Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist That Actually Moves Consult Volume

A med spa SEO audit checklist that actually finds what’s costing consult volume looks nothing like the generic 200-item PDFs floating around. Most audits stack up busywork (fix your alt tags, add schema, compress images) that never touches the two or three real problems keeping your treatment pages off page one. The med spa category has a specific ranking pattern: local intent runs the map pack, treatment intent runs organic results below the map, and both surfaces punish thin service pages that don’t match what a shopper researching Botox pricing or laser hair removal recovery actually needs to see.

This med spa SEO audit checklist walks the twelve fixes that move consult volume for real, in the order they typically pay back. The Google Business Profile depth check comes first because it moves map pack rank fastest. Treatment page content depth comes second because that’s where organic traffic converts. Technical hygiene comes last because it rarely moves rank on its own for a med spa. You’ll leave with a punch list you can hand a marketing manager or agency Monday morning, plus benchmarks from Ideal Image and other multi-location med spas showing what strong looks like at scale.

Why a Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist Should Prioritize Twelve Fixes Not Two Hundred

A med spa SEO audit checklist that lists 200 items is written to look thorough, not to move rank. Two hundred items produces a project scope that stalls out inside three months because nobody prioritizes. Twelve items produces a project scope that ships inside six to eight weeks because every fix carries a specific consult-volume impact. The ranking factors that actually matter for a med spa split into three buckets: local visibility (map pack), treatment intent visibility (organic below map), and conversion architecture (does the traffic book a consult). Each bucket carries three to four levers. Move the levers and consult volume moves inside a quarter.

The med spa SEO audit checklist that follows sequences the fixes by expected impact and time to result, not by category or topical grouping. Google Business Profile depth ships first because map pack impressions climb inside 30 days. Treatment page content depth ships second because organic rankings climb inside 60 to 90 days. Review generation cadence layers on top because reviews compound both surfaces simultaneously. Technical hygiene sits at the bottom because it rarely moves med spa rank on its own, only supports the other levers. This sequencing is what separates audits that pay back inside a quarter from audits that produce three-hundred-line spreadsheets nobody works through.

Prioritize Fixes By Consult Volume Impact Not Category Grouping

A med spa SEO audit checklist that groups fixes by category (technical, content, off-page, local) trains the team to work through the easiest categories first regardless of impact. This ships alt tag fixes before treatment page rewrites, which optimizes the wrong outcome. The audit should sequence fixes by expected consult volume impact instead. Google Business Profile depth typically drives 22 to 45 percent of new consult volume in a properly-attributed med spa marketing model, so it goes first. Treatment page content depth drives another 25 to 40 percent of consult volume once the map pack is working. Technical fixes contribute 3 to 8 percent of consult volume for most med spas, so they sit at the bottom of the priority list.

Set Baseline Metrics Before Any Fix Ships

Every med spa SEO audit checklist should open with a baseline metric capture across four surfaces. Google Business Profile insights (calls, direction requests, website clicks over the last 90 days). Google Search Console (branded and non-branded impressions and clicks by treatment category). Google Analytics or GA4 (organic sessions to treatment pages, consult form submissions, phone call events). Practice management system (new patient count and treatment revenue by acquisition source). Without baseline metrics captured before fixes ship, the audit can’t prove which fixes moved which metrics, and next quarter’s budget conversation loses its foundation. See the Google Business Profile insights documentation for the specific reports to pull before the audit starts.

Google Business Profile Depth Is the First Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist Item

The Google Business Profile depth audit is the first item on any med spa SEO audit checklist because it moves consult volume fastest. Depth means every field filled, every category selected correctly, every service listed with description and pricing, and every photo current. Most med spa GBPs run at 30 to 45 percent field completion, which caps map pack impressions well below where the profile could rank. Filling the profile to 90+ percent completion typically drives map pack impressions up 60 to 140 percent inside 60 days, without any other change.

The specific fields that move rank are categories (primary plus secondary), services (structured with description and price range where possible), attributes (women-owned, LGBTQ-friendly, veteran-owned, etc.), business description with keyword variants naturally placed, photos (interior, exterior, treatment room, staff, and result photos where compliance allows), posts (weekly with treatment offers or education), and Q&A (seeded with the top 10 pre-consult questions and answered by the practice). Every field the profile leaves blank is a signal to Google that the business is either incomplete or less active than a competitor. Fill everything.

