbus Dermatologist.”
Our client, Eastside Dermatology, built dedicated pages for each condition and ranks #1 for queries like “Dermatologist for Poison Ivy Columbus.” We’ll dive more into this tactic later on.
Related Blog: How to Improve E-E-A-T On Your Site For Better SEO
Want Us to Audit Your Dermatology Website the Same Way We Analyzed Signature Dermatology?
We'll identify exactly what's working, what's missing, and which improvements will make the needle fastest for you.
Request Your Website Audit →How To Optimize Your Website’s SEO Structure
The most important aspect of any SEO strategy is making sure you have the right foundation. Without this, the content creation and backlink building won’t do much good.
- A sound website structure helps make sure you have the right pages built to rank for all different areas of your practice.
- We recommend splitting out medical and cosmetic treatments so they each have individual pages.
- For single-location practices, optimize your homepage for ‘Dermatologist in [Your City].
- Each medical and cosmetic page can be optimized for your local market as well. The graphic below helps illustrate this.
For Signature Dermatology, if someone advised them on building out medical and cosmetic procedure pages optimized for Columbus, this could have yielded them new business for many years for high-intent terms like, “Rosacea treatment Columbus.” They are still doing many things right by ranking atop Google for “Columbus Dermatologist,” but still, this was a missed opportunity.
Dermatology Website Structure Tree
How Eastside Dermatology Succeeded with Medical & Procedural Page Buildout
Our client, Eastside Dermatology, implemented the exact strategy that Signature was missing – building out pages for each medical and cosmetic procedure offered at their two locations.
Below, you can see Eastside ranking #1 for “Dermatologist for Poison Ivy Columbus” – one of dozens of procedure-specific rankings they’ve achieved through comprehensive page buildout.
The SEMRush data tells the story. Eastside ranks in the top 10 for a diverse mix of medical procedures (eczema treatment, acne dermatologist), cosmetic treatments (microdermabrasion, tattoo removal, mole removal), and general dermatology keywords. Since starting with The Media Captain, Eastside Dermatology has more than tripled its visibility.
On-Page Optimization Tactics
When it comes to optimizing your medical and cosmetic procedure pages, below are tactics that can improve your rank:
- Optimize each page for your primary market. For Eastside Dermatology, this is Columbus, Ohio. If you don’t optimize these pages for your local keyword, it’s much less likely to get found on Google.
- Google loves expert content. When you can interview the dermatologist and they provide you with valuable insight, this is truly unique content that exemplifies E-E-A-T. Google values this and it serves as a differentiator versus your competitors with all of the AI content out there.
- If you have actual images, share them. Google doesn’t like stock photography. Skincare is visual. In the example below, the image provided by Eastside Dermatology helps determine if your rash is likely poison ivy.
- Keep content concise and helpful. The content in the example is very straightforward and to the point. Eastside provides educational information that helps patients understand their condition while encouraging them to reach out when uncertain: “If you are unsure which rash is on the skin, contact us right away.”
- Make it easy for patients to get in contact with you with strong call-to-actions. This improves conversion rate, which Google likes.
SEO for Multi-Location Practices
If you have multiple locations, your SEO strategy is going to be different than a single location practice.
- Homepage should focus on your brand rather than any specific market.
- Create dedicated location pages, with each page optimized for its respective local market (more on this in the next section).
- Make a determination on what local keyword to optimize the medical and cosmetic procedure pages for
Example: Eastside Dermatology has two locations, Hilliard, Ohio (suburb) and then Columbus (primary market). The location page ranks for “Hilliard Dermatologist.” Since Columbus has far more search traffic, all medical and cosmetic pages are optimized for the primary market (Columbus).
Multi-Location Dermatology Practice SEO Structure
Pro Tip: When choosing which market to optimize procedure pages for, consider two factors: (1) search volume in SEMrush and (2) where most of your patients actually come from. In most instances, doubling down on your home turf makes sense – if 70% of your patients come from Phoenix, optimize procedure pages for Phoenix even if Scottsdale has strong search volume. Your location pages will still capture suburb-specific searches.
Building out Well-Optimized Location Pages
- Include professional exterior and interior photos so patients can easily locate your practice and know what to expect when they arrive.
- Include unique content about the location, including its name, address, and phone number (NAP), as well as information about parking, brief directions in the immediate vicinity of the office, and any other details that would be helpful to your patients.
- You should list out all of the treatment and cosmetic pages, as this will serve as great internal linking
- There should be photos and a brief bio of the doctors serving that location
- Pull in reviews from that location’s Google Business Profile
- Tip: Rich Plugins can pull in reviews for multiple locations.
Below is a mock-up that you can reference if you need to build out a well optimized location page for your practice.
Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization For Dermatologists
The 3-Pack results get 44% of actual clicks on Google’s results page.
Since dermatology is a hyperlocal business, if you are one of the three practices ranking in the local pack, this will drive more new patients.
Similar to having a strong foundation with your website, you want to have a strong foundation with your Google Business Profile.
You also want to make sure there are new reviews consistently coming into your practice in compliance with HIPAA. According to Gather Up: “Aim for a continual stream of reviews since it shows Google that your business is functioning and your customers are active.”
Below, you can see that for “Phoenix Dermatologist” the top two practices ranking in the local pack have thousands of reviews each. Advanced Dermatology has 779.
It’s important to understand that your GBP is tied to the power of your website. According to Local Falcon, “Linking to websites with higher authority and relevance can help improve Google Business Profile rankings.” Even if you do the best optimization of your Google Business Profile and have more reviews than a competitor, if their website is more established, it doesn’t mean you’ll outrank them in the local pack.
Proximity also plays a major factor in rank. For Eastside Dermatology, they are 1-mile away from being a Gahanna address, a prominent suburb. They never rank in the local pack for Gahanna because practices with an actual Gahanna address take precedence.
Google Business Profile Optimization
Complete Checklist for Dermatologists
Basic Information
Visual Content
Pro-rank likely to top will photos ~45% better than profiles with 1-4 images
HIPAA Compliance:
Do NOT upload before/after photos unless you have written consent + remove all facial identifiers
Reviews & Reputation
Medical Compliance:
Never ask for a positive review—it violates FTC rules and can result in profile suspension
Patient Engagement
Accessibility & Features
Multi-Location Tip:
Create consistent naming of your members and should link to separate location pages, not general websites
Learnings from Top-Ranking GBPs in Dermatology
Let’s analyze what #1 ranking dermatology practice Spring Street Dermatology does right:
✓ Complete profile (100% of fields filled)
✓ 1,100 reviews at both locations with 4.7-4.9 star average
✓ 200+ professional photos across all categories
✓ Active Q&A section (42 answered questions)
✓ Services listed with detailed descriptions
✓ Posts published weekly (promotions, health tips)
✓ Booking integration enabled
✓ Responds to 95%+ of reviews within 48 hours
Compare to #10 ranking practice in same market:
✗ Only 60% profile completion
✗ 180 reviews (6x fewer)
✗ 12 photos (17x fewer)
✗ Q&A section empty
✗ No services listed
✗ No posts
✗ No booking integration
✗ Responds to <30% of reviews
Backlink Strategy For Dermatologists
High-quality backlinks are the driving force leading to a higher authority score. They signal to Google that credible sources trust your practice. The best backlinks come from sources your potential patients already know and trust: medical directories, news publications, professional associations, and local media.
Medical Directories
Medical directories are the easiest starting point for building backlinks. Even though many use no-follow links, they still hold credibility with Google and drive quality referral traffic. Additionally, AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity heavily pull from directories when someone is searching for queries such as “Best Dermatologist in Salt Lake City.”
Let’s breakdown the directories to focus on and how much to budget.
Top Priority Directories:
- ZocDoc
- Healthgrades
- WebMD Physician Directory
- RealSelf (for cosmetic procedures)
- Vitals
Secondary Priority:
- Yelp
- Better Business Bureau
- Castle Connolly
- U.S. News Doctor Finder
- Chamber of Commerce (local market)
Action Item: Find Your Local Directories
Search "Best Dermatologist in [Your City]" on Google. Any directory ranking on the first page is where your potential patients are looking. Get listed on those platforms.
Example: "Best Dermatologist in Phoenix"
Insurance Provider Directories: Don’t overlook these – ensure accurate listings on Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, and Cigna. Nearly half of patients find providers through insurance portals.
Goal: Get listed on 5-7 high-quality directories | Budget: $500-$1,000/month | Cost Per Listing: $200-$500/month
Tip: Maintain consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across all listings.
Media Outreach & Media Publications
This strategy requires daily monitoring and quick response times, but it doesn’t take long and can yield great results.
HARO (Help a Reporter Out):
- HARO connects experts (aka the dermatologist) to writers at major publications
- Create a profile at helpareporter.com
- Respond to 2-3 dermatology-related queries per week
- Topics: skincare trends, sun protection, acne solutions, anti-aging
Reaching out to Reporters Directly:
- Set up a Google News alert for anything related to skin cancer, sunscreen, and other key terms
- Once you see articles published based on your Google alert, reach out to the reporter and provide additional insight that could complement the piece (they may just add it in). Let them know that if they ever need a quote from a dermatologist, you can respond within the same business day!
- Reporters writing about skincare and beauty value authoritative sources like dermatologists and appreciate quick response times.
