Why Local SEO Is important for Your Senior Care Business

local seo for senior care business

Potential clients for senior care live right within your community. When you learn how to improve your local SEO, the right digital strategy will put them right in front of you. Internet search engines have become the “go-to” place for locals to check out care for seniors. Internet visibility is vital to let people in need know that you’re available and willing to help.

Why use local SEO, or search engine optimization? It’s a strategy that incorporates the kinds of keywords that people looking for to find senior care in your local area.

Much like how to plan general SEO strategies, how to improve local SEO is similar, but it focuses on the target audience within your local geographical area. It’s an ideal strategy for your senior care business to draw their clients from within your regional area.

Using keywords that mention cities and towns near you will attract seniors that need care in your area. Their families may also be searching for senior care on the internet because they want their senior relatives to be close enough to visit and be available for emergencies.

Local SEO for Senior Living Facilities

The care and attention that you’ve put into your Assisted Living Facility show by the way you maintain your grounds and by the welcoming interior that greets your visitors. When you make a similar effort to develop a local SEO strategy, the people living in your area will be able to find you easily when they’re doing a search online for assisted living in (zip code) ( near me) ( city), etc..

There is great value in learning how to improve local SEO.

Why Home Care Agencies Need Local SEO

There are important reasons to learn how to rank on Google maps, especially if your home care agency uses multiple offices in different geographical areas. Keywords that include names of local towns and cities will drive internet traffic to each facility.

Read along to discover local SEO tips that work.

How to Optimize for Local SEO

To start the process of learning how to rank on local SEO, you’ll need to get familiar with some digital marketing terms and their meanings. These are the strategies that will help you get the most out of your local SEO efforts to draw traffic to senior home care agencies, senior living facilities, and nursing homes.

·   Local link building

·   NAP

·   Google my business

·   Reviews

·   Location page

·   Citations

GMB Optimization

GMB is an acronym for Google My Business. Google set up this platform for businesses to advertise their locations and contact numbers on Google search and maps, but it doesn’t happen automatically. You need to go into Google My Business and claim the physical location of your senior care agency. There you can create a business listing and when someone does a search, it will be shown on the front page of Google. You’ll be able to add a photo of your facility and contact information including your hours of business.

By creating a Google My Business listing, Google will also put your business on Google Maps. These listings will boost your SEO efforts and increase visibility with search engines. Other platforms, like Facebook, also give you opportunities to claim local business opportunities.

Local Link Building

Link building is a strategy that will enhance local SEO. A backlink is when another website mentions your site and links it back to your website. In a sense, it’s like an endorsement or referral from the website that carries your link. Search engines view backlinks from other businesses within your industry as relevant items when ranking your home care agency in search engines. Large local businesses are sure to rank high in search engines when other area businesses also link back to your website.

NAP

NAP is an industry term for name, address, and phone. A simple thing that you can do to improve local SEO is to keep your contact information consistent and identical across all online business listings, social media platforms, and citation listings.

Review Collection

Google reviews are a valuable resource for people looking for evidence that your home care agency provides kind, compassionate care. That’s a good reason to encourage current clients to leave you a good review. The second reason to strive for lots of good reviews is that Google views reviews as important criteria when ranking your listing.

By encouraging satisfied customers to give you a review, seniors or their adult children will have the motivation that they need to consider using your agency for senior home care. Five-star reviews are a good reflection of your reputation.

Local Page

Home health care agencies that have several locations within the state or across the country can increase the local SEO performance for each office by creating dedicated location pages for each office. Doing this may give you an edge over your competition because your competitors may not be doing it. By having local online business listings for each location, it brings localized customers directly to a particular office and you get the added benefit of highlighting job openings in the same area.

Citations

Citations are similar to business listings. Essentially, it’s anywhere that your NAP is listed online. Some of the places that you might find citations are:

·   Listing directory

·   YellowPages-style listing

·   Business profile on social media (Yelp, Facebook, etc.)

Structured vs. Unstructured Citations

When you’re working on your plan for how to do local SEO better, try to make the most of citations by setting up postings for structured and unstructured citations.

Structured citations take the form of formal online directories that allow you to input your NAP and other information like hours and a few details about your company.

Don’t overlook the benefits of creating unstructured citations as well. These entries take the form of mentioning your business’ NAP and other information on other sites like:

·   Blog posts

·   Websites

·   News sites

·   Wikipedia

·   Anywhere else that Google deems to be a quality source

Post Local Events on Online Calendars in Your Community

People in your community love coming to events, so why not consider hosting one of your own? When you advertise a community event such as a health fair or job fair, Google views it as a quality backlink from an authoritative source to your site, which improves local SEO. As you promote events through social media and other platforms, you get even more quality backlinks.

