Rented: the patient a platform sends
Medical SEO for practices that want patients booking them, not a directory
Search for a skin check or a GP who bulk bills and the first thing on the page is often a booking platform. The patient taps it, books through it, and gets reminders from it. Boltly is a medical SEO agency that works on the other route: your own site, ranked for the care you provide, with the rules of the National Law built in.
- Searcha patient types the care they need
- Platform listinga directory page sits above your site
- Their booking flowon the platform's terms and pricing
- Their reminder emailsthe patient remembers the app
Updated
Owned: the patient who books you
Same search. Your page first. Your booking button. Your patient.
- Searchthe same patient, the same words
- Your service pagewritten for that exact need
- Your booking linkone tap from the page
- Your recall listthe relationship stays with the practice
- Checked against AHPRA's advertising guidelines
- From $500 a month
- No setup fee, no lock-in
- Melbourne-based, Australia-wide
The two appointment books
Rented bookings against owned bookings, line by line
The difference is who owns the first impression, the reminder and the recall list. HotDoc and HealthEngine are useful, and patients like booking online at midnight. The trouble starts when the platform is also how patients find you, because then you're paying to meet people who were already looking for a practice like yours.
None of this means cancelling the platform. Keep it as the booking engine behind a button on your own site and stop relying on its directory pages to be found. The patient still books online; you keep the search result and the recall list.
The front desk day sheet
Nobody types "GP" and stops there
Patients search for the reason they need you: the mole that changed, the trip in three weeks, the form their employer wants signed. Each reason is a separate search with its own intent, and a focused practice page can answer it better than a national directory built for breadth.
The first piece of work is a map. We list the services and concerns your clinicians handle, match each to the way patients phrase it, and check which page Google shows today. Where the answer is a directory or nothing, that becomes a page on your site: what the appointment involves, who does it, how long it takes, whether there is a gap fee, and how to book. Pages for care you do not provide never get written, because a patient who books for the wrong thing is a cancelled slot.
Search terms that name a place, like "medical centre" plus your suburb, belong to your Google Business Profile as much as your site. Google's Business Profile help says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, so we keep categories, hours and services accurate and matched to the site.
Illustrative day sheetWhat patients search, by hour
- "doctor open now"hours and walk-in policy
- "skin check clinic"a service page with the process
- "travel vaccinations how far ahead"a timing answer, then booking
- "bulk billing GP"a clear, current billing policy
- "mental health care plan GP"what the appointment covers
- "women's health doctor"the clinician who does it, named
- "medical certificate today"same-day options, stated plainly
- "health assessment 45 to 49"eligibility explained, then booking
Search phrasings are illustrative examples of how patients describe a need, not data from any practice.
Anatomy of a clinician page
Full name and title
AHPRA registration, checkable on the public register
- Qualificationsdegrees and fellowships, with the awarding body
- Areas of interestlinked to the matching service pages
- Days at the practiceso the patient books the right session
- Languages spokena real reason patients choose one GP over another
- Articles reviewedhealth pages carry the reviewer's name and date
Experience you can check
Why Google reads a health page more sceptically than a menu
Google's guide to creating helpful content says its systems give even more weight to experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust on topics that could significantly affect someone's health. Medical pages sit squarely in that group.
For a real practice this works in your favour. A content farm can produce a thousand words on eczema; it cannot produce a named GP with a registration a patient can look up, a fellowship, and twelve years in the same suburb. Every clinician gets a profile, every service page says who provides it, and anything that explains a condition carries the name of the practitioner who checked it and the date they did.
We write the drafts, your clinicians correct them. We never put clinical claims in a doctor's mouth, and we do not publish anything a clinician has not read. That sign-off step slows the first month down and is the reason the pages can be trusted later.
The advertising rules
Section 133 of the National Law, read as a website
Section 133 sets five limits on advertising a regulated health service. AHPRA's guidelines, in force since 14 December 2020, explain them, and they say the obligations apply to anyone advertising such a service: practitioners, practices, and the people who write their websites. That includes us.