Category Selection Moves Map Pack Rank More Than Any Other Lever

Category selection inside the med spa SEO audit checklist is the highest-impact single lever. Primary category should be Medical spa in almost every case, not Beauty salon or Skin care clinic. Secondary categories should include Cosmetic clinic, Laser hair removal service, Botox clinic, and Aesthetic clinic where relevant to the service menu. Wrong primary category is the single most common med spa GBP mistake and often drops the profile out of the map pack entirely for the highest-value queries. Any med spa SEO audit checklist should verify primary category selection first, before touching any other field.

Service Listings With Descriptions Beat Bare Category Selection

Service listings inside Google Business Profile carry more weight than most agencies realize. Each service should be listed with a 150 to 300 character description that naturally uses treatment-specific language patients search for (Botox for forehead lines, laser hair removal legs, hydrafacial monthly membership). Service listings appear directly inside map pack results for matching queries and drive both visibility and click-through on the profile. Med spas that list 15 to 25 services with descriptions consistently outrank competitors listing only 3 to 5 services or leaving service listings blank entirely. This is the single most under-optimized lever on the med spa SEO audit checklist and often produces map pack rank movement inside 30 days.

Treatment Page Content Depth Is the Second Audit Priority

Treatment page content depth is the second med spa SEO audit checklist item and the one that determines organic rank for high-value transactional queries. Every treatment page should carry 1,800 to 3,200 words of specific, treatment-relevant content covering what the treatment is, how it works, who’s a candidate, pricing ranges, downtime and recovery, expected results and timeline, before-and-after examples (where compliance allows), specific practitioner credentials, and a robust FAQ section. Med spa treatment pages under 800 words rank almost nowhere for competitive treatment queries.

Content depth signals topical authority to Google’s ranking systems. A med spa with a 2,400-word Botox page covering forehead lines, crow’s feet, gummy smile, jaw slimming, and preventative applications outranks a competitor with a 600-word Botox page covering only wrinkle reduction. The depth also carries a conversion effect: patients researching a treatment want to see the specific application and outcome that matches their concern, and a page that answers all the pre-consult questions books more consults than a page that summarizes at high level. The med spa SEO audit checklist should mark any treatment page under 1,500 words as a rewrite priority, and any page under 800 words as an urgent fix.

Match Treatment Page Copy to Real Patient Questions

Treatment pages inside the med spa SEO audit checklist should match the exact language patients use when researching. Pull the top 40 branded and non-branded queries from Google Search Console, cross-reference with the questions the front desk fields most often during consult calls, and map each question to a section on the relevant treatment page. This exercise typically surfaces 15 to 25 sub-topics per treatment that aren’t currently covered on the page. Adding those sub-topics inside a rewrite pushes the page from generic treatment overview to comprehensive treatment resource, which is what Google rewards and what patients convert on.

Pricing Transparency Sections Rank Higher Than Pricing Redirects

Pricing transparency sections on med spa treatment pages rank higher than pages that hide pricing behind a consult booking. Google’s ranking systems reward pages that answer the query directly, and pricing is the most common query attached to any treatment (“how much is Botox,” “laser hair removal cost”). Med spas that publish price ranges (starting at $12 per unit, packages from $325, etc.) rank higher and convert consult calls at higher rates than med spas that force the caller to book a consult to hear the number. Any med spa SEO audit checklist should verify pricing sections are present on every treatment page, whether as ranges, package pricing, or membership pricing structure.

Review Generation Cadence Compounds Both Ranking Surfaces

Review generation cadence sits third on the med spa SEO audit checklist because reviews compound both map pack and organic ranking surfaces. A med spa with 400+ reviews at a 4.7 average consistently outranks a med spa with 80 reviews at a 4.9 average, because review volume signals sustained business activity to Google’s ranking systems. The specific cadence that moves rank is 15 to 40 new reviews per month across the profile, driven by a same-day SMS review request to every treatment patient who completed a service that day.