News outlets often have online calendars of community events and this is yet another excellent place to advertise your event and get a few more online mentions. It’s a great SEO strategy even if few people see your NAP on a community calendar.

A Digital Expert Is the Key to Simplifying SEO

The fact that Google is always evolving is to your benefit because it continually gives you new opportunities to tap into your target audience.

The problem with a digital landscape that’s continually changing is that it’s difficult for business owners to keep up with it and still meet the daily demands of their businesses. That’s why hiring a digital marketing professional can be one of your greatest assets. A professional marketer is current on the latest local SEO strategies which will get your business listed on the Google maps local tri-pack, which highlights the top three local businesses during a local search. Investing in an expert marketer will continually give you more online exposure for local SEO which is the ultimate key to getting more customers and give you a formidable edge against the competition.

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10 Senior Care Experts reveal How Digital Marketing helps During Covid-19

COVID-19 has drastically changed the way we live and work, but it pales in comparison to the harmful effects it has brought to our elderly population.

The pandemic forced businesses within every industry to spring into action, quickly reinventing themselves to stay afloat. Some businesses adapted more successfully than others, and the marketplace separated the winners from the losers. Despite the fear the virus has created, some industries have discovered new opportunities among the chaos. Sparked by the desire to help people find relief in these trying times, the senior care industry has risen up in response to the call to help keep seniors safe and healthy.

As we support senior care businesses with digital marketing with the goal of helping seniors and their families connect with the care they need, I wanted to reach out to experts in the senior care industry to learn more about how they were adapting to the challenge that COVID-19 has brought into our world.

The senior care industry has relied on traditional marketing strategies for decades. Most senior care agencies are still putting their faith in printed collateral material, magazine ads, and paid advertisements in local newspapers to continue building their businesses. While it’s possible to have some success with print ads and in-person sales calls to retirement communities, those aren’t necessarily the best strategies for getting referrals.

In today’s world, it’s vital for senior care agencies to have a digital presence. If we’ve learned anything from COVID-19, it’s that the world continues to change and evolve, even when we become static and hang onto outdated marketing practices. The pandemic has demonstrated that it’s prime time to bring the senior care industry into the 21st century, from a marketing perspective.

Franchises within the senior care industry have led the way by taking advantage of the great value that various digital marketing channels offer. Senior care agencies that are resistant to making the switch to digital marketing are missing the new opportunities that COVID-19 have brought right to their front door.

In light of recent developments, I decided to reach out to CEOs, owners, marketing directors, and industry leaders working in the home care and assisted living care industries to ask them this question:

“What is the impact of COVID-19 in the senior care industry, and what role does digital marketing play in it?”

Their answers were nothing short of enlightening.

Heather Freemont– Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

Vice President Marketing, Regional Director of Operations


Digital Marketing has always played a significant role in how we connect with seniors, but during this pandemic, it has become apparent just how indispensable its role is both within our operations and the overall Senior Care industry. With COVID-19 came a complete shift in the ways through which we connect with seniors, forcing us to quickly adapt and pivot our approach in various aspects to accommodate the challenges presented during this unprecedented time.

Among the largest difficulties were the limitations posed by social distancing and isolation. Without the ability to physically tour seniors through our communities and have them experience the renowned amenities, programs and culinary offerings firsthand, we quickly transitioned to using digital means including slideshows, electronic brochures, videos, Facetime tours, meal drop-offs and photos to demonstrate the newly-created engagement opportunities offered at our communities. Recognizing the challenges posed by visitor restrictions, we helped supplement family visits by developing a plan to facilitate virtual visits through the introduction of 12 iPads at each community and the creation of electronic newsletters, email letter templates and quadrupled social media postings; all with the goal of keeping loved ones connected and up-to-date with one another despite the distance.

We quickly adapted our website and other communication streams to make health and safety resources readily available to families and to deliver pertinent updates and information on our practices and protocols of safety, sanitation, infection control and prevention. To bolster our commitment to being a resource for seniors and their families, we increased email marketing and created various electronic booklets, tip sheets, blog posts and guides to help seniors navigate COVID-19-related concerns, encourage a continuously active and healthy lifestyle and mitigate a variety of other challenges faced during this time. Our consumer-centric marketing and sales approach became more focused and important as we increased our education and support groups and offered online classes and stimulating and engaging programs virtually.

While many providers chose to completely stop or halt their marketing efforts, we did quite the opposite. We doubled our PPC and increased all of our digital campaigns to have a large reach in the community, knowing that many seniors were in serious need of our support and assistance during this challenging time.

