Establishing a strong SEO strategy is essential for healthcare brands to generate authority and brand awareness. Discover how to drive new patients to your healthcare website with SEO and establish your brand as the face of your industry.   

With 5% of all online searches healthcare-related, and 77% of patients using search engines before booking appointments, SEO (search engine optimisation) has become an essential component of healthcare marketing.

But ensuring you rank high across SERPs (search engine page results) and outrank your fellow competitors requires your healthcare business to implement a strong SEO strategy.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “search engine optimisation”. It allows consumers and businesses to connect online. This purpose of connecting businesses with consumers via search engines like Google is facilitated by utilising various SEO techniques.  

Essentially, when the brand optimises its online content (website, blogs, articles, etc.) it can rank higher in search results to stand a better chance of being visited by the browser. 

If successful, SEO enables brands to drive organic traffic to their website. Compared to PPC, SEO costs nothing to rank but takes longer to take effect.

SEO has four main components contributing to the optimisation of a website, including:

  • Content
  • Technical SEO
  • On-page SEO
  • Off-page SEO

Each aspect of SEO should complement the next. The stronger the connections, the better the results. From page loading times to keywords within the content, all aspects of user experience (UX) are judged by Google’s super sophisticated web crawlers, determining the value of the webpage/website.

To rank higher across SERPs, companies must apply keywords/phrases relevant to the business and consumer search. Keywords get determined by numerous things, such as products, services, and locations, but typically solve a problem or answer a question relevant to the consumer search.

For example, regarding healthcare, a common search term such as “Healthcare Centre in Birmingham” will apply to all healthcare centres based in Birmingham that have an online presence. It’s in the best interest of these companies to compete for this keyword term search. However, the more competitive the industry, the harder it is for companies to outrank the competition.

All healthcare companies will be bidding for the main keyword searches, so it relies on a comprehensive SEO strategy to find keyword opportunities and establish a high-performing website.

Why is SEO important for your healthcare business?

The healthcare industry continues to grow in the UK at a healthy rate, with the total expenditure up 20% in 2020 from 2019 at an estimated £269 billion.

Most people searching for healthcare treatments now search online beforehand, with 90% of patients relying on online reviews before selecting a healthcare provider.

In a thriving market with such demand for online exposure, SEO is an essential digital marketing strategy for the healthcare industry.

Here are some other factors contributing to the importance of SEO for healthcare:

Raise profits via organic traffic  

The main purpose of brands driving organic traffic to their website with SEO is to generate further business by securing sales for products and services. Depending on your healthcare business model, the same principle applies. Whether that’s securing more appointments or selling healthcare products. 

Regardless of the speciality of your healthcare brand, ranking higher on Google will ensure more patients visit your website. Naturally, this encourages further engagement, new consumers, and brand authority. In 2020, online sales accounted for 10% of consumer healthcare sales, which was a new UK record.

Gain trust through brand awareness

The relationship between healthcare providers and patients relies heavily on trust. With so many people now opting to search online to ensure their treatments are trustworthy, healthcare providers must ensure their website and online content are optimised accordingly to meet the patient’s search requirements. 

SEO can enable healthcare companies to gain authority online with improved brand awareness. If your SEO is optimised to produce a consistent brand message and identity across all on-page and off-page content, revenue can increase as much as 33%.

Increasing brand awareness fosters a culture of trust between your brand and consumer. In the healthcare industry, this is a vital component for your business to thrive and outmanoeuvre your competition.

Target quality leads and link

Optimising your web pages with SEO techniques will encourage higher-quality leads to visit your website. By answering specific queries and solving problems with your content, you’re essentially targeting a certain type of relevant demographic.

Whether they seek information, services, or products, SEO allows your brand to become visible by providing the answers your consumer seeks.

You can also target specific demographics off-site by ‘backlinking’. This places your SEO content onto other relevant online sources such as blogs, encouraging users to find your business off-site.

Standard linking to accredited sources helps enrich your content and generate a greater authority for your online SEO purposes, establishing your brand as a trusted and valuable source to your reader.

How can SEO support your healthcare business in Birmingham?

Your Birmingham-based healthcare business can implement various SEO techniques to increase your chances of success in the West Midlands.

On-site techniques include:

  • Optimising title tags
  • Metadata
  • Site Speed
  • Mobile optimisation
  • Alt tags, headers, and footers

Optimising these features to cement your brand as a Birmingham-based healthcare business will ensure you remain relevant to the area and your profession.

Due to most healthcare procedures requiring treatment from a professional healthcare specialist, SEO is important for Birmingham-based healthcare companies to target their location-targeted demographic. 

Interestingly, 63% of people select their healthcare provider in relation to where they live. For this reason, location plays a crucial role in SEO optimisation within the healthcare industry. 

Birmingham is a central hub for the UK health tech industry, with state-of-the-art developments establishing the West Midlands as a core for life sciences and MedTech worth £1.6 billion to the local economy.

Beyond MedTech, in 2022 the West Midlands was identified as a hotspot for emerging industries and investment locations in Europe. So, as the city thrives under new developments and investments, healthcare brands can prosper in its path if they utilise a proven SEO strategy.

Find an SEO specialist for your Birmingham-based healthcare business

At Amay Digital, we’ve become experts in implementing strategies across all aspects of content, technical, on-site, and off-site SEO for healthcare businesses.

Over the years, we’ve helped our clients generate high-quality leads and organic traffic to their websites, establishing their online awareness and authority as a recognisable and trusted healthcare business.

So, if you’re interested to discover more about how our SEO services can enhance your healthcare business, get in touch today.

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