SEO for dermatologists: condition pages signed by a physician, a profile per provider, and before and after photos that stay legal

Local SEO for dermatologists comes down to three things. A Google Business Profile for the practice, and for each provider where Google's rules allow it, so you show in the map when someone searches "dermatologist near me". A separate page for each condition and procedure, written in plain language and reviewed by a named physician. And photo galleries and review replies handled inside the FTC's endorsement rules and HIPAA, because those two areas are where dermatology marketing most often goes wrong. Practices that split medical and cosmetic searches into their own pages, and answer the booking questions up front, earn the appointments.

Medical and cosmetic are two different searches

Dermatology serves two kinds of patient, and they search in different ways.

Patient	What they search	What decides the booking
Medical	skin check near me, mole removal, acne dermatologist, eczema doctor, psoriasis treatment	Insurance accepted, wait time for a new patient, the doctor's credentials
Surgical	Mohs surgery, skin cancer removal	The surgeon's training and experience, referral process
Cosmetic	laser hair removal, chemical peel, treatments by brand name	Who performs it, results, price policy, consultation
Pediatric	pediatric dermatologist, baby eczema doctor	Ages seen, the doctor's experience with children

Build pages for each row you serve. A medical patient checking whether you take their insurance should not have to scroll past a laser promotion to find out. If a large part of your business is injectables and aesthetic treatments, that side behaves like a medical spa in search, and our guide to SEO for medspas covers the brand-name search terms and state board rules there.

The pages a dermatology site needs

• One page per condition: acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, hair loss, warts, skin cancer. Symptoms in plain words, when to see a dermatologist, what a visit involves, the treatments you offer.
• One page per procedure: skin cancer screening, mole removal, biopsy, Mohs surgery if you offer it, each cosmetic treatment.
• One page per provider: degree, board certification with the board named, licence, special interests, languages, and whether they see children.
• New patients: what to bring, how to book, how referrals work, insurance plans accepted by name, and the usual wait.
• Locations: one page per office with its own providers, hours and directions.

Have a physician review every condition and procedure page and show their name and the date reviewed. Health searches get close scrutiny from search engines and readers alike, and a named, credentialed reviewer is the clearest sign you can give that a page is reliable.

Google Business Profile for the practice and each provider

Google says local results are mainly based on "relevance, distance, and popularity", and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. For a dermatology group:

• Practice profile for each office, with the real name on the sign, accurate hours and the booking link.
• Provider profiles. Google's guidelines say individual practitioners, such as doctors, may have separate profiles. Patients often search a dermatologist by name, so these can be worth having. Read Google's specific practitioner guidelines first and keep each provider's details identical to their page on your site.
• Name rules. Do not add "Best Dermatologist" or treatment names to the business name. Google says unnecessary information in the name is not permitted and can lead to suspension.

Before and after photos: what the FTC expects

Before and after galleries are some of the most visited pages on a dermatology site. They are also endorsements of a sort, and the FTC's Endorsement Guides apply. Under 16 CFR 255.2(b), when an ad shows one patient's experience on a key result, people will take it as what patients generally achieve. If you cannot back that up, the ad should clearly disclose the generally expected results. Under 255.2(a), the practice must have proper evidence for the claims those photos make, and the photos themselves are not that evidence.

In practice: show typical results, not only your best case. Say how many sessions it took. Keep lighting and angles the same in both photos. Do not retouch the after photo.

Patient photos and HIPAA

A before and after photo of an identifiable patient is protected health information. HIPAA's authorization rules are in 45 CFR 164.508, and section 164.508(a)(3) requires the patient's written authorization for any use or disclosure of protected health information for marketing, apart from face-to-face communication and promotional gifts of nominal value. Get a signed authorization that covers the website and social media before any photo goes up, and keep it on file.

Reviews and replies

Ask every patient for a review. Do not offer a discount on a cosmetic treatment in exchange. Google's review policy forbids incentives such as discounts or free services for reviews, and the FTC's rule 16 CFR 465.4 makes it unlawful to give incentives for reviews that express a particular sentiment.

When you reply, do not confirm that the reviewer is a patient or mention their condition or treatment, even if they described it themselves. The federal health privacy office has settled with practices over review replies that disclosed patient information. Thank them and invite them to call the office.

Structured data

Schema.org lists Dermatology as a value of MedicalSpecialty. Mark up each office as a MedicalClinic and each provider as a Physician, with medicalSpecialty set to Dermatology, and with names, addresses and phone numbers that match the Business Profiles exactly.

Local Services Ads list dermatologists

Google's Local Services Ads include Dermatologist as a category (Google Ads help, read 21 October 2026). The same page says booking leads and pre-badge ads are not available for health care categories, so verification has to be complete before the ad runs. These are paid listings above the map, separate from SEO, but they rest on the same reviews and profile work.

Questions about SEO for dermatologists

What is local SEO for dermatologists?

It is the work that puts a dermatology practice in the map and the top results for searches like "dermatologist near me" and "skin check [town]": accurate profiles, a page per condition and procedure, and steady reviews.

Should a dermatologist have separate pages for medical and cosmetic services?

Yes. The searches, the patients and the questions that decide the booking are different, so each needs its own pages.

Can a dermatology practice post before and after photos?

Yes, with the patient's written HIPAA authorization, and with honest, typical results. The FTC expects a clear disclosure of generally expected results when a featured result is not typical.

Can each dermatologist in a group have a Google profile?

Google's guidelines say individual practitioners may have separate profiles. Read the practitioner guidelines first and keep each profile consistent with the provider's page on your site.

What should I look for in a dermatology SEO company?

Pages built per condition and procedure, physician review of health content, a clear process for photo authorizations, and reporting on booked appointments, not just rankings. Our comparison of medical SEO services sets out how to judge one.

When a patient asks an assistant about a rash or a mole

Patients now describe a skin worry to ChatGPT or Gemini and ask which dermatologist nearby can see them soon and takes their insurance. The reply names a few practices and draws on their websites, profiles and reviews. A practice with no new patient page and no insurance list gives the assistant little to cite. How your practice is described there is worth checking, and AI Knows Us measures that for practices like yours.