Studies show that over 72% of internet users in the US search for health information online.
The real question is, when they search on Google, why aren’t they finding your website? (1).
Another survey revealed that over 80% of young adults aged 18-49 turn to social media for health information (2).
But how many of these users are engaging with your content?
Or are you stuck with yet another dead article that failed to rank or convert to sales?
Here’s the secret: having a team with expertise in medical SEO can lift that burden off your shoulders.
Not only can they ensure your content ranks well, but they’ll also keep it ethical, accurate, and engaging.
And you don’t have to spend crazy amounts on ads to pop up on search engines.
It all starts with posting genuinely useful content consistently.
Key Takeaways:
- In this article, we will explain medical SEO and how it differs from regular SEO
- Highlight some ways you might be doing it wrong
- Compare various examples
- And give reasons why you need to leverage medical SEO expertise when creating content for your company
Just want us to write your medical content? Contact us and we’ll give you a free first medical SEO consultation.
What is Medical SEO?
SEO is short for search engine optimization. Medical SEO is the practice of organically improving your medical website or healthcare business’s rankings on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing by using medical keywords.
And unless you have a medical background or education, sometimes medical words can be rather confusing, especially when you’re figuring out how to tailor your content for highly niched consumers (i.e. patient vs healthcare provider).
Medicine is written in Latin, after all.
It’s a completely different language that providers spend years learning.
They know very quickly if content has been regurgitated and adeptly side step fluffy writing.
Why Regular SEO Strategies Fall Short in Healthcare
Medical writing has some nuances that regular writing doesn’t.
To effectively implement SEO strategies for your medical website or company, you have to do more than keyword research and keyword stuffing.
Here are some ways regular SEO strategies may fall short in healthcare:
1. Compliance and Regulations
Unlike other industries, medical companies must adhere to strict regulatory standards, such as FDA guidelines and other regulatory bodies like HIPAA, which complicates content creation (3).
They have to be careful about making any bold diagnostic claims, and really need to back up all medical statements with peer-reviewed published literature.
This means not getting information from second-hand sources like Wikipedia and Healthline.
If you’re targeting physicians, for example, and they see mid-level sources, you bet your bottom dollar they’ll move on to another website.
Example
- Content is evidence-based and compliant with regulatory standards (can’t make bold diagnostic claims) while incorporating specific keywords vs. regular articles that tend to be casual and driven by trending keywords.
- Citing peer-reviewed, published literature vs using a second-hand source like mommy blogs.
2. Higher Stakes in Accuracy
Accuracy is essential in medical content.
Like absolutely critical.
I cannot overemphasize this.
Incorrect information can tarnish your reputation, dissuade your audience, and result in catastrophic losses.
Medicine is a highly regulated industry, and medical content on the website needs to be treated with the same level of scrutiny, review, and respect.
And sometimes unless you’re a medical professional, you’re just not going to pick up on small mistakes in content accuracy.
Example
- Optimize content without distorting clinical information to fit keyword phrases vs over-optimized content to fit keyword phrases.
- Mid-level writers sourcing information that is 5+ years old and no longer the standard of care vs having a deep understanding of current medical guidelines, and not using outdated information.
- Posting content without listing the credentials of the writer, or no writer name at all vs listing the name and credentials of the writer AND the medical reviewer.
- IMPORTANT: Nothing is evergreen in medicine. I was taught in medical school that everything you know every 5 years is wrong, and this couldn’t be farther from the truth. This is why it’s so, so important to have several sets of medical eyes review medical content for accuracy.
3. Keyword Research Challenges
How you use keywords is another factor separating SEO techniques in the medical industry from other sectors.
Example
- To reach the right audience, more specific phrases like “robot-assisted surgery device for knee replacement” should be used instead of targeting broad terms like “medical equipment” or “surgical devices.”
But finding these words can be really tricky for an SEO expert if they don’t understand medical terms.
To really parse out the info here, you honestly need someone who is well versed in robotic surgery, otherwise the content produced could be incorrect or confusing, or just not land well with your targeted audience of orthopedic surgeons.
Example
- An SEO person identifies a keyword “seroma,” and suggests that content be written around this word.
- A medical perspective (someone like DKMD Consulting), helps the marketing team realize that patients generally search for seroma, not providers, therefore it isn’t a worthwhile keyword to chase based on their particular marketing campaign.
Not sure if your keywords are being used properly in your B2B or B2C campaign? Contact us and we’re happy to handle your content creation for you.
Comparing a Medical SEO-Optimized Article That Converts vs. One That Doesn’t: A Medical Device Example
The difference between an article that converts and one that doesn’t often comes down to the nuances of medical SEO. Here’s a comparison:
Medical SEO optimized Article on Medical Devices
- Title: Portable Heart Monitors: How They Work, Benefits, and Choosing the Right Device. A clear, keyword-rich title that addresses user intent. In general, Google recommends this be between 30-60 characters, but not at the expense of readability.
