SEO or search engine optimisation is what every business needs to improve its online visibility. SEO is important for all sized companies and brands, but what exactly is the value that SEO can provide and why is it important for long term growth?
To best understand what SEO can do for your business, we take a closer look at what SEO entails and the reasons it is one of the best marketing investments you can make.
SEO consist of multiple facets or strategies. To understand its value, you need to understand how it works and what it does for businesses in any niche or industry.
SEO works to increase the online visibility of a website, drive organic traffic to a website, and ultimately convert traffic into sales.
SEO has proven its weight in gold as a leading online marketing strategy. It helps businesses create connections with customers through relevant keywords with high purchase intent. Businesses can rely on SEO techniques to build credibility and be viewed as an authority and therefore build a strong brand within their market.
- Become a voice of expertise for your healthcare niche. Search engines are becoming more stringent on expert voices especially in fields that require expertise and trust.
- Content is king, but video content is better for the healthcare sector as it helps to instil confidence in your services.
-
SEO can take a while to build momentum, so its important that your healthcare brand focuses on other marketing channels to compliment it.
The Role of PPC in assisting SEO
Along with SEO, many businesses across different fields incorporate PPC or Pay Per Click advertising. Each time an advertiser’s post or ad is clicked by a visitor, they get paid. While PPC is independent of SEO, it is often used alongside SEO to increase web traffic instantly. One of the most competitive areas of PPC is the healthcare sector, and bidding costs for healthcare related terms will be expensive compared to other industries. This is why building a long term SEO strategy is important to reduce costs.
Why is PPC Expensive for Competitive Terms within the Healthcare Sector?
PPC advertising for the healthcare sector is expensive due to competition. Because we are dealing with high value clients, businesses are willing to pay that little bit extra per click in exchange for more business.
Search terms for hospitals or clinics are highly competitive. This makes it increasingly difficult to rank organically especially when competing against healthcare services in the same region.
However there are ways to rank organically for high value keywords. Local SEO is a marketing strategy every healthcare business needs to focus on.
The Importance of Local SEO and Why Conversions are Higher for Local Traffic
Local SEO is important because it helps customers find your products, services within their local area. Local SEO is defined as the online processes used to attract local and relevant customers to your business. It focuses on sales conversions and increasing your customer base. Local SEO is a great optimisation strategy for small or local businesses because most people do not want to travel far for those services. Therefore, conversion rates are typically higher for local searches.
What Other Channels are Important in Assisting an SEO Strategy?
SEO is a great way to get your website to rank organically but it can take some time before you see results. Writing blogs and creating content are among the best ways to support an SEO campaign; however, there are other channels, such as social media, that can really give SEO a boost.
LinkedIn
Building relationships with other professionals in your field is a great way to build trust and expertise. Consider podcasts as a way to build your personal image online.
Instagram and Facebook
Instagram and Facebook are widely used social media platforms and should be incorporated into your SEO campaign. Facebook encourages sharing through media, comments, and stories to drive more traffic to your pages.
Although Instagram is primarily visual, Instagram offers the power of the hashtag! Whether online visitors are looking for fitness or healthcare, the right choice of hashtags that are added to an Instagram post can be detected in the major search engines including those looking for related information. Using Instagram as part of a marketing strategy should not be underestimated, especially if your target audience is a younger demographic.
Youtube
Because online users want information they can access quickly and easily, video content is becoming a popular part of online marketing and SEO. High quality videos and the duration visitors spend watching these videos are ranked in the search engines. The longer someone watches your content with links to social media and your website, the greater the boost in your SEO strategy. Furthermore, YouTube videos can be incorporated into your content strategy, and should be used to help others understand your products and services better.
Email Marketing
The success of your SEO strategy is relative to your brand visibility. A strong brand will naturally rank higher in the search engines. Email marketing can be used for various reasons from promotions to helpful guides. But most importantly, it keeps your target audience engaged with your brand and when used correctly, will generate repeat business for your brand.