Lucie Barry-Punches– San Diego, California

Director of Social Media Digital Marketing


The impact of COVID-19 in the senior care industry has been tremendous and it has altered marketing while keeping the basic principles the same. Marketers will continue to build strong relationships and establish trust, but must adapt and utilize alternative methods. The role of a Digital Marketer has become more prominent and integrated and we continue to be more strategic.

While not conducting in person tours, and instead sharing digital tours either by text or email is more responsive. This gives families the ability to share information amongst themselves. Due to the pandemic, prospects are no longer able to drop in when the sales teams could accommodate. By bridging the physical gap and reaching those in the comfort of their homes, we are able to share with more prospects in a more efficient manner. By virtually sharing video messages and directing prospects to our content-rich social media pages, we are able to share the true heartbeat of our communities.

All marketers, but especially those in senior living, have had to reevaluate past strategies and creatively come up with a “new normal.” When strategic with social media posts, we are better able to provide a more comprehensive window into each of our communities’ daily happenings. Those who did not see the value or know how to utilize Facetime, Zoom, Google Duo and social media to their advantage hopefully do now!

While the strategies may have changed during COVID, the people building strong relationships and establishing trust have adapted.  

Carey Lingenfelter– Fayetteville, Arkansas

Chief Engagement Officer


This pandemic has certainly developed this unprecedented time in all our lives. The impact of staying home has been felt by many. The anxiety and pressure most of us have felt is similar to the silent pandemic of social isolation effects we’ve seen in the Senior Care industry for the last 25 years.

At Home Instead Senior Care®, we have been enhancing the lives of aging adults and their families by providing companionship, personal and memory care services. We provide the services that enable our most vulnerable population to stay safe, independent, and secure in the comfort of their own home. Most of our clients are in their 80’s. Many of them have multiple chronic conditions and about 2/3s of them are managing some form of dementia.

Although there may never be a full replacement of the type of personal, in-home, human touch care that we provide, we have been pioneers in the virtual visit space. Our current movement toward transforming care delivery by including virtual care capability has been validated during this crisis. We have been very focused on innovations in technology to continue those enhancements and provide the highest quality of care.

With our Integrated Care approach, we have utilized GrandPad technology to have a direct connection with clients in their homes. It combines highly personalized, traditional CAREGiving with the high-tech features of GrandPad. Virtually connecting them to their loved ones and our staff. Reducing the effects of isolation, reducing unnecessary risks and increasing the speed of care delivery.

We have leveraged our social networks to create a community call to action, “Ready to Care”.  Focused on making the world a better place for seniors, Ready to Care is a social media platform designed to inspire care through small acts of kindness for seniors.

We feel that our marketing efforts should ensure that Home Instead Senior Care® is top of mind to anyone considering home care. Now more than ever, a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes online components (e.g., social media, SEO, SEM, PPC, email, text, blogs, banners, PPC, etc.), will enable us to continue our community outreach and direct networking.

Pedro Gonzalez Soto M.D. FAAPMR– Tampa, Florida

Owner/President


What’s the impact of Covid19 in the Home Care Industry and what is the role Digital Marketing Plays?

Coronavirus outbreak will impact almost every aspect of how homecare businesses operate and, most importantly, life as we know it. It has made us aware of how vulnerable and human we are. However, with my experience and knowledge as a doctor, I’m confident that if we provide proactive type care, our industry will thrive.

Our mission is to support more patients at home amid nearly nationwide stay-at-home orders. The question now is, how do we protect our seniors during these difficult times we are living? While there’s not a simple answer to this question. It’s crucial to follow all CDC and WHO guidelines while finding ways to assure patients, families, and our referral partners that we are implementing all of our COVID19 protocols and that our caregivers are working in an environment that they feel safe.

Older adults are among the most vulnerable, and unfortunately, that’s our reality. Families are concerned about the safety of their loved ones and how to reduce the risk of exposure. To support and care for more patients at home, it’s vital to have a strong marketing and online presence. Many people are still working from home, which gives them time to do more research. Being active on social media is key to our business. Clients want to know what we are doing daily to care for their loved ones; it’s our time to connect and educate about the benefits of Home Health Care.

I think home health care has enormous potential to help in the COVID-19 crisis. Older adults that are going without care are likely to see some deterioration in their condition, which may require emergency services and hospitalization. Having a passionate caregiver will give our elderly continuation of care, and it can help keep patients away from the hospital and minimize the risk of contagion.

Mike Miller – San Diego, California

Owner at Home Care Service


Covid-19 has changed a lot in everybody’s lives. The most affected are our seniors and their families.

