Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital to healthcare digital marketing. While Google doesn’t disclose the precise details of its ranking algorithms, they’ve confirmed the significance of certain factors. Before delving into them all, there is one factor we want to highlight:
Content made for people. In August 2022, Google rolled out its helpful content update. The purpose is to emphasize high-quality, relevant content that provides value to the audience rather than clogging the search results with SEO-driven material. Google uses third-party Search Quality Raters to weed out material written solely for SEO. Content writers should ask themselves the following questions:
- Are you using extensive automation, such as AI, to churn out articles?
- Are you writing about topics simply because they’re trending, or will your audience find them relevant?
- Do you have expertise in the content you’re creating?
While paying attention to SEO practices is essential, they should be implemented tastefully. Underhanded techniques like repeating the same keyword repeatedly are a sign of spam for Google’s search engine.
To avoid long-term ranking decline for bad SEO practices, we recommend that your healthcare digital marketing strategy prioritizes creating content that showcases first-hand expertise, targets a specific audience, and adequately addresses the proposed statement or question. Listed below are other relevant factors to consider:
Content Quality. When ranking content, Google considers experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Providing original analysis, using descriptive headlines and page titles, and maintaining good spelling and stylistic standards can improve a website’s rank.
As you’re creating web pages and blogs, here are some questions to guide your content writers:
- Does the content add new insights or perspectives on the topic?
- Is the content targeted to a specific audience, ensuring value to its readers?
- Does the content contain any spelling or grammar mistakes?
Keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that describe your product or service. When someone searches your keywords on Google, your site can appear. Therefore it’s important to choose the words your audience is likely to search for and ensure they are peppered throughout your content to increase the likelihood of appearing in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Google recommends placing keywords strategically in various page elements. These may include:
- Page titles
- Headings
- Meta tags
- URLs
- Throughout the content
Location: Optimizing your website and online presence for local SEO can increase your ranking in a specific area. Use location-specific keywords and optimize your Google Business Profile to improve your local ranking on Google.
Backlinks. A backlink is a link from one website that directs to your website. They play a significant role in establishing the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of the linked website. Backlinks from reputable sources signal to search engines that a website provides valuable content, resulting in higher rankings.
Just remember that not all backlinks hold value. If the reputation of the linking website is negative, it can hurt your SEO.
Technical optimization. Google values user experience, so site usability is an important factor for SEO. Google provides technical performance audits through Lighthouse, which checks for speed (which Google has reported is a ranking factor), response time, properly-sized images, and more. Google tools like PageSpeed can help website owners optimize the technical experience of their website.
Mobile-friendliness is also critical, considering that, on average, 59.6% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices.
Site Navigation. Google has a bot that “crawls” your website, meaning they browse through the website to collect information about each page. They analyze the site’s content, index it, and include the site for relevant search queries. Site navigation is crucial for these bots to understand a website’s content. As such, Google recommends creating a sitemap.
In addition, implementing practices such as organizing navigation in a logical and hierarchical structure, maintaining consistent navigation layouts, and using descriptive links improves user experience.
HTTPS/site security. Google has confirmed that HTTPS encryption and a secure website can improve ranking. HTTPS encryption promotes a safer browsing experience for users. Therefore, Google is more likely to recommend sites that follow this practice. This is especially vital to follow as a medical website, as it helps protect user data and builds trust.
To achieve online success, healthcare practices should prioritize SEO in their healthcare digital marketing strategy. Following best practices based on confirmed Google ranking factors and staying updated with changes in search algorithms can boost your online presence, attract more quality leads, and ultimately help your practice grow.