Set the Scene
If you’re running a functional or integrative medicine practice, SEO can feel like one of the most overwhelming parts of marketing — full of jargon, technical requirements, and competing opinions on what actually works. You’re left wondering: Is SEO worth it? and How does it help me attract patients who are already skeptical or cautious about out-of-pocket care?
In a recent episode of Uncomplicated Marketing, host Sacha sits down with Andrew Newland — founder and CEO of Functional Medicine Marketing and author of Digital Marketing and SEO for Functional Medicine Practices — to demystify SEO and reframe it as a trust engine for clinics that serve patients in the functional space.
The Unique Challenge of Trust in Functional Medicine
One of the first points Andrew emphasizes is the difficulty clinics face when marketing a service that isn’t yet mainstream. Functional medicine patients often:
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Pay out-of-pocket, which means they must trust a provider before they’ll book.
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Arrive with skepticism after failed treatments or confusion from conventional care.
This creates a trust gap — one that simplistic marketing funnels and ads alone can’t bridge.
Patients need:
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Education
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proof of credibility
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reassurance that you understand their problem
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consistent signals that you are a real, accessible provider
SEO, when done with intention, places your practice in front of patients when they are actively seeking solutions. That’s critical because traditional funnels assume trust; functional medicine largely must build trust first.
Why Social Media Isn’t Enough
Andrew also points out that social media alone isn’t a reliable acquisition engine for clinics. While platforms like Instagram or Facebook may help with brand awareness or community building, their organic reach is limited — leaving many practices wondering why tons of posting doesn’t move the needle toward new patients.
Organic content is great for relationship nurture, but visibility where patients search — especially on Google — requires a different strategy anchored in search intent, not social engagement. SEO captures users at the moment they’re actively searching for help, not when they’re passively scrolling.
The Three Pillars of SEO for Clinics
In the episode, Andrew breaks SEO down into three essential pillars that clinics often overlook or misimplement:
Technical SEO
This covers the fundamentals that help Google crawl and index your site — the behind-the-scenes stuff that determines whether search engines trust your site at all.
Examples include:
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Site speed checks (such as with PageSpeed Insights)
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Proper structural hierarchy (H1/H2 tags)
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Mobile performance
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Schema markup to help search engines understand your content
Clinics often ignore these at their peril, because without solid technical grounding, even great content won’t rank well.
Content SEO
Content has to be more than blogs thrown at a site. Andrew explains how content silos — structured clusters of related pages and posts — create context and signal credibility to Google.
He also highlights:
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Using blogs strategically to boost the visibility of entire site sections
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Avoiding content that looks generic or AI-generated without human shaping
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Aligning content around patient questions and clinical services
AI is a tool, but the story, voice, and expertise you bring make content stand out.
Local SEO
Local signals matter deeply for clinics with physical locations — especially for practices serving defined communities.
Key components include:
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Optimizing your Google Business Profile
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Adding geotagged photos
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Actively managing the Q&A section
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Generating consistent, authentic reviews
Reviews serve two audiences: Google’s algorithm and real patients evaluating your credibility.
Why Most “SEO Packages” Are Flawed
In the conversation, Andrew also warns against common SEO traps:
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Packages that only manage listings
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Blind blog dumping with no strategic structure
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AI-only content with no human insight
He stresses that SEO shouldn’t feel like a checklist — it should be a system tying technical health, meaningful content, and local authority together in a way that builds real trust and visibility.
He also emphasizes the importance of asking for reviews the right way, including what to say word-for-word, so clinics don’t feel awkward or “slimy” about requesting feedback — a key part of local trust building.
Redefining SEO as a System of Trust
By the end of the episode, one message is clear: SEO isn’t a hack or a quick funnel. It’s a trust-building system — a way to signal your credibility long before patients pick up the phone.
Andrew reminds listeners that:
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SEO is slow and steady — the tortoise, not the hare.
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Social media and ads have roles, but SEO anchors long-term discoverability.
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Paid ads work best as part of a broader ecosystem that includes intent-driven search visibility.
Ready to Audit Your SEO?
Take the first step by:
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Running a PageSpeed Insights check on your site
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Reviewing your Google Business Profile completeness
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Mapping your content around actual patient questions and services
SEO doesn’t solve everything overnight — but it builds visibility, credibility, and trust in ways that social tactics alone cannot.