Physical therapy SEO: get more patients through Google

Many patients look online first before they choose a physical therapist. They google their symptoms, compare practices on reviews and distance, and call the practice that inspires the most trust. They don't need a referral from their family doctor for that, so the choice is entirely theirs. In this article, I show how you can become easier to find as a physical therapist and how your website can bring in more appointments.

How patients search for a physical therapist

Someone starts having trouble with their back, shoulder or knee. Often the first step is Google. “Fysiotherapeut bij mij in de buurt” (physical therapist near me), “rugklachten behandeling [stad]” (back pain treatment [city]), “sportfysiotherapie [wijk]” (sports physical therapy [neighborhood]). This search behavior is very local. Patients want a practice nearby, with good reviews, that can schedule an appointment quickly.

According to the BIG register (the Dutch register of healthcare professionals), almost 38,000 physical therapists were registered in early 2026, but you will never compete with most of them. A patient with back pain chooses from a handful of practices in their area. That is why local SEO works so well for physical therapists: the pond is small, and the practices at the top get called most often.

Some of those searchers now put their question to ChatGPT or Gemini. Those tools search the web for their answer and often mention pages that are also easy to find in Google. If you work on your findability in Google, you also help your visibility in AI answers.

Setting up your Google Business Profile properly

When someone googles “fysiotherapeut [stad]” (physical therapist [city]), Google shows the Local Pack: three practices with address, reviews, opening hours and a link to the website. That block sits above the regular search results, so it is the first thing a patient looks at. Whether you make it in depends largely on your Google Business Profile.

Fill in everything

Name, address, phone number, opening hours and website are the basics. Also fill in the treatments you offer (manual therapy, dry needling, sports physical therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy), whether you take new patients and which insurers you accept.

Choose the right categories

Set “Physical therapist” as the primary category and add subcategories for specializations: “Sports physical therapist”, “Manual therapist”, “Pediatric physical therapist”, “Pelvic floor physical therapist”.

Add photos

Put photos of your own practice, treatment rooms and team online instead of stock photos. Patients want to see where they will end up before they call.

Post updates regularly

If you offer a new treatment method, a colleague joins or your opening hours change, post that as an update on your profile. That shows Google the profile is being kept up.

Your profile on ZorgkaartNederland and fysiotherapeut.nl

Besides Google, many patients search and compare physical therapists on ZorgkaartNederland, the review site of the Patiëntenfederatie Nederland (the Dutch patient federation). There they read other patients' experiences before they choose a practice.

Make sure your ZorgkaartNederland profile is completely filled in: specializations, BIG registration number, membership of the KNGF (the Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy), and whether patients can come to you without a referral from their family doctor (direct access, or DTF). The same goes for fysiotherapeut.nl, the KNGF website where patients search by condition and location.

Both platforms often rank high in Google for searches like “fysiotherapeut [stad]” (physical therapist [city]). With a complete profile and good reviews, you show up there a second time, next to your own website.

Asking for and answering reviews

Reviews count in how Google ranks local practices. A practice with many recent, positive reviews often ranks above a practice that has been around for twenty years but only has a handful of reviews. Patients read those reviews too, especially from people with the same condition as theirs.

Ask for a review when a patient notices the treatment is working, usually toward the end of a course of treatment, not after the first session. Send a short WhatsApp or email with a direct link to your Google review page. The fewer steps someone has to take, the greater the chance the review comes in.

Respond to every review, positive and negative. A calm, professional reply to a negative review shows new patients how you handle a complaint. Do keep patient confidentiality in mind: never go into the details of a treatment.

A page for every condition you treat

Besides “fysiotherapeut [stad]” (physical therapist [city]), patients often search for the condition itself: “rugklachten behandeling” (back pain treatment), “nekpijn wat te doen” (neck pain what to do), “frozen shoulder specialist”. Every condition you treat deserves its own page on your website.

• Back pain. Lower back pain, herniated disc, lumbago. Explain what you do, how long a course of treatment takes, and when someone is better off seeing a physical therapist than waiting it out.
• Neck and shoulder pain. Whiplash, frozen shoulder, RSI. Put your place name in as well, for example in the heading: “Nekklachten fysiotherapie [stad]” (neck pain physical therapy [city]).
• Sports injuries. Sprained ankle, cruciate ligament injury, runner's knee. Athletes often search specifically for a sports physical therapist.
• Pelvic floor physical therapy. Pelvic floor problems after pregnancy, incontinence. A sensitive subject, so a page that calmly explains what a treatment involves makes it easier to call.
• Dry needling and manual therapy. Patients search directly on treatment methods too, often with the place name added.

Every condition page needs to contain: an understandable explanation of the condition, your treatment approach, what the patient can expect (number of sessions, reimbursement), and a direct way to make an appointment. Write for patients and not for colleagues: avoid jargon, or explain a technical term right away.

Keywords for physical therapists

If you do keyword research for your practice, the search terms fall roughly into three groups. How close someone is to making an appointment differs per group.

Local search terms

This is the most important group: “fysiotherapeut [stad]” (physical therapist [city]), “fysiotherapie [wijk]” (physical therapy [neighborhood]), “fysiotherapeut in de buurt” (physical therapist nearby). The search volume per term is small. People who search like this usually want to make an appointment.

