Search engine optimization is one of the most effective inbound marketing tactics you can employ as a healthcare manufacturer. SEO optimizes your company website so that it ranks higher in search engines like Google, driving organic, unpaid traffic to your primary sales portal.
This allows your target audience to find you naturally on the internet based on their interests. Instead of blindly trying to target potential leads, you will have potential leads coming to you. These leads will already have an expressed interest in your market area, making them more likely to convert.
Done right, SEO can drive conversion rates of 14.6%. Consider that traditional media advertisement has a conversion rate of 1.7% to put that into context. Given those statistics, it’s no wonder that more companies are investing in SEO.
That said, SEO marketing for healthcare sales requires a unique approach compared to other industries. This guide explains the complexities of SEO in healthcare and provides step-by-step guidance to help you improve your search engine page rankings.
How the “Your Money or Your Life” Principal Impacts SEO in Healthcare
Google, the primary gatekeepers of SEO rankings results, is incredibly strict regarding so-called “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) sites.
YMYL content is information that could impact an individual’s health, safety, emotional well-being, or financial stability if it’s presented untruthfully, incorrectly, or deceptively. Examples of YMYL content include medical and financial advice.
Smart manufacturers must present their products objectively and ensure any medically relevant information is clear and factual.
A Quick Guide to Healthcare SEO
When someone types a phrase into Google – say “hearing aid manufacturer” – they get many search results pages. Being at the top of that first page of results boosts your website’s visibility dramatically. Research reveals that the first position in the SERPs achieves an average click-through rate of 28.5%. The CTR drops to 15% for the second search result and continues to decrease, with the search result in the tenth position achieving a CTR of just 2.5%.
Here’s how to increase your odds of climbing the SERPs.
Ensure Your Content Meets the E-A-T Principle
High-quality, value-added content is critical to successful SEO, especially in the YMYL category. Your content should meet Google’s E-A-T guidelines, demonstrating expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
You can boost your EAT score by citing high-quality sources, for example. Always provide data for any assertions you make, ideally with citations to reputable “.gov” or “.edu” sources. Medical journals are also a great source.
Make Your Website Technically SEO-Friendly
Your content further needs to be optimized for SEO. This is a way of structuring your on-page content so that Google’s algorithm-driven bots can “crawl” through it, figure out what it’s about, and confirm its relevance and value for internet users.
Here’s a quick on-page SEO checklist to get you started. For each page on your website, you should:
- Select one primary keyword to include in the content.
- Choose three to four secondary keywords to include in the content.
- Add the primary keyword in the webpage’s title tag, meta description, and H1 header.
- Break up content into scannable chunks with H2 and H3 headers.
- Include at least one image.
If you want to know more about technical SEO, Google offers a wealth of resources.
Tap into the Power of High-Value Backlinks
Google recognizes a website as trustworthy and providing valuable content to consumers via backlinks – when other websites link back to your website. Getting high-quality backlinks from high-ranking, authoritative sources is a great way to improve SEO results.
Getting backlinks from respected healthcare publications is one option. You can further drive valuable clicks by publishing your blogs, whitepapers, and more on platforms like LinkedIn or Medium.
Infographics are another great trick for generating high-quality backlinks. An attractive visual with relevant, industry-specific facts or statistics is share-worthy. Create your graphic, email it to thought leaders in your field, and invite them to share it. They should include a backlink when they publish it.
Don’t Forget to Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Google ranks mobile-friendly websites higher. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, both technically and in terms of content structure. For example, since mobile screens are smaller, it’s best to use larger fonts.
To get you started, Google has a free tool that can tell if your website is mobile-friendly. It even gives you hints on how to improve, for example, by telling you if the text is too small to read or the links are spaced too closely together.
Boost Your SEO Today
Share Moving Media is dedicated to helping medical manufacturers boost sales and increase market share. From blogs to white papers, our value-added content marketing in healthcare can help you climb the SERPs.
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