This pandemic has increased the need for help to keep seniors safe. The nursing home crisis has added to this need because many families have decided to bring their loved ones home. With parents homeschooling kids at home, the need to hire senior care services has skyrocketed. The fact being that we can’t conduct in-person sales has created an immense need to implement digital marketing strategies that align with the current needs. We have started to work with a digital marketing agency that focuses on the senior care industry only because we feel that is not a better time to invest in marketing than now. The digital marketing strategy for At Home Care Service is the following:

Create a new SEO friendly website with a clear message for seniors and their families. It is key to communicate clearly that we are here to support them in these difficult times. We also stated that our caregivers follow CDC protocols and we are more than prepared to assist them. Our website features a landing page- funnel where we offer an ebook to generate leads. We will acquire new clients by running a hyper-targeted Facebook ad to send traffic to the landing page.  An email marketing campaign with automation will follow the leads in the funnel of sales and we will also call them as soon as we get them. Due to the lockdown, we know that people are looking for services online. Furthermore, the agency that we are working with has proposed to focus on local SEO to boost our presence in Google Maps. This makes complete sense for us. We are also adding blogs and acquiring links to boost overall SEO. Therefore, we are confident that with this digital marketing strategy we will be able to increase our sales by assisting people in need of home care services in San Diego. 

It is common that the decision-makers in the senior care industry were neglecting to accept the need for digital marketing and relying on traditional marketing only. Now, due to the pandemic and the loss of human touch, Digital Marketing has become a huge need and a great way to connect with potential clients in order to grow our business.

Roger L. Benedetti, RPh, BPharm – New Jersey

President


COVID-19 impact on the Senior Care industry was sudden, changes had to be made immediately, and were not anticipated when planning the budget. Some examples include:

• For both clients and caregivers, many resources, including money and time, were spent locating and putting protocols in place for:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Personal sanitization supplies
• Testing such as temperature equipment and supplies

• Technology changes in business operations: 

• Establish teleworking capabilities
• Migrate to virtual meetings for client assessments, registered nurse supervision, as well as for interviews to hire caregivers
• Conversation to electronic/digital forms
• Software enhancements to record and document employees health screen prior to start of work each day
• Emails and website updates to inform of company’s COVID-19 polices and procedures

•  Personnel costs:

• Additional employee training to ensure compliance with state and federal CDC guidelines
• Increased payroll burdens related to paid sick, medical, or family leave
• Staffing issues that could only be solved by paying a premium or overtime to existing employees

• Hiring new caregivers, already extremely difficult normally, was make even more challenging by:

• Potential employees making more on unemployment than by working
• Fear of catching the virus while working in a health care environment

•  Property Expenses incurred while business office was closed or unoccupied: 

• Rent
• Utilities 

Most of the above was part of the immediate focus to mitigate infection risk while still ensuring providing reliable and safe care. However, it was also important to not forget about changes in sales and marketing efforts:

• Sales visits with potential new clients were shifted to virtual meetings

• Marketing representatives were restricted from rising key accounts in person

• This lead to changes in marketing practices, such as doing inside sales and increasing digital marketing efforts (website, SEO , blogs, social media, etc.)

Douglas Kennedy – Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Marketing and Communications Coordinator


COVID-19 has prompted digital marketers and communication experts to take a step back and think about how we communicate to both our patients and our employees. The senior care industry at large is now looking to develop sustainable home care, which provided a solid safety net for those in the senior care industry who wanted to receive quality and professional services in the safety of their own home. The way we provide transitions of care in the age of COVID-19 has shifted, with home health care at the center of the conversation.

•  As a digital marketer, the primary responsibility is to tell a story and invite others to be a part of that narrative with your company, in my case Blessings4Ever. You invite clients and patients to join you, not just to receive services, but to unite with your purpose and benefit as a result. COVID-19 has caused every marketing expert to go back to their mission and vision. All your communication, messaging, and content has to revolve around those two things. When everyone asks, “How did Blessings4Ever handle COVID-19?” then there is a story to tell that fulfills a mission and casts an overarching vision, and people are inspired and feel safe joining you on the journey.

Francis LeGasse – Denver, Colorado

President/COO


Covid-19 challenges the senior care industry to exam our current practices and ideas.  With the emergence of the first nursing homes over 50 years ago, many in the industry attempt to beautify or create a resort style living.  The Senior Care industry is more enamored by the building and grounds itself and less with care models.  Covid-19 highlights the importance of care.  The forward thinkers must focus on high quality care models along with a beautiful environment.  Further, it highlights the importance of highly trained staff who are not only skilled but compassionate.  Leaders are emerging who will disrupt the status quo senior living.  For those of us who push the envelope on creativity, we are at a tipping to truly shape and alter the way we age.  No longer will our older adults have to just accept the way we but be active in designing and implementing the new care models.  Care is the most important aspect!  