Search terms with the condition in them

“Rugpijn wat te doen” (back pain what to do), “frozen shoulder behandeling” (frozen shoulder treatment), “bekkenfysiotherapie na zwangerschap” (pelvic floor physical therapy after pregnancy), “dry needling [stad]” (dry needling [city]). Someone who searches this specifically has often already decided they want help. They compare practitioners and want to know whether you can treat their condition.

Questions about a condition or treatment

“Hoeveel sessies fysiotherapie bij hernia?” (how many physical therapy sessions for a herniated disc?), “verschil manuele therapie en fysiotherapie” (difference between manual therapy and physical therapy), “oefeningen tegen lage rugpijn” (exercises for lower back pain). These searchers may not become patients right away. With a good article, though, someone like that lands on your site, and if they need treatment later after all, they already know your practice.

Articles that answer the questions from your treatment room

A page that answers a patient's question well has a better chance of being found than a page with only a list of treatments. On many practice sites, an explanation like that is missing. A blog with answers to the questions you keep hearing in the treatment room attracts visitors you wouldn't have reached otherwise.

• “5 oefeningen tegen lage rugpijn die je thuis kunt doen.” (5 exercises for lower back pain you can do at home.) People search for this a lot, and you show right away that you know what you are talking about.
• “Wanneer moet je naar de fysiotherapeut bij nekklachten?” (When should you see a physical therapist for neck pain?) Many people wonder whether their neck pain will go away by itself. A clear answer, with the signs that mean you should come in, makes the step to an appointment smaller.
• “Wat kost fysiotherapie en hoeveel wordt er vergoed?” (What does physical therapy cost and how much is reimbursed?) If you put your rates on the site, nobody has to call to ask. For the reimbursement, point to your reimbursement page.
• “Wat kun je verwachten bij je eerste afspraak?” (What can you expect at your first appointment?) Describe how an intake goes and how you then make a treatment plan together. People who know what is going to happen find it easier to call.

With health information, Google pays extra attention to E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. As a BIG-registered physical therapist, you already have that expertise. Show it by putting your name, registration and specialization with every article.

What your practice website needs

Many physical therapy websites look alike: a stock photo of someone on a treatment table, a list of treatments and a phone number somewhere. A site like that does what it has to do, but it gives a patient little reason to call you in particular. A well-built website loads fast on a phone and lets visitors make an appointment in a few taps.

The basics: a homepage that makes clear who you are, where you are and what you do, with a direct way to call or make an appointment. Next to that, condition pages per treatment (see above) and a team page with photos, BIG registration, KNGF membership and specializations. Patients want to know who will be treating them. If you want to get all of that right in one go, you can have a website for a healthcare practice built with condition pages, team page and registrations in place from the start.

Put the reimbursement page from the tip above in your menu. Also make getting in touch as easy as possible, with a phone number you can tap on mobile, a button to book an appointment online and directions via Google Maps.

Also consider interactive tools on your website. A symptom checker (“What's bothering you?” with a recommendation of which treatment fits) or a reimbursement check based on insurer makes it easier for people to get in touch.

Strengthening your local findability

Local SEO is the most important part of the online approach for physical therapists, because your patients come from your own city or neighborhood. Besides your Google Business Profile and local keywords, a few other things help.

Start with your name, address and phone number (NAP for short). These must be exactly the same everywhere, on your website, in Google, on ZorgkaartNederland and on fysiotherapeut.nl. A single difference, like “straat” in one place and “str.” in another, can make Google doubt whether it is the same practice.

Links from family doctor practices, sports clubs, fitness centers and local health organizations show Google that your practice is known in the area. If you sponsor a sports club, ask for a mention with a link on their website. Finally, add structured data (of the types MedicalOrganization and LocalBusiness) to your website, so Google can read and show your practice details properly.

Getting the technical basics in order

Many physical therapy websites run on outdated WordPress templates that load slowly and don't work well on a phone. A patient who has to wait for your site to load on their phone clicks back to the next practice. Google also measures how fast and stable your pages load (the Core Web Vitals) and counts that toward your ranking.

Aim for a load time under 2 seconds and test your site with the free website speed test. Most of your visitors probably come via their phone, so check there too whether the text is easy to read and nobody has to scroll sideways.

HTTPS (the padlock in the address bar) is a must, for Google and for your patients: a “not secure” warning on a healthcare provider's site scares people off. Also use the free SEO checker to see whether Google can find and index your pages. Sometimes a page is blocked by accident, and then it shows up nowhere in Google.

In summary

Because a patient can come to you without a referral, they decide for themselves which practice to call, and they usually make that choice online. You lay the foundation for that choice with a well-set-up Google Business Profile, a fast website with a page for every condition, complete profiles on ZorgkaartNederland and fysiotherapeut.nl, reviews from satisfied patients and articles that answer the questions from your treatment room.

With a well-thought-out SEO strategy, new patients come in without you paying for ads. It works the same way for a family doctor practice or a dental practice; on SEO for healthcare, you can read the approach for all of primary care.