If you’re looking for a way to stay up to date with current SEO trends to optimize your healthcare marketing strategy for 2023, you’re in the right place. The tips you’re about to learn will help you rank high in Google search results so you can maintain a steady pipeline of new clientele via the internet.
What’s Changed with SEO?
One strategy that Google has implemented in recent years to boost User Experience (UX) is Zero-Click Search. This occurs when Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) yield snippets of concise information that satisfy user queries. With Zero-Click Search, there’s no need to click on an adjoining link for further information.