Review generation inside the med spa SEO audit checklist should audit the review request workflow: is every patient asked, on what day, via what channel, with what specific ask. Most med spas ask via a generic email a week after treatment and generate reviews at 2 to 5 percent of treated patients. Med spas that ask via SMS on the same day treatment happened generate reviews at 22 to 38 percent of treated patients. That 5x-to-10x gap in review generation rate compounds inside 90 days into map pack rank movement that pure content or GBP fixes can’t match. Any audit that skips review workflow entirely is missing a lever that outperforms most technical SEO fixes combined.

Review Response Rate Signals Active Business to Google

Review response rate is a signal Google uses to gauge whether the business is actively managed. Med spas that respond to 90+ percent of reviews (positive and negative) inside 48 hours consistently outperform med spas that respond to 20 percent or fewer reviews. The response text should acknowledge the specific service the reviewer received, thank them by name, and invite them to return for follow-up or a different treatment. Automated generic responses hurt the signal because they read as bot-generated. The med spa SEO audit checklist should measure review response rate over the last 90 days and set a target of 90+ percent for the next quarter.

Review Sourcing Sequence Determines Volume

Review sourcing sequence determines whether the med spa hits the 15 to 40 review per month cadence that moves rank. The sequence that works best in the med spa vertical: treatment completes, front desk sends SMS review request within four hours with a one-tap link that opens the Google review interface directly, follow-up email at 48 hours if no review received, front-desk verbal ask at any return visit within 30 days. Med spas that run this three-touch sequence generate reviews at 3 to 5 times the rate of single-touch email requests. The med spa SEO audit checklist should map the current review workflow against this three-touch benchmark and identify which touches are missing.

Internal Linking Structure That Med Spa Sites Underuse

Internal linking structure inside the med spa SEO audit checklist is the item that produces the biggest rank movement per hour of work. Most med spa sites have treatment pages linked only from a top-level services menu and get zero internal linking from blog posts, FAQ pages, or location pages. A treatment page with 12 to 25 internal links pointing at it from topically relevant content outranks a treatment page with 2 to 3 links pointing at it, holding all other factors equal. The audit should map every treatment page’s internal link count and identify which pages need internal link injection.

The specific pattern that works for med spa internal linking runs three ways. First, from blog posts covering treatment education (a blog post about Botox longevity should link to the Botox treatment page in the opening paragraph). Second, from location pages to the treatments offered at that location. Third, from the FAQ page to the specific treatment that matches each answered question. Med spas that build this three-way internal linking structure across 15 to 30 blog posts and location pages see treatment page rank climb inside 60 to 90 days without any additional external link work. The med spa SEO audit checklist should surface internal link gaps as a specific fix category with an owner and a deadline.

Anchor Text Diversity Signals Natural Linking Patterns

Anchor text diversity inside the med spa SEO audit checklist should verify that internal links don’t all use the same phrase. A Botox treatment page linked from 20 blog posts with the exact anchor text “Botox in [city]” looks manipulative to Google’s ranking systems. The same page linked from 20 blog posts with varied anchors (“Botox treatments,” “our Botox program,” “Botox for forehead lines,” “get Botox with us,” “book a Botox consult”) reads as natural. The audit should sample 30 to 50 internal links and check anchor variety. Anchor over-optimization is one of the most common self-inflicted rank problems on med spa sites and one of the fastest to fix.

Location Pages Deserve Their Own Internal Link Budget

Location pages for multi-location med spas need their own internal link budget inside the med spa SEO audit checklist. Every treatment page should link to the corresponding location page for each city the med spa serves, and every blog post that mentions a location should link to the location page for that city. Multi-location med spas that build this location-page linking structure rank in the map pack across every location they operate. Med spas that skip location-page linking rank only in the map pack around the primary location and lose the map pack ranks at secondary locations entirely. This gap costs multi-location med spas 15 to 30 percent of potential map pack impressions annually.

Schema Markup That Moves Med Spa Rank

Schema markup inside the med spa SEO audit checklist should verify LocalBusiness, MedicalBusiness, and Service schema across every relevant page. LocalBusiness schema goes on the homepage and every location page with full NAP data, hours, geo coordinates, and aggregate rating pulled from Google reviews. MedicalBusiness schema goes on the homepage and about page with specialty designation. Service schema goes on every treatment page with treatment name, description, price range, and provider information. Most med spa sites carry either no schema or only generic Organization schema, which contributes almost nothing to search visibility.

