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Welcome to Med Spa Success Strategies, where we help aesthetic practice owners learn the tools, strategies, and insights to better market and manage their med spa businesses. I’m Ricky Shockley, your host and guide through our 2025 Marketing Series. In this installment, we’re going deep into the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
If you’ve watched or read the earlier parts of our 2025 series, you know we’ve covered a lot of ground already. From understanding client behavior to nailing down ROI and ad strategies, we’ve created a roadmap for sustainable, scalable growth. Now, we turn our attention to SEO—an often misunderstood but powerful tool for long-term visibility.
This post is designed to be a complete, standalone guide. Whether you’re doing SEO in-house, outsourcing to a provider, or simply trying to audit what’s being done on your behalf, you’ll find actionable takeaways here.
Why SEO Matters (and When It Doesn’t)
Let’s start with a controversial opinion: you shouldn’t invest heavily in ongoing SEO services until your med spa is generating $2 million or more in annual revenue.
Here’s why: after the initial foundational setup, SEO progress is typically slow, incremental, and unpredictable. For earlier-stage med spas looking for rapid growth and cash flow, that just doesn’t make sense. Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads are more predictable and faster in terms of results, even if they require higher upfront investments.
I’ve been an SEO consultant for over a decade. I’ve spoken at conferences, trained other agency owners, and managed SEO campaigns for clients across industries. So, this isn’t coming from someone who doesn’t believe in SEO—I believe in it when the timing is right.
Our Growth Framework:
- Phase 1: Focus on Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) to scale to $100K/month
- Phase 2: Add Google Ads and diversify at $100K/month to $2M/year
- Phase 3: Layer in SEO and long-term strategies once past the $2M/year mark
What Actually Impacts Rankings?
There’s a lot of jargon in the SEO world: core web vitals, schema, NAP (name, address, phone) consistency. These sound impressive but are really just housekeeping tasks. They don’t significantly impact search rankings.
Google’s job is to show users the most relevant and authoritative content. They aren’t ranking you lower because your Yelp phone number is formatted differently than your Google listing.
So What Does Matter?
- Content Quality and Relevance
- Backlinks from Authoritative Sources
Direct from Google’s own documentation:
“After identifying relevant content, our systems aim to prioritize the ones that seem most helpful. We identify signals that demonstrate expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. For example, one factor is whether prominent websites link to or refer to the content.”
In short: write great content and earn high-quality links. That’s still the game.
The SEO Blueprint: Setup and Optimization
1. Dedicated Pages for Each Service
If you offer Botox, don’t bury it on an “Injectables” page among 15 other services. Create a standalone page for Botox.
Google looks for individual documents that directly address a searcher’s query. If someone types “Botox in Nashville, TN,” Google wants to serve a page specifically about that.
Use common sense. Juvéderm can have a dedicated page, but you don’t need separate pages for every variant like Volbella, Voluma, etc. Include those on the Juvéderm page.
2. Make Your Pages In-Depth and Informative
Your page should do more than define the treatment. It should:
- Answer FAQs
- Describe your process and philosophy
- Include videos of providers discussing the treatment
- Add authorship or editorial oversight (e.g., signed by your lead injector or esthetician)
The goal: instill confidence and guide the visitor to take the next step.
3. Optimize Page Titles and Headings
Each service page should have:
- A page title like “Botox in Nashville, TN | Ricky’s Med Spa”
- A headline (H1) that includes the keyword and city
- Optional: Include promotional language like “New Patient Specials” in your titles to boost CTR (e.g., “Get 20 Units for $179”)
4. Add Clear Calls to Action
Don’t just inform—invite. Let visitors know:
- Do you offer free consults?
- Is there a new patient special?
- How do they book an appointment?
Keyword Cannibalization: A Hidden SEO Killer
Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on your site are optimized for the same keyword. This splits authority and confuses Google.
How to Diagnose It:
- Google: site:yourdomain.com Botox in Nashville
- See which of your pages show up
- If multiple pages are overly focused on the same keyword and you’re ranking poorly, consolidate them into one primary page
- Redirect the old URLs to the main page
We used this approach to move a client in Texas from position #30 to page one in 45 days for “CoolSculpting in Austin.”
Domain Authority and Link Building
Once your site structure and content are dialed in, you need links. Backlinks are votes of confidence from other sites.
Two Proven Link Building Strategies:
1. Competitive Link Mining
Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to see where your competitors are getting links. You might find:
- News articles
- Sponsorships
- Product or treatment directories (e.g., SkinPen, Revance, CareCredit)
2. PR-Based Outreach
Use platforms like:
- Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
- Qwoted
- SourceBottle
These connect you with journalists looking for expert quotes. We’ve had clients featured in GQ, Yahoo News, Women’s World, and more.
Expect a 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 success rate. You need to be proactive.
Should You Blog?
No. Most local SEO blogs are a waste of time.
Why:
- Too much competition. You won’t rank.
- They rarely earn links.
- Even if they rank, the traffic often isn’t local or qualified.
We confirmed with Danny Sullivan from Google: a blog is not required to demonstrate expertise.
Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
This is the most important section of this article. Most local med spa searches happen on Google Maps.
How to Rank in the Map Pack:
1. Review Volume and Star Rating
- Aim for 4.9 stars or higher
- Get as many reviews as possible. Quantity is a proxy for popularity.
- Use tools like GatherUp, or send review requests manually
- Time your requests right (e.g., a few weeks after Botox when results are visible)
2. Optimize Your Business Categories
- Primary: Medical Spa
- Secondary: Facial Spa, Skin Care Clinic, Dermatologist, etc.
3. Fill Out Every Field
- Max out your business description character limit
- Add photos of the facility and providers
- Include all products and services (Botox, CoolSculpting, Hydrafacial, etc.)
- Make sure hours and contact info are current
You can do this by logging into google.com/business or searching your business name while logged in.
4. NAP Consistency
Use Moz Local or Yext to ensure your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across major directories (Apple Maps, MapQuest, Bing, etc.). It may not drive rankings, but it’s a worthwhile housekeeping task.
Final Thoughts: When to Invest, What to Measure
SEO is not about tricks. It’s about:
- Creating relevant, trustworthy, organized content
- Earning credible links
- Maintaining a stellar Google Business presence
If your SEO provider isn’t focused on these things, they may be checking boxes that don’t move the needle.
If you want help auditing your SEO strategy or planning an investment, reach out to us at medspamagicmarketing.com. We offer a free 90-minute strategy call where we lay out your options, audit your current efforts, and share our full playbook.
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you in the next installment of the 2025 Med Spa Marketing Series.
