Healthcare SEO is a booming business. Now that the industry has fully embraced digital marketing, healthcare organizations are also coming to terms with the fact that they have to compete in the search space. Thus, SEO has taken a more prominent place in the healthcare marketing arena.
As an SEO agency and digital marketing firm, Salt Lake City’s Webtek works with local, regional, and national healthcare enterprises to better compete online. They say that strong SEO starts with basic principles like:
- keyword research
- search analytics
- content development.
Webtek goes beyond the basics to further enhance SEO performance via creative marketing campaigns. One example is a campaign that presents patient stories on healthcare websites and social media channels.
Telling Their Stories
Though New York Presbyterian Hospital is not a Webtek client, they certainly are an example of an organization that uses patient stories effectively. Their YouTube channel has 45,000 subscribers. Each one represents an opportunity to hear a patient story directly from the patient him/herself.
Granted, patient stories alone will not increase SEO performance. But they do aid in marketing efforts inasmuch as they speak to a facility’s reputation, capabilities, etc. Patient stories are essentially word-of-mouth marketing from the very people healthcare facility aims to help.
Publishing Brief Videos
An excellent way to present patient stories is through brief testimonial videos. The videos do not have to be special. As long as they clearly show the patient’s face and offer clear, concise audio, they will do the trick. Videos don’t need to be exceptionally long either. Just a minute or two is enough time to make the point.
Videos can be published on sites like YouTube and Vimeo. There, subscribers have direct access to them. Links to the videos can be posted on the facility’s website as well. Doing so links the website to the YouTube channel for better SEO results.
Written Stories
Patient stories represent one case in which text may not be as effective as video. However, written stories do have additional SEO value in that they contain keywords that search engines can analyze. This suggests that healthcare facilities should use written stories as often as they make videos.
Facilities can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by linking to external videos while simultaneously providing a written transcript. Separate patient stories can be presented as text only, similar to how companies populate their site with case studies.
Connecting with Real Life
So, how does any of this help healthcare marketing? According to Webtek, it is all about connecting with real life. An organization can publish all sorts of relevant medical information that patients would find useful. It can publish studies, statistics, and a long list of services it provides. All of that information is both good and necessary.
Patient stories go beyond the facts and figures to reach patients where they are. Imagine a patient dealing with a chronic and debilitating disease. The facts, figures, and studies only go so far. Being able to read or watch videos from patients who have battled the same disease can offer hope.
That hope can help create a stronger connection between patient and facility. Once the connection is made, so are memories. The patient will remember that facility next time he or she goes online to get more information.
Experience Is the Best Marketing Tool
You might be reading this and thinking it has very little to do with SEO. If so, that’s where you would be wrong. ‘Search engine optimization’ is a misnomer in modern online marketing. SEO literally deals with how well a website performs on search engines. That’s it. As important as it is, SEO is not the be-all and end-all of digital marketing. It is just the starting point.
It is one thing to drive traffic to an organization’s website. Legitimate healthcare digital marketing services are designed to go beyond driving traffic. They are designed to engage in such a way as to build trust among patients and consumers alike.
The whole goal is to create a positive experience whenever a person interacts with a facility and its staff members. And as any SEO expert will tell you, experience is the best marketing tool ever. Patients will share their experiences one way or the other. If their experiences are positive, that is what they will pass on to others.
Patient stories are a powerful marketing tool that healthcare facilities can incorporate into their digital marketing strategies. New York Presbyterian Hospital and so many others are already doing it.