Additionally, Covid-19 gives the industry a moment of pause to truly ask the question; should we have 100 plus older adults living together? This is both a practical and philosophical question to answer.  Are we doing more harm by segregating and isolating those who are aging? Should we be working to create an inclusive community that meets the physical care needs but also the emotional and social? The time is now to challenge are views of aging.  Leaders in Senior Care must do more for our older adults by having thoughtful discussions that lead to meaningful action. Discussion without action is fruitless.  Leaders must focus on action in order to have a positive impact on the way we age.  Now is the time to ignite hope for our older adults! 

Role of Digital Marketing

An untapped arena for those in aging services.  Our ability to accurately connect with our prospective residents and their families is second to none.   Our targeting capabilities through ads and media is critically important to showcase the level of care.  It truly is an underused area of marketing but also one that must create stories.  Our mission on social media must be one to connect and highlight the love and compassion for our older adults.  The senior care industry must create thought provoking content that connects with the viewer.  Senior Care must not highlight the beauty of the facilities but the positive impact it can have on our residents.  We must shift from an industry highlighting the resort style living to an industry focusing on the people we impact. In the end the experience we provide for our clients and residents is what matters.  We must never forget our services have been selected to provide care for someone’s best friend! 

Beth Moeller – New York City

VP Marketing and Sales


Covid-19 has significantly impacted the senior care industry in terms of food, engagement (in terms of enrichment and health status)  and hourly care.

Food: With many senior centers shuttered, the main meal for many seniors was eliminated….much like school age kids are dependent on in school lunches.  This is why at the outset of the pandemic, The Griswold Home Care’s Foundation focused donations on helping our communities address meal insecurity for seniors. Interestingly, each town has organized differently to get their seniors the groceries and meals needed for sustenance. 

Engagement:  Senior living facilities are still figuring out the right balance between quarantines, social distancing and community engagement.  I’ve heard of cognitive decline and increased social anxiety in the senior living facilities as communities strive to keep seniors safe.   Beyond the walls of the senior living facilities, while many in our society are turning to digital solutions for stimulation, our oldest seniors at home are not technically inclined to take advantage of these offerings. Further, hearing impaired seniors are having a hard time with senior center remote learning activities and hearing others behind their masks so there is feeling of increased isolation. This is why our agency has focused care plans and community calendars offering ideas for engagement of the mind, body and spirit and offers focused on non-digital activities to elevate the daily experience.

Health Status: With risk of contagion from hospitalization, our HandOff remote health monitoring application in the hands of our caregivers has been  a game changer for its ability to spot and proactively address potential health issues.  While HandOff has been a differentiator outside of the Covid Pandemic, it has been especially important in helping our most fragile seniors remain safe at home. In that the results are visible to approved stakeholders, it has also helped families retain peace of mind that loved ones they can not visit are well cared for.

Hourly Care:  Our live in care contracts are strong and hourly care is just beginning to rebound. Of course, there was reluctance to expose clients and caregivers to variable living arrangements.  Our digital lead cultivation efforts continue to focus on live in. With the caregiver shortage due to school age kids at home, risk of contagion and generous unemployment practices, we have also leveraged digital marketing to recruit staffing. 

David Wigodner – West Palm Beach, Florida

 
Regional Director of Business Development


The impact of COVID 19 in the senior care industry has been comprehensive and affected everyone. Some have seen tragic outcomes like Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities who were at the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic and saw catastrophic results. Numerous Homecare, DME and other providers that support the senior population saw decrease in referrals, census, revenue, and many have had to close permanently or look to be acquired. As a result, the landscape of senior care and the way people think about retirement has been changed. People want to remain at home where they are comfortable, familiar, and not confined. Caring People has been able to adapt with progressive strategies to assist our clients and the community with initiatives that allow them to receive care and services in the comfort of their home. Our Caring On Demand, Care Management and SNF to home diversion programs are just a few that allow them to age in place and get the support they need. 

The impact of COVID 19 has also played a vital role in the increase and importance of digital marketing in the senior industry. The days of walking in a hospital, SNF, ALF or even a physician’s office like we did pre covid are gone and might not return. The expanded hurdles on face-to-face business, create enormous challenges and the businesses that can pivot quickly and leverage digital marketing will survive and grow. With uncertain times, social distancing and people working remotely the use of digital strategies, incorporating a fresh website, social media campaigns, SEO are critical to reach referral sources, clients, and new customers. 

I greatly appreciate all the contributions I received. I invited over 30 leaders in the senior care industry to be part of my expert roundup. Many showed interest initially, but they ultimately opted not to participate. This wasn’t overly surprising considering the senior care industry is still getting acquainted with the benefits that digital marketing can offer their businesses.

