How patients use search at each stage of their journey to care.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of search engines in the patient journey. Each year, a mind-blowing 100 billion healthcare-related Google searches are made. This provides healthcare marketers with a lot of aggregated data to help us understand the patient decision-making process. Here are a few insights:  

The modern patient journey is highly personalized. Patients actively research their health concerns symptoms and treatment options online, conducting numerous searches before making decisions. A Google study on the patient’s journey to care noted that study participants followed 4,000 unique search paths!  

Patients who book appointments use search more than those who don’t. Most patients begin their healthcare journey online, with search engines being their primary starting point (77%). Highly engaged patients, particularly those who book appointments, rely heavily on search, conducting 3x more searches than those who don’t. Google data reveals that appointment-bookers typically perform 15 searches before making a decision, highlighting significant online engagement and presenting numerous opportunities for healthcare businesses to be discovered and considered by potential patients.

Search behavior evolves throughout the patient journey, with the type of queries a patient makes following common patterns as they amass more information and get nearer to making a care decision. Understanding these shifts allows practices to optimize their online presence and attract potential patients at every stage. Effective SEO strategies take advantage of this dynamic by focusing on creating valuable website content that aligns with the evolving information needs of patients as they move closer to making a care decision. Here’s a peek at how search behavior evolves as a decision becomes more imminent:

The internet has allowed patients to chart their own search path, keying in whatever question they’re looking to answer. The result is that patient journeys have become personal and unique. However, research tells us a lot about how patients use search, how that differs depending on their level of familiarity with the decision they’re trying to make and how close they are to taking action. 

According to a study done by Google, patients who book an appointment perform, on average, 15 searches before committing to a care option. The number of searches a patient performs is a good indicator for how engaged they are in finding a care provider, with patients who end up booking averaging 3x more searches than those who don’t. We also know that the types of information patients search for change as they get closer to making a decision. 

Taken together, these insights give your practice multiple opportunities to capture a patient’s attention and make it into the set of options they’re seriously considering. Good SEO strategies are crafted in this way and aim to appear in searches with website content that’s created with the intention of appearing at some or all of the phases of a patient’s likely information search path. 

Data from Google tells us that the search process evolves as patients progress through different stages of their decision process:

Building Awareness:

What patients search for: Symptoms and conditions

What content stands out: informational content like blogs

If a patient is very early on in their information search, they may not yet be aware of the specific language for their condition or have knowledge of the names of specific treatments used. For example, a patient early in their information search is likelier to search for symptom-related words or phrases, like “why does my jaw pop?” 

Finding solutions:

What patients search for: services and treatments

What content stands out: service pages and provider profiles

Patients who are closer to making a decision tend to perform searches that demonstrate they have a better understanding of what they’re looking for, moving towards searches that mention specific treatment names, for example “TMJ treatment options,” or “TMJ dentists near me.” Searches in this stage help patients fill out what marketers call the consideration set, or more simply, the short list of options they plan to research in more depth.

Narrowing Options:

What patients search for: particular practice names

What content stands out: reviews, case studies, provider profiles and practical information

Patients in their decision stage narrow their choices by researching specific practices that have stood out to them and logistical information that relate to their decision criteria, like insurance acceptance, provider qualifications, location, and reviews.

Care Acceptance & Recare:

What patients search for: information about safety, value and recovery 

What content stands out: blog content that addresses concerns & objections, testimonials

Today’s patients even use search after an appointment, especially if unexpected treatment is recommended at their appointment. 83% of millennials validate treatment recommendations with online search after an appointment. 

What does this mean for healthcare business owners? Creating and optimizing website content that’s designed to answer patient questions and fill their needs at each stage of their search process is the best way to get in front of patients when they’re actively looking for a provider. 

If you’re looking for a partner who can help your practice stand out across the many searches patients make while looking for a provider, Patientli can help. Our Starter and Growth plans include search engine optimization and educational content marketing designed to help you stand out, be helpful and build trust, even before the first appointment.