What a breach can cost
AHPRA's guidelines set the maximum penalty per advertising offence at $60,000 for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate, and say those higher penalties apply in every state and territory as of July 2024.
Source: AHPRA, Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service, read 5 October 2026.
Is a review a testimonial?
AHPRA treats a comment as a testimonial when it touches a clinical aspect: the symptom, the diagnosis or treatment, or the outcome. Comments about customer service do not count. Example wording, sorted:
The receptionist found me a slot the same morning.
Customer serviceParking out the back made it easy with a pram.
Customer serviceShe sorted out the rash I'd had for months.
Outcome: clinical
Examples written by us to show the test; not real reviews.
Patients can still post reviews on Google, and the guidelines say the prohibition does not stop them doing so. The risk is in how a practice uses those reviews in its own advertising, and AHPRA warns that engaging with reviews on a third-party site can itself count as using a testimonial. We read the reply wording with that in mind. This is general information, not legal advice; for a ruling on a specific ad, ask AHPRA or your indemnity insurer.
What the work covers
Six tabs in the practice file
The audit decides which of these six open first; a single-GP clinic and a multi-site group rarely start in the same place.
A page for each thing you do
Built from the search map, with process, provider, billing and booking on every page.
Profiles a patient can verify
Registration, qualifications, interests and session days, linked both ways with the services each clinician provides.
Google Business Profile in order
Primary category, hours, holiday hours, services and booking link kept current, because "open now" searches punish stale hours fast.
A site Google can read on a phone
Indexing, speed and structured data checked through our technical SEO work, with the booking widget tested so it never blocks the page.
Every page read against s133
A checklist pass on claims, offers, reviews and images before publishing, and again when the guidelines change.
Listings that agree with each other
Name, address and phone matched across directories and health listings, part of our wider local SEO method.
Three front-desk complaints the pages should prevent
"I thought you bulk billed"
A patient who expected no gap and was asked for a card at the desk, or by the booking app, is the one most likely to leave an angry review. Put the current billing policy on the site and the Business Profile: who is bulk billed, what the gap is for everyone else, and any after-hours difference. When it changes, update both the same day.
"Are you even taking new patients?"
Patients ring several clinics to find one with room. A plain line on the home page and each GP's profile saying whether they're taking new patients, and which days, saves reception those calls and stops people booking a slot they can't keep.
"Why did they mention my visit?"
A reply to a review must never confirm that someone is a patient or discuss their care. Thank them, invite them to call the practice manager, and keep the details off the internet. Agree the reply rules with your practice manager once, then write each reply fresh.
How an engagement runs
From first look to the first direct booking
Five stages, in order. You approve the plan before anything is written, and your clinicians approve anything clinical before it goes live.
- 1
Look
Where your site, your profile and the platforms appear for the services you most want to grow, from a phone, in your area.
- 2
Map
Services matched to patient searches, gaps named, and the order of work agreed with the practice manager.
- 3
Write and sign off
Drafts from us, corrections from the clinicians, then a compliance pass on every claim.
- 4
Publish and connect
Pages live, booking links tested, profile updated, listings aligned.
- 5
Count
Monthly figures on direct bookings and calls, not page views on their own.
No honest agency can give a date for results. Google's SEO starter guide says some changes show within hours and others take several months. A practice with an established domain and few competing clinics nearby will see movement sooner than a new clinic in a crowded inner suburb. Our process page shows the monthly cycle.
Example plans
Three common starting points for a practice
Written as plans, not results, and with no patient details. Each one names the figure we would watch to know it is working. For a real result from a health-adjacent clinic, Clutter Clearing Colonics gets 30+ leads a month from its website and Business Profile (client-reported).
The name search goes to the platform
When patients search the practice's own name and a directory page shows above the website, we fix the home and contact pages, the profile and the booking button first.
