Editor’s note: We updated this blog post in July 2025.
There’s a saying in senior living SEO that “all search is local search.” It makes sense, right? Most people thinking about senior living probably want to remain in their local community near family, friends, and the organizations they’re active in.
The data supports this theory. Consider the search volume for “senior living near me” phrases. We’re talking thousands of monthly searches.
This is why optimizing your senior living community’s website for local search is important. And the good news is you don’t have to stuff “near me” search terms into your site since Google has gotten quite good at understanding a user’s search intent, including how it relates to the user’s location. (Read this interesting article from BrightLocal on its recent study of “near me” searches.)
The question is, what else can you do? Should your optimization efforts extend beyond your website’s boundaries?
The short answer is YES. There are actions you can take outside of your website to help improve your site’s visibility in search results, including local search.
It’s called off-page search engine optimization (SEO), and it’s all about boosting your site’s reputation so that search engines see your community’s site as reputable, trustworthy, and authoritative.
Remember, the more reputable your site seems to Google (and other search engines), the more visibility your site will have in the search results.
Below, we discuss four ways to improve off-page SEO for senior living communities.
1. Become a wiz at managing your community’s online reputation.
People rely on reviews when making purchasing decisions. This is why you must have a plan for soliciting and managing reviews, especially on the all-mighty Google.
The more positive reviews you have (especially on Google), the more reputable and trustworthy your site will seem to search engines, and the more likely your site will be served up, especially on relevant local searches.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Google says, “High-quality, positive reviews from your customers can improve your business visibility and increase the likelihood that a shopper will visit your location.”
So, how can you get more reviews? Senior Living SMART’s Debbie Howard says the key is being “intentional” about your approach to senior living reputation management.
She recommends doing the following:
- Develop a proactive review strategy. Create opportunities for residents or visitors to leave reviews. For example, in your post-tour follow-ups, include a line like, “Thanks for stopping by for a visit today. We’d love to know about your experience. What did you like best about the tour? Leave a quick review here. It takes only 30 seconds.”
- Try different delivery methods. Most people have smartphones, so they can easily access email and texts. Experiment with both and see which medium converts better.
- Re-post positive reviews across multiple channels, especially social media. Share those glowing four- and five-star reviews on your site, in email campaigns, and across all of your social media channels. Experiment with how you present the review snippets. For example, create a video montage and see what it does for engagement.
- Lather, rinse, repeat. You’re never done asking for reviews because people expect to see recent ones (within the last three months or so) on places like Google.
More helpful reading:
2. Embrace Link Building
Earning high-quality backlinks to your community’s website signals to Google that you have a site worth serving up in search results.
Some links will happen organically. For example, a news site might link to one of your guides about funding senior living. But other links require a strategy. Semrush offers some good (but time-consuming) suggestions for generating backlinks.
Here are some other link-building tactics that might be more accessible and that can help with local search.
- Whenever your community is involved in a sponsorship, request a backlink to your site from the sponsor’s website.
- Pay attention to local businesses’ websites and collaborate with those that are a good fit and have good Domain Authority. Make sure you cross-promote and cross-link.
- Create valuable local content that naturally attracts links. For example, highlight local attractions, like museums and theaters, in blog posts or “fun stuff to do” content.
- Make sure members of your team who appear as guests on podcasts, videos, and blogs get a link back to your site in the show notes or bio blurb.
BONUS TIP: While Google is still king when it comes to search, people are becoming more comfortable conducting searches on large language models, like ChatGPT. In fact, ChatGPT recently reached one BILLION daily searches, a notable milestone. And it did it 5.5 times quicker than Google.
But here’s the thing. According to Semrush, “The strategies that make you visible in search rankings are largely the same ones that get you mentioned in AI answers. Traditional SEO is all about creating high-quality content, making it accessible to search engines, and building backlinks. GEO [Generative Engine Optimization] works off of a similar foundation.”
3. Ensure consistency in local citations and directories.
Building consistent citations across the web helps establish your community’s credibility.
- Make sure your community’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all online directories.
- List your community on relevant local directories and senior living-specific platforms.
- Claim and verify your listings on major sites.
At Senior Living SMART, we use BrightLocal to clean up our clients’ online business listings. We usually find that 75% are inaccurate or unclaimed.
4. Optimize your Google Business Profile and continue giving it TLC over the long haul.
We feel like we talk about this tip A LOT. And yet, whenever we think we can ease up on this directive, we come across a Google Business Profile that needs a ton of work. (Or that hasn’t even been claimed yet—yikes!)
Remember, Google is still king when it comes to search, and there’s a good chance people will come across your community’s GBP before they make it to your website. Treat it like a microsite that you keep updated with current info, real pics (not stock images), and videos. And as we mentioned earlier, pay attention to reviews, too.
SOMETHING TO WATCH: Here’s an update you should keep your eye on. In May 2025, Google launched a “What’s happening?” feature on Google Business Profiles for single locations in the food and drink industry. It’s all about driving real-time engagement (like today’s dinner specials or the band playing at the local pub on Saturday night).
We wouldn’t be surprised if this feature (or some version of it) became available for other types of businesses.
Think of the potential for senior living. You could highlight today’s “lunch and learn” or the music event open to the public on Thursday night.
Need help with your Google Business Profile? Check out these resources:
Remember, off-page SEO for senior living is a long game.
SEO is never done, so don’t treat it like a box on a to-do list that you check off once. Instead, include SEO in your ongoing marketing strategy. Need help? Our dedicated SEO team can assist you with all aspects of your senior living search engine optimization.