Whenever I’m invited to contribute information about digital marketing in the senior care space, I always accept. As a marketer, I believe in the power of building a brand using an online presence.

There’s no question that the onset of COVID-19 has had a major impact the world over. Companies that would never have considered allowing their employees to work remotely under any other circumstances, adapted abruptly. As challenging as it’s been to change the entire business model they’d become so comfortable with, large numbers of companies managed to do it successfully. They relied heavily on technology to stay connected with employees and customers.

Senior care agencies that fail to embrace digital marketing during this time of unprecedented opportunity are bound to fall behind the competition. The pandemic has highlighted the benefits that digital marketing offers to senior care agencies to help them reach their goals of helping others by growing their businesses. Senior care agencies and assisted living facilities will still likely welcome sales calls, especially if salespeople are willing to wear a face-covering as they arrive. However, such agencies are missing the thousands of potential leads of people that are using electronic devices to search for “home care services near me”, “assisted living facility in Brooklyn, NY”, and other related search terms.

In the interest of helping senior care agencies help others during this crucial time of need, I’m dedicated to educating the industry that I care so deeply about on how they can use digital marketing strategies to maximize the potential to grow their businesses while serving their communities.

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Top Solutions for Recruiting and Hiring Caregivers

hiring caregivers

For hiring and recruiting caregivers during times when it’s a top priority, you need top marketing solutions to fit the bill. Every caregiver agency is facing different circumstances. While you have access to several communication channels for recruiting caregivers, they’re not all equally useful. Certain marketing channels will benefit caregiver agencies than others. 

How can you be certain that the communication channels you’re using are reaching your target audience efficiently? The people that you’re looking to hire may be of a different generation than managers that stem from the baby boomer generation. That’s an important concept to consider because Gen X and the millennials are typically influenced by different communication channels than the baby boomers. 

The most recent generations are characterized by being active on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. They’re not apt to be looking for ads in the classified section of the local newspaper. Today’s job seekers are scouring the internet looking for their next employer. You’re better able to find the most skilled caregivers by tailoring your marketing strategy for recruiting and hiring around the channels that your target audience uses daily, rather than the ones that you have the greatest comfort level with. 

This article provides as many ideas as possible so that you can make your own decisions about the types of communication channels that will yield your agency the best results. Getting stellar results takes a bit of time, but don’t worry too much. It’s easier than you might think.

To continually refine your process, it’s important to track the following data for each channel:

  • Cost-per-hire
  • Number of applicants
  • Turnover rate

Consider the following options for communication channels that you can use for home care hiring and recruiting solutions to get new hires:

  • Organic traffic through social media outlets
  • Paid ads through social media outlets
  • Google ads
  • Email marketing
  • Online hiring platforms and job boards
  • SEO for caregiver recruitment
  • Referral programs
  • Open houses for caregiver recruitment
  • Caregiver training events
  • Hiring automation platform for recruiting

Organic Social Media 

A strong social media presence is your key to hire more caregivers. Facebook ads for hiring is resource where individuals in the generations that you want to hire will see every day. 

Facebook ads for employment allows you to set the geographical location of where your future employees reside. Posting jobs every day on your company’s Facebook page is a valuable way to attract caregiver talent. The job features only allow you to post one position at a time, but your post can work in your favor when you attract lots of followers because it will give you organic visibility. 

You can also run your posting as a Facebook ad to target potential recruits. Facebook automatically fills out the application with the jobseeker’s profile which allows them to edit it as necessary. 

Instagram is yet another social media platform that you can use strategically to hire more caregivers. You might consider running a contest asking your followers to tag others that might be interested in a caregiver job offer. You could offer a gift card to them for their efforts. People love contests and free rewards. They’re a great way to help you increase engagement on your social media pages and build thousands of followers. The more that you can build the momentum of the buzz about your jobs and your company, the more likely you will be to attract caregiver recruits. 

Paid Social Media Ads

You have two options for posting paid Facebook ads. 

  1. Boost a post 
  2. Create a paid campaign to promote your job post

Facebook also owns Instagram and it uses the Facebook Ads Manager for ad posting. If you’re interested in segmenting your audience further and tracking analytics, Facebook Manager is a better option than boosting a post because it gives you more call-to-action options. Click on Facebook Ads Manager where you can set your ads up according to your marketing plan. 

Facebook Ads Campaign to recruit caregivers

If you plan to have your staff run Facebook ad campaigns, they can take an exam to be certified. The Facebook Blueprint Certification for advanced-level proficiency in running ads on Facebook’s platform.  

