Is Your Website Ready for “Google Zero”?

Here’s a thought experiment: what would happen if Google search disappeared tomorrow? Who would be finding and interacting with your website?

We pose this question not because client sites might lose all their Google search traffic anytime soon. But with so many other ways to interact with your brand online – social media, AI tools, paid ads – the pressure on traditional search traffic just continues to intensify.

If you had to get new patients without relying on Google, is your website really up to the task? Let’s take a closer look.

Your Brand Placement

Without search to guide them, users would have to find your site because of a reputation and brand you’ve built elsewhere. There are 2 main ways to attract an audience in that framework:

• Be an authority in your field: A small group of aesthetic professionals – you can probably rattle off the names – has been able to achieve national recognition in the space, whether through TV, social media, publications and thought leadership, or a combination of all of the above.
• Find a niche and get specific as heck: If you are known as the absolute best surgeon in the country for repairing bottomed out breast implants, a steady patient base will continue to seek you out and colleagues will continue to refer to you.

The strategy that doesn’t work is what almost all practices in cosmetic medicine are currently doing: be a jack of all trades that is largely interchangeable with the competitor down the street. Without traditional SEO and content strategies delivering you site visitors, you won’t have a leg to stand on.

The Content Your Site Needs

It turns out that the content your site would need to survive in a Google Zero landscape is actually the exact same content that best positions you in the current search landscape. Weird, huh? Not really – Google has always been about matching its users with the best resources on the web. If your site really is one of the most relevant and reliable resources on the web, it should still draw traffic even without search.

So let’s review the types of content on your website that can help you stand out.

• Gallery cases – The results you deliver for patients need to be front and center. While some of these images can be shared on social or your Google business profile, your website is still the best home base for a before and after photo gallery, especially for any cases that contain nudity.
• Thought leadership – Your website needs to have all of your most recent publications, presentations, clinical studies, etc. It’s the perfect place to share original research that others can cite, helping you build authority. And your blog can be a place to share opinions and perspective on trending topics – content only you can provide.
• Treatment planner – Help your potential patients connect the dots between how they want to look and the procedures that can help them get there. Interactive tools like a treatment planner are a visual way for patients to be guided through the decision-making process.
• Pricing – More cosmetic providers are coming around to the idea that publishing prices – or at least price ranges or “starting at” prices – is an important educational component. By doing so, you may miss out on converting or upselling the site visitors who would otherwise contact you for pricing information, but if you don’t share prices, it’s increasingly likely that you will just lose consults to competitors who do.

A 360 Approach

It’s harder than ever to earn links from other high-quality sources on web, but those mentions are absolutely critical for your website and your brand, and that holds true whether a functional layer of Google search exists or not. In short, you want the web buzzing about you. Thinking beyond Google, these are some of the places where earning mentions can help you stay competitive:

• Reddit – Reddit can be a tough nut to crack. Authenticity is beyond crucial, so don’t even attempt to jump on there and start promoting your services. Offering perspectives and value to local discussions can help you earn trustworthiness over time. It can also help to ask patients if they are active on Reddit, and if so, if they would keep you in mind if anyone there is searching for a cosmetic professional.
• “Best of” Lists – On both a national and regional level, many organizations are focused on helping aesthetic consumers find “the best” providers for their needs. Many of these shout outs are earned through online voting, so it’s key to get on the ballot and encourage your followers to vote, vote, vote.
• Local Media – You already know, or should know, the key players in your local media market. Local news shows, regional publications, newspapers, etc. Lean into those resources to promote new devices and treatments and highlight exceptional patient outcomes.
• Journals – “Publish or perish” is true well beyond academia these days. To stay relevant and show that you are contributing to the knowledge base of the cosmetic medicine profession, it’s important to publish original research. Most cosmetic providers put this on the back burner as their practice grows, but going forward, we think keeping a toe in the research community is what it will take for practices to earn consultations.
• RealSelf – We’ve never been giant fans of this platform, but it does remain one of the few better-known places on the web where real users can ask real questions and get real answers from aesthetic providers. Strategically engaging in this community – and avoiding their paid promotion options – can be a good bet.

Summing Up

Even with so many other platforms and channels online, your website still has a valuable role to play for your aesthetic brand. With the right mix of content, it can be the most authoritative place to tell your story, share your results, and encourage new patients to choose your practice.