$1000 per month for being mentioned on drfive.com or doctify.com

Hey SEO folks,
I built the web presence for a long time childhood friend of mine who’s just started his own medical practice, and he keeps getting approached by platforms like DrFive.com and Doctify.com. They are offering to include his practice on their platforms for somewhere between $500 and $1,000 per month.

It's not really relevant, but just to give a background on what I did, what we have:

• NextJS + Prismic, ca. 100+ pages (Articles, Health Library, Services, Diseases etc.), 3 languages
• Google Analytics, Ads, Search integration, tracking ads, on page actions, conversions etc. - Average rank is somewhere around 20, ca. a third rank first results page, a few rank top 3 for target audience
• Analytics says 750 visitors in last 30 days, 690 new (practice is in a big city)
• We have almost no backlinks, my plan for this was to get him to do interviews and have website featured elsewhere
• His sister runs his instagram and facebook.

Anyways, the pitch appears to be that it’ll boost our SEO and trustworthiness because patients will see that we get 5 star reviews on there or something. He feels pressured because a number of other doctors from around the area are on there too. To me it feels like a total rip off and the money could be spent much much better, actually, my gut feeling is that it would almost be like burning the money:

1. It doesn’t look like patients actually use these platforms to find doctors. Their websites seem low-traffic, and I doubt they provide the visibility they claim.
2. From an SEO perspective, the backlinks from these platforms don’t seem high-authority. I imagine Google’s algorithm is smart enough to differentiate between meaningful, reputable links (e.g., from a podcast feature or a legitimate online newspaper) and backlinks from low-traffic directories.
3. $500 to $1,000 per month seems like way too much for a single referring domain

I feel like my friend’s money would be much better spent on alternatives:

• Building their Google Business Profile and collecting Google reviews.
• Investing in paid ads like Google Ads or social media.
• Collaborating with podcasts, reputable news sites, or other platforms that actually have reach and credibility.

That said, I’d love to hear from the SEO community:

1. Are backlinks from platforms like these worth it? Especially at this price point, recurring?
2. Has anyone here worked with DrFive, Doctify, or similar platforms? What was your experience?
3. What would you recommend instead for a brand-new medical practice looking to grow online?

submitted by /u/SparklyCould
[link] [comments]

from Search Engine Optimization: The Latest SEO News https://ift.tt/UhTsfuJ