Once you get into the Facebook Ad Manager, you’ll need to clearly define your target audience. Shoot for the broadest audience possible while setting reasonable parameters to attract those that you want to apply.  The placement feature is something you should give careful consideration to. Your selection tells Facebook where to place your ads on Facebook and Instagram. 

I find that the most reasonable budget for small-to-average home care agencies is between $350-$500 per month. That might sound high, but you’ll likely get a good return on your investment. This kind of budget works well for more than just recruitment ads. In my experience, Facebook ads are the most cost-effective way to recruit caregivers. I’ve run many ads on Facebook for recruiting caregivers for clients and the results have been nothing short of amazing. 

Case Study

Google Ads for Recruitment

Google ads give you another top opportunity to identify and engage with potential caregiver recruits. Google’s platform offers extraordinary options for creating hyper-focused ad campaigns. When you set the right parameters, you’ll find that their platform will attract caregivers within certain cities, towns, or zip codes. You can even set a parameter for a specified radius from your facility. 

To maximize your efforts, make certain to spend some time doing keyword research. Your job seekers will likely be putting things like HHA, CHHA, or CNA into the search box when they’re looking for a job. 

To get the most clicks, write great ad copy using clear and simple language. Google ads work similarly to Facebook ads in that you pay for every click. If you have a high-converting landing page, you’ll know that your Facebook or Google ad campaign was a success. You can expect the cost of each caregiver that you hire to cost between $200 to $300 depending on the location. 

Generally, digital marketing requires a lot of testing, and setting up social media ad campaigns is no different. Your goal is to get the largest number of recruits for your marketing budget. Bear in mind that Google ads target a different audience than Facebook ads and the Google ads tend to cost a bit more than Facebook ads. It’s wise to do some testing and calculate your investment for ads for both platforms against your return on investment. 

In addition to posting ads on social media platforms, it’s also a good idea to look at some other strategies for home care hiring and recruiting solutions. 

Job Boards

You may have used sites like Indeed, Craigslist, and some others to hire more caregivers. Jobseekers are certainly combing those sites, and you may get a few recruits from those efforts. It’s wise to keep using them because you want to cast the widest net possible. 

Beyond the concept of getting your company’s name out in front of jobseekers, it’s essential to evaluate the quality of your ads. Your ads should be attractive, eye-catching, and readable. 

It’s very time-consuming to create jobseeker ads on a host of different sites. Some caregiver agencies may decide that it’s more cost-effective for them to hire a recruiting platform to automate the process for you. 

The following sites offer job boards to help you find top talent in caregiver jobs:

  • Indeed
  • Monster
  • Glassdoor
  • US Jobs
  • Adzuna
  • Careerbuilder
  • Craigslist
  • Jobaccept
  • Simplyhired.com
  • Snagajob.com
  • Care.com
  • LDS employment service
  • Caregiver List
  • Caring.com
  • Jobing.com

Email Marketing for Recruiting

As you acquire new applicants, ask them to please “opt in” to your emails so that you can communicate with them via email. You may also want to ask them to “opt in” for text messages from your agency. Getting their permission gives you the right to send them emails about recruiting even more caregivers. 

You may receive 100 applicants in response to your social media ad campaigns or from other sources, and if you only have 60 positions to fill, you’ll still want to maintain a connection with the other 40 applicants. 

Your next step is to respond that you’ve received their applications and you’ll contact them as soon as possible. As you’ll be communicating with them via email moving forward, also ask them to “opt in” for your emails. 

You’ll proceed with hiring 60 of the applicants and you can continue with an email marketing campaign for recruiting to the other 40 applicants. That will give you a pipeline of potential caregivers. 

Mass marketing software like Mailchimp and Constant Contact are valuable tools for creating caregiver recruit lists. These software solutions allow you to create multiple lists for different email campaigns. This feature gives you the ability to create segments for recruits and the candidates that you hired. Your CRM software may connect with mass email marketing software so that you can create automated, customized email campaigns.  

Caregivers also tend to know a lot of other caregivers. Even if you can’t work things out to hire a particular caregiver, they may refer another caregiver to you. Referral programs can be quite successful using this strategy. 

SEO a Recruiting Channel

The caregiver resource section of your website can be a valuable lead generation tool for your Human Resource department. 

SEO can be one of the best tools to help you get qualified home caregivers. Create content on your blog or company website that targets topics like “Caregiver Interview Questions.” Quality caregivers want to be “in the know” about blog information, articles, free courses, and videos about home caregiving. By posting informative information that’s targeted to the caregiving population, it tells workers that you’re proactive in the field and that you care about educating your workers so that they’re always at the top of their game. 

