How do carehome.co.uk searches work?

Being visible in searches is of central importance when attracting care seekers to your care home.

Having an attractive profile is helpful, and a unique description is essential for improving your ranking on search engines such as Google. Thousands of people use carehome.co.uk’s search feature each year to search for care homes for themselves or a loved one.

This article will explain how that search works and how to improve your chances of being seen by care seekers.

How can my care home be found in searches?

When you set up your profile, you give information about your care home that can help care seekers to find you in searches.

Care seekers can search for care homes based on:

• Location
• Care home name
• Group/owner name
• Manager name

Additional search filters care seekers can add to their search include:

• Type of care home (nursing, residential, CQC rated outstanding, care homes with bed vacancies etc)
• Type of owner (local authority, private, not for profit, NHS)
• Facilities and services (garden, pet-friendly, palliative care etc)
• Type of care (care for specific health conditions)

Any categories you tick will result in your home appearing as a result when care seekers include them as criteria in their search. The more information you include, the more relevant searches your care home will appear in.

How does search ranking work?

Search ranking is the order in which care home profiles are listed. When somebody searches for care homes in any given area on carehome.co.uk, they will see a list of potential homes.

The higher up your profile is on this list, the more likely it is that somebody will click on it.

At the very top are featured profiles. Up to five care homes can pay to have their profile featured.

Next come upgraded profiles ranked in order of their review score. Your subscription level (Platinum/Premium/Enhanced) and your review score will both affect where you rank.

At the bottom of the list are Basic profiles which are listed in a random order. Review score does not affect Basic profiles’ ranking.

How can I improve my ranking?

As explained above, your ranking is affected by your review score and your carehome.co.uk subscription. Therefore, you can improve your position in searches by:

• Improving your review score. There is more information on how to encourage residents and their loved ones to leave reviews here. There is also guidance on our new Invite to Review feature, enabling you to send links to review on your social media and by email, here.
• Upgrading your subscription; see price list here.