- Concise introduction, giving a clear pointer to what the article will be about. It can be filled with technical words that speak to the target audience so long as they are used correctly and not just keyword stuffing.
- The article is organized into clearly defined sections with informative and SEO-optimized subheadings (H1/H2/H3).
- Features and benefits are presented in bullet points to enhance readability.
- On-page SEO targets highly specific, long-tail keywords relevant to both the reader’s intent and the search engine. For example, optimizing keywords like “portable heart monitors for at-home patient care,” which are less competitive but match what the reader needs.
- IMPORTANT: If a reader leaves your article and returns to the search engine because your article didn’t answer their question/query, this will hurt your domain ranking. This is why having genuinely useful medical content is critical.
- Article links to authoritative sources (e.g., peer-reviewed clinical studies, regulatory bodies).
- Meta Description: “Learn how portable heart monitors work, their key features, and how to choose the right device. Expert-reviewed info on heart monitoring for patients”. The meta description should be less than 150 characters.
- Clear CTAs, like “Ready to choose a heart monitor? Schedule a consultation with one of our top specialists to find the right device for your needs.”
- Connects to the bigger picture of the content map with a thoughtful internal linking strategy. The content is interesting, so the patient or medical provider will spend some time clicking through the website.
- IMPORTANT: Dwell time has become a more important metric since the last google update in Aug 2024.
Non-optimized Article on Medical Devices
- A vague title that doesn’t capture what customers search for, for example, “Heart Monitor Device Information.”
- The introduction is long-winded (a big wall of text) and filled with medical jargon with no clear takeaway for the readers.
- It focuses on overly broad keywords like “medical devices” or “heart monitors,” which are too competitive and fail to capture the intent of users who are searching for more niche information on medical devices.
- The article is presented as a single, long block of text with no subheadings or logical structure.
- No meta description or poorly written one like: “Find out about heart monitors.”
- The article ends abruptly without providing readers with a clear action to take next.
- It doesn’t consider the reader journey (content mapping), and each article is almost an isolated event.
Leverage Medical SEO Expertise for your content
If you want to build a health organization or company that can reach and retain the right audience, then creating content with medical expertise is needed. Here are some reasons to leverage medical expertise:
Hands-On Understanding of Medical Terminology
When writing health content, it’s important to be crystal clear. You want to say exactly what you mean, especially when it comes to medical terms.
For example, the effectiveness of a medication differs from its efficacy.
Someone with medical expertise can accurately convey these distinctions and explain them in lay terms to your target audience.
Build Trust and Credibility
It’s not enough for your target customers to find you; they need to want to stay.
To retain potential return customers, you must build trust and credibility.
A single piece of misinformation or exaggeration can significantly damage your reputation.
A medical expert can help ensure your content remains professional and trustworthy while adhering to SEO best practices.
Ranking for Relevance and Authority
Someone with medical SEO expertise can make your company or website stand out as an authority in your field by following Google’s EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines.
A quick rundown of Google’s EEAT requirements:
- Expertise & Experience: Ensures your blog post, case review, or white paper is written and reviewed by healthcare experts, demonstrating a high level of knowledge. This boosts both user trust and search engine rankings.
- Authoritativeness: Obtains backlinks from credible sources such as peer-reviewed medical journals, government health sites, or renowned healthcare organizations like WHO, AHA, or CDC, signaling to Google that your website is a trusted voice in the field.
- Trustworthiness: They ensure your website follows best practices for accuracy and transparency. They can also inform your technical team on security (such as using HTTPS), further enhancing the trustworthiness of your content in the eyes of both users and search engines.
Why DKMD Consulting?
We are a physician-led boutique medical writing firm that specializes in writing highly niched medical content.
Here is what you get for working with us:
- Tailored Content Strategies: We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all SEO approach. We will create a content strategy specific to your target audience. This is based on our lifetime experience in medicine as healthcare professionals.
- Industry-Specific Knowledge: Our vetted writers at DKMD have extensive medical writing and SEO experience in the healthcare industry, including sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare technology.
- Content compliant with regulatory bodies: Our medical writing services offer content that complies with industry standards and regulations while providing informative and trustworthy information to your audience.
- Data-Driven Results: At DKMD, we do not guess if our strategies work. We use in-depth keyword research, competitor analysis, and performance metrics to drive real results.
Just want us to write your medical content? Contact us and we’ll give you a free first medical SEO consultation.
Source:
- Kłak, A., Gawińska, E., Samoliński, B., & Raciborski, F. (2017). Dr. Google as the source of health information: Results of a pilot qualitative study. Polish Annals of Medicine, 24, 10–15.
- US market news. Social Media in Healthcare Statistics 2024 By Data, Insights, Engagement
- US Government Accountability Office: Medical Advertising: Federal Oversight of Device