The schema fields that move rank in the med spa vertical are aggregateRating (pulled from Google reviews via the profile), priceRange (numeric ranges like $150-$450), openingHours (structured with day-of-week and time), and hasMenu (linking to the service menu). Schema that carries these fields correctly populates rich results in search that improve click-through rate 20 to 45 percent versus plain organic results. The med spa SEO audit checklist should include a schema validation step using Google’s Rich Results Test on the homepage, three location pages, and five treatment pages minimum, with any errors flagged as required fixes before content changes ship.

FAQ Schema Wins Featured Snippets on Treatment Queries

FAQ schema on treatment pages regularly wins featured snippets on high-volume treatment queries. Every treatment page should carry 6 to 10 FAQ pairs with schema markup that mirrors the exact questions patients ask before booking. The FAQ answers should run 40 to 80 words each with the treatment name naturally placed in the first sentence. Med spas that ship FAQ schema consistently across every treatment page win featured snippets on 15 to 40 percent of relevant queries, which drives click-through rates well above unranked pages and adds a visibility surface that competitors without FAQ schema can’t touch. See the Google FAQPage schema documentation for the exact markup pattern.

Review Schema Displays Star Ratings in Search

Review schema on the homepage and treatment pages displays star ratings directly in organic search results. The star ratings improve click-through rate 15 to 35 percent versus plain organic listings, because the visual signal draws the eye and the rating signals quality. The med spa SEO audit checklist should verify review schema pulls aggregate rating and review count correctly, refreshes weekly to reflect new reviews, and complies with Google’s review markup policies. Sites that fake review schema (using fabricated ratings or self-generated reviews) get penalized aggressively and lose the star ratings entirely, so implementation needs to pull real review data from a legitimate source.

Site Speed and Core Web Vitals for Med Spa Sites

Site speed and Core Web Vitals inside the med spa SEO audit checklist sit below content and local levers because they rarely move med spa rank on their own. That said, sites failing Core Web Vitals thresholds do get suppressed on mobile results where 65 to 80 percent of med spa traffic lives. The audit should measure Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, First Input Delay under 100 milliseconds, and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1 across the homepage, three location pages, and five treatment pages. Any page failing two or more metrics should be flagged as a technical priority.

The specific speed issues that recur on med spa sites are oversized hero images (typically JPGs pushed at 4-8 MB when 300-600 KB would work), unoptimized before-and-after galleries loading dozens of images at page load, and third-party tracking scripts (Facebook pixel, GA4, call tracking, chat widgets) blocking render. The fixes are straightforward: compress images to WebP at appropriate resolutions, lazy-load below-the-fold gallery content, and defer non-critical third-party scripts. These fixes typically improve Core Web Vitals scores from failing to passing inside two to four hours of developer work per page. The med spa SEO audit checklist should carry site speed as a required checkbox but not as the top priority.

Mobile Experience Determines 70 Percent of Med Spa Traffic Conversion

Mobile experience inside the med spa SEO audit checklist deserves specific attention because 65 to 80 percent of med spa traffic arrives on mobile. Consult booking forms that don’t work well on mobile leak conversion at rates of 30 to 60 percent versus desktop. The audit should test consult booking flows on iPhone Safari and Android Chrome specifically, checking form field sizing, tap target accessibility, dropdown usability, and one-tap phone call functionality. Any friction in the mobile consult booking flow costs consult volume regardless of rank position.

Image Optimization Beats General Speed Optimization for Med Spas

Image optimization for med spa sites moves site speed more than any other single technical fix. Before-and-after galleries, treatment room photos, and staff photos typically make up 70 to 90 percent of page weight on a med spa site. Compressing every image to WebP with appropriate srcset variants for mobile, tablet, and desktop viewports typically cuts page weight 60 to 80 percent without visible quality loss. The med spa SEO audit checklist should specifically call out image optimization as a separate line item rather than bundling into general speed optimization, because image work carries the highest impact per hour on site speed for the med spa vertical.

Ideal Image Multi-Location SEO Teardown

Ideal Image runs the largest chain of med spas in the country with 150+ locations and provides the cleanest case study on what a mature med spa SEO audit checklist looks like at scale. The Ideal Image approach runs three coordinated layers. The corporate site (idealimage.com) ranks nationally for treatment education queries and captures top-of-funnel research traffic. Location pages (idealimage.com/locations/dallas, etc.) rank locally in each metro’s map pack and drive consult bookings for that location. Treatment-plus-location pages (idealimage.com/laser-hair-removal-dallas) capture the high-intent transactional queries that carry the highest conversion rates.