Check: share of bookings made through the practice's own site against the platform
One page tries to cover every service
A single "our services" page listing twenty items becomes separate pages for the six services the practice most wants to grow, each with its process, provider and billing stated.
Check: booking clicks from each new service page, month on month
The doctors are invisible
Clinicians appear only as names in a list. Each gets a profile with registration, training and interests, linked from the services they provide.
Check: profile visits that come before a booking
Published prices
What medical SEO costs with us
Three monthly plans, no setup fee and no lock-in. You can move between them as the work changes.
Starter
$500/month
One clinic, one area, a short list of services to grow
- Business Profile set up and kept current
- Core pages and booking path fixed
- Listings cleaned up
- A plain monthly report
Growth
$900/month
A busy practice competing across a wider area
- Everything in Starter
- New service and clinician pages each month
- Technical upkeep and content
- A review process inside the s133 limits
Performance
$1,500/month
Several sites, a specialist group or a large site
- Everything in Growth
- Pages and profiles for each location
- Deeper condition and service content
- A monthly strategy call
The full breakdown is on our pricing page. Compare the monthly fee with what the platform costs you for patients who searched for your type of care and would have found you on their own.
Questions from practice owners
Medical SEO questions we get asked
What does a medical SEO agency do?
A medical SEO agency gets a practice's own website and Google Business Profile found when patients search for the care it provides. In practice that means service pages matched to how patients search, clinician profiles that show real expertise, a profile Google can trust, and advertising that stays inside section 133 of the National Law.
How is SEO for medical practices different from other SEO?
Two things change. Google gives extra weight to experience, expertise and trust on health topics, so thin pages struggle. And the National Law limits how a regulated health service may be advertised, which rules out clinical testimonials, promised outcomes and offers without their terms. The technical side is the same as any site.
Should we stop using HotDoc or HealthEngine?
Not necessarily. Many practices keep a platform as the booking engine behind a button on their own site. The goal is to stop depending on the platform's directory pages to be found, so the search result and the first impression belong to the practice.
Can a practice rank above the booking platforms?
Often, for the searches that matter most: your practice name, a specific service, and services near your location. Directories are strong on broad terms. A focused page about one service, provided by named clinicians at one address, can beat a general listing page for that need.
Can we show Google reviews on our website?
Only with care. Under AHPRA's guidelines a review that mentions a symptom, a diagnosis or treatment, or an outcome is a testimonial, and using it in advertising breaches section 133. Comments about service, like waiting times or parking, are not testimonials. Most review widgets cannot tell the difference, so we usually leave them off.
Is your medical SEO compliant with AHPRA rules?
We write and check every page against section 133 and AHPRA's advertising guidelines, and the guidelines apply to us as well as to you, since we help produce the advertising. Clinicians sign off clinical content before it goes live. This is general information, not legal advice; your registration obligations stay with you.
How should a practice reply to Google reviews?
Briefly, and without confirming the person is a patient or mentioning anything about their care, even if they raised it first. A short thank-you, or an invitation to contact the practice manager, protects their privacy and keeps the exchange from becoming advertising. General information, not legal advice.
Does SEO help a medical centre show on Google Maps?
Yes, through the Google Business Profile and the signals around it. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. Accurate categories and hours, a website that matches the profile, and a steady flow of genuine reviews all feed those.
How much does medical SEO cost?
Our plans are Starter at $500 a month, Growth at $900 and Performance at $1,500, with no setup fee and no lock-in. A single suburban clinic usually starts on Starter; a group with several sites needs Performance.
How do you measure results for a practice?
By bookings and calls that come through the practice's own site and profile, by where your service pages rank in your area, and by whether fewer new patients arrive through paid listings. We report those monthly, with no patient details in any report.
Questions drawn from what practice owners ask us and from Google's suggestions for "medical seo" and "medical centre google maps", checked 5 October 2026. General information only, not legal, clinical or compliance advice.
See which half of the page your patients land on
Name three services you want to grow. We'll search them the way a patient would, show you who appears first, and plan the pages that put your practice there.