Time Investment:
Dedicate 10 hours per month to monitoring alerts and responding to opportunities. Having someone with PR experience will lead to more wins with less time invested.
Goal:
2-4 media mentions per year
Our client, Eastside Dermatology, had their dermatologist quoted in major publications:
Learn how we were able to help achieve this
Contact Our SEO Team →One backlink from a high DA news source or medical publication is worth 10 standard backlinks. So prioritize this in your strategy.
Professional Association & Board Certification Links
Leverage your credentials to earn high-trust institutional backlinks at no cost. It’s best when this outreach is done by someone within your practice, as they’ll be able to make the appropriate connections.
Key Opportunities:
- American Academy of Dermatology: Claim your profile in the “Find a Dermatologist” directory
- State Medical Board: Add your practice website to your physician profile
- American Board of Dermatology: Link your board certification to your practice
- Medical School Alumni Directory: Request inclusion in your school’s physician directory
- Hospital Affiliations: If you have admitting privileges or group affiliations, request your profile link to your practice website
Goal: 3-5 institutional backlinks | Cost: Free (just your time to claim profiles)
Time Investment: 2-3 hours to complete all profile updates
Blogging/Linkable Content
Utilize your website to create content that other sites will link back to.
For example, Zena Medical in Newport Beach, California, wrote a blog on “A Dermatologist’s Accutane Guide – Timeline and Expectations.” This ranks in the #3 nationally on Google for the query, “Dermatologist recommendations for Accutane.”
This has led to websites like “The Skin Care Answer” linking back to this blog.
Rather than having to do manual outreach to try to obtain media mentions, you can generate hundreds of backlinks with the right blog strategy.
The Mistake We See with Local Dermatology Practices & Their Blog
Most local dermatology practices fail to leverage their blog as a valuable resource for generating high-quality links. They treat their blog as another way of driving local traffic by creating content like “Acne Tips in Boca Raton, FL.”
This cannibalizes their acne treatment page that’s already optimized for ‘Acne Treatment Boca Raton.’
We don’t recommend writing local content for your blog. The focus should be to help prospective and current patients find helpful information.
For example, if patients are constantly asking about the dermatologist’s top recommended sunscreens, write the following blog:
- 10 recommended sunscreens SPF40 and higher [dermatologist rated]
- Warning Signs in Moles That Worry Dermatologists
Anytime someone asks this question, you can send them a link to the blog.
By following this strategy, you’re killing two birds with one stone. You’re creating content that patients and other websites will find helpful.
Goal:
3-8 backlinks per major piece of content over 12 months.
- Cost: $500-1,000 per guide if you hire a writer.
- Strategy: Not every blog is going to be a hit, but if you are creating helpful content for current and prospective patients, there’s still value in this strategy. Stick with a consistent calendar and monitor your backlink profile in SEMRush or another tracking platform. You can then double down on what’s working.
Local Community Events
Since dermatology is a hyperlocal business, when you get involved in the community, it can increase awareness for your practice and create positive SEO signals. Let us explain.
Local Community Involvement
- Event sponsorship (if your dermatology practice sponsors a youth hockey team, not only are you building awareness in your community but if this team or league has a website, it could be a valuable backlink). Not to mention, many parents and children on the team will need a dermatologist at some point and they’ll be more inclined to use your practice.
Skin Cancer Screening Events:
- Host a skin cancer screening event at your practice.
- This can be a great way to acquire new patients
- You don’t have to do biopsies or treatments, it’s just a 5-10 minute observation per person looking suspicious moles, lesions, or irregular spots
- You can reach out to local news stations, and you can get great PR and authoritative backlinks pointing to your site.
- Edgebrook Dermatology in Rockford, Illinois participated in a free skin cancer screening event, which got picked up by WIFR, the local TV station.
Goal:
- 1-2 community events per year.
- Cost: $500-2,000 per event
- Return: Local backlinks, new patient acquisition, and community brand awareness
We Don't Just Work with Dermatologists
We have extensive medical marketing experience. From 30+ location practices to solo practices.
Multi-Location
30+ location practices
Solo Practices
Independent physicians
In Summary
Ranking on Google as a dermatologist isn’t impossible – in many cases, it’s even classified as easy. By taking small steps to optimize your website’s structure, auditing your content for user benefit, and analyzing your competition’s strengths and weaknesses, you can put this information into action and significantly outpace your competitors.
You Became a Dermatologist to Treat Patients,
Not to Become an SEO Expert
We've worked with dermatology practices for 15+ years—from single-location practices to multi-location groups. We know exactly which SEO tactics drive new patient appointments versus which ones waste time and money.
Schedule Your Free Consultation →No pressure, no sales pitch—just a conversation about your goals.