The three-layer structure Ideal Image runs is what smaller med spas can learn from without needing 150 locations. The corporate education layer drives national brand search that compounds across every location. The location pages drive map pack visibility in each specific metro. The treatment-plus-location pages catch buyers ready to book. Any single-location or small-chain med spa can build the same three-layer structure at smaller scale: an education blog, a location page for each service area, and treatment-plus-location pages for the top three treatments in each service area. This structure produces the same compounding effect at any scale, and any med spa SEO audit checklist should map current site structure against this three-layer pattern to identify structural gaps.

The specific pattern Ideal Image uses on treatment-plus-location pages is worth studying line by line. Each page runs 1,800 to 2,400 words, opens with the treatment description tailored to the specific city (climate considerations for laser treatments, seasonal demand patterns), lists the specific practitioners and their credentials at that location, includes 8 to 12 FAQ pairs with FAQ schema, and closes with location-specific pricing and consult booking. The pages rank because they answer the exact query intent (this treatment, at this location, at what price, with what result). Small med spas that copy this pattern for even three treatments across three service areas typically see organic consult bookings grow 40 to 90 percent inside six months. See the Search Engine Land local SEO guide for the multi-location structure fundamentals.

Comparison of Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist Fixes by Time to Impact

Not every fix on a med spa SEO audit checklist carries the same time-to-impact profile. Some fixes move rank inside 30 days, others take 90 to 120 days to compound. The table below sequences the twelve highest-priority fixes by expected time to consult volume impact, cost to implement, and the specific outcome each fix produces. Sequence work in this order and audit results show up on the P&L inside two quarters instead of getting lost in a spreadsheet.

Sequence Fixes By Compounding Effect

Sequencing fixes on the med spa SEO audit checklist by compounding effect matters as much as sequencing by time to impact. Google Business Profile category and service listings compound with review generation because both surfaces feed the map pack ranking system. Treatment page rewrites compound with internal linking because internal links direct authority to the newly written pages. Location pages compound with treatment-plus-location pages because the location structure creates the authority foundation the treatment-plus-location pages inherit. Running these in the right order produces additive gains. Running them in the wrong order forces later fixes to overcome the friction earlier fixes should have removed.

Track Results at 30, 60, 90 Days Post-Ship

Every fix that ships from a med spa SEO audit checklist should carry a 30/60/90 day measurement plan. GBP category fixes should show map pack impression movement inside 30 days. Treatment page rewrites should show organic session growth inside 60 days. Review generation workflow changes should show review volume growth inside 30 days and rank movement inside 90 days. Location page creation should show map pack impression growth for each new location inside 60 to 90 days. Med spas that track results consistently at these checkpoints identify which fixes worked, which didn’t, and where to concentrate the next quarter’s audit budget.

Voice Notes From Our Med Spa Marketing Team

Voice note (Senior local SEO strategist): The med spa SEO audit checklist item that produces the biggest surprise for owners is Google Business Profile category selection. Half the med spas we audit have their primary category wrong, usually Beauty salon or Skin care clinic instead of Medical spa. Fixing that one setting moves map pack impressions 60 to 140 percent inside 60 days on average, with no other change.

Voice note (Content lead, med spa vertical): Treatment page rewrites work when the page opens with what the treatment actually is and closes with what happens if you don’t book. Most treatment pages we audit are written like brochures. They should be written like the first ten minutes of a consult call, answering every question the patient will ask before agreeing to book.

Voice note (Reviews and reputation manager): The single fastest lever on any med spa SEO audit is switching review requests from email to SMS on the same day treatment happened. That change alone typically moves review generation from 3 percent of treated patients to 25 percent, and that volume gain compounds into map pack rank movement inside 90 days.

How Redefine Web Runs the Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist for Clients

Redefine Web runs the med spa SEO audit checklist as a two-week engagement that produces a prioritized ship list, not a spreadsheet. The audit opens with baseline metric capture across GBP insights, Search Console, GA4, and the practice’s PMS. It runs through the twelve priority fixes documented above, scoring each fix by current state, target state, expected consult volume impact, and effort to implement. It closes with a 90-day ship plan that sequences the fixes by compounding effect and time to impact. Clients who follow the ship plan typically see consult volume grow 30 to 90 percent inside two quarters.