Quality home caregivers are on the hunt for positions where agencies provide them with value. If your home care agency has a stellar reputation, it’s to the caregiver’s benefit to list your agency on their resume for future employment if they ever need it. 

Post content with titles like “How to Become a Home Caregiver with Specialization in Parkinson’s Disease.” Articles on other topics like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are also issues that home caregivers will be interested in. 

You can make your blog articles do double duty by turning them into an eBook and giving them away in exchange for collecting contact information. 

You’ll have the best success in using your agency’s website for recruiting caregivers when you add contact forms to all the pages of your website that are related to caregiver job-seeking. 

Ad banners are another useful tool for promoting caregiver job opportunities. 

With so many digital tools and strategies at your disposal, along with having to spend many hours on keyword research and writing good content, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and do nothing at all. Your best option may be to hire a digital marketing agency to take the work off your hands and perhaps, even get better results than you could do alone. 

Make the best use of the time you spend creating content by using it as a resource for creating videos and infographics. If your budget allows, promote your blog articles on your social media platforms and send them out to recipients via email marketing campaigns. 

Recruitment Platform Solution

Posting on multiple job boards is tedious and time-consuming when you’re trying to run a business. Nevertheless, it’s important to make the effort to give your time and attention to caregiver recruiting and hiring to keep your agency fully staffed with quality home caregivers. By posting on as many communication channels as possible, you’re certain to find the best match between your agency and the types of caregivers you want to employ. We offer a recruiting and hiring platform that will increase the reach for your job post. The recruiting solution that we offer will automate things for you such as each time you post a new job the automation will post your new job on Facebook, Twitter, Indeed.

If your senior care business needs to hire staff such as Caregivers, HHA, CNA, RNA, or any other talent; We can help. Just send us a message by using our Contact form.

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12 New Clients in 30 Days – Google Ads Case Study

Google Ads To acquire Home care Clients

Company Overview:

Caring on-demand is a technology platform that offers on demand home care services. Caring On Demand provides care by the minute. It connects non-medical, in-home caregivers to independent seniors, residents of Senior Living communities and Assisted Living facilities and their families by using a mobile app.

 

Introduction – Grow Client Based with Paid Advertising ( Google Ads)

Senior Care Clicks was contacted by Steven East, the CEO of Caring on Demand to help them to acquire clients in New York and New Jersey.

Due to Covid-19, a virus that has affected thousands of elderlies across the country, the need for home care services has skyrocketed. Now it is the best time to invest in promoting your home care services.

The nursing home crisis in the country has pushed families to take their elderlies back home. People are working from home while helping their kids with remote learning and also taking care of their elderly parents at the same time. Families can’t procrastinate any longer to hire caregivers.

The Strategy:

We created geo-targeted search campaigns to run Google ads in specific locations ( these zip codes and location ratios were provided by Caring On-Demand). The campaign was showing ads in specific cities and neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey ( areas with high-income and previous clients’ locations).

With a  recommended budget of $6000 a month – $3000 per location ($100 a day per location). We created  Google ads campaigns with a call extension to allow people to call from the ad and also complete a form on the landing page.

Campaign Structure:

  • 2 campaigns: New York  and New Jersey
  • 20  Ad groups – 10 per campaign 
  • 12 keywords per ad group
  • 52 ads – Expanded and Responsive ads
  • Call extension
  • Call Out Extension
  • Location extension
  • RLSA ( Remarketing List for Search Ads)

In addition, we researched zip code neighborhoods and added them as keywords, such as “Home care services 10128” Why? Even the keyword has a low search volume but it is very specific and we don’t want to miss any opportunities.

The results:

The first month the campaign delivered 

New York Campaign

Clicks: 491 ( new traffic to the website)

Conversions:  49 ( 22 contact form leads – 17 calls)

Cost Per Conversion: $56.81

Spent:  $2780

New clients: 7 new clients

New Jersey Campaign

Clicks: 404 ( new traffic to the website)

Conversions:  23 ( 12 contact forms and 11 calls)

Cost Per Conversion: $111

Spent:  $2540

New Clients: 5

 

PPC Extra value:

PPC  helps to acquire leads. It also increases organic search because it puts your agency in front of potential clients. Later, users that have already engaged with your ad will come back to your site with a brand keyword by typing your company’s name on Google. Furthermore, PPC also boosts brand awareness.

To conclude, the campaign delivered 12 new clients in 30 days with a budget of $6000 and the website acquired 895 new visits. (New people that learn about Caring On Demand).

Note: Based on our experience, we know that contact form conversions are about 10% – 12% while calls conversions are about 15-20%. Thats’s why we use call extension in the ads.

 

 

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