The specific engagement structure covers audit interviews with the practice owner and front-desk team, on-site or virtual observation of the current consult booking workflow, competitive analysis of the three closest med spa competitors in the map pack, and a written report that walks each fix with implementation instructions and expected impact ranges. The engagement produces a working document the client can hand to any agency or in-house team, along with monthly check-ins to track results against baseline. See our med spa marketing services for the ongoing SEO and paid media work that supports the audit ship plan across quarters.

FAQs About the Med Spa SEO Audit Checklist

How long should a med spa SEO audit take from start to finish?

A med spa SEO audit should take two to three weeks from kickoff to delivery. Week one covers baseline metric capture and competitive analysis. Week two covers the on-site audit work across GBP, treatment pages, reviews, internal linking, and technical hygiene. Week three delivers the written report with prioritized ship list. Audits that stretch past four weeks usually got scoped too broadly and produced 200-item lists instead of prioritized 12-item ship plans. Audits that finish inside a week typically skipped the baseline metric work or the competitive analysis, both of which are load-bearing for the prioritization. The two to three week window is the range that produces work practices actually ship.

What’s the fastest fix on the med spa SEO audit checklist?

Google Business Profile category correction is the fastest fix on any med spa SEO audit checklist. It takes 15 minutes to update, requires no developer involvement, and typically moves map pack impressions inside 30 days. Med spas with the wrong primary category (usually Beauty salon instead of Medical spa) see impression growth of 60 to 140 percent inside two months from this fix alone. The second fastest fix is switching review requests from email to same-day SMS, which takes a few hours to set up and moves review generation from 3 percent of patients to 25 percent inside the first month.

How much should a med spa budget for the audit and the fixes?

The audit itself typically runs $4,500 to $12,000 depending on the med spa’s size and location count. The fixes that come out of the audit vary widely by scope. A single-location med spa working through the twelve priority fixes should budget $12,000 to $28,000 for implementation across a quarter. A multi-location med spa with 5+ locations should budget $28,000 to $65,000 for implementation because location pages, treatment-plus-location pages, and multi-location GBP management multiply the work. These budgets typically pay back inside 90 to 180 days through consult volume growth that translates into treatment revenue growth.

Can we run the med spa SEO audit checklist ourselves without an agency?

Yes, though the audit takes longer and often misses the highest-leverage fixes. Med spa owners who audit their own site typically find the visible issues (missing schema, thin pages, few reviews) and miss the structural issues (wrong GBP category, weak internal linking pattern, missed treatment-plus-location page opportunities). Running the audit internally works best for small single-location med spas with technical capability in-house. Multi-location med spas or med spas without a dedicated marketing lead usually see faster and larger results by engaging an agency for the audit, then owning the implementation internally where the operational context lives.

What if the med spa is in a competitive market like Miami or Los Angeles?

Competitive markets like Miami, Los Angeles, and Dallas require the med spa SEO audit checklist to run at higher intensity across every lever. Review generation cadence needs to hit 30 to 50 new reviews per month instead of 15 to 20. Treatment pages need to run 2,400 to 3,600 words instead of 1,800 to 2,400. Location pages need to exist for each neighborhood, not just each city. The competitive markets punish thin content and reward depth, so med spas in these markets should budget 40 to 60 percent more implementation work than the equivalent med spa in a less competitive market. The specific fixes stay the same. The intensity of each fix scales with market competition.

How often should we re-run the med spa SEO audit checklist?

The med spa SEO audit checklist should re-run every 9 to 12 months at full scope, with quarterly mini-audits on specific surfaces. Full re-audits catch new competitive dynamics, Google algorithm shifts, and treatment mix changes that require content updates. Quarterly mini-audits on GBP, reviews, and treatment page performance catch drift before it costs consult volume. Med spas that treat SEO as a one-time project instead of an ongoing discipline lose ranks to competitors who audit consistently. The 9 to 12 month full re-audit plus quarterly mini-audits pattern keeps the med spa’s search visibility compounding year over year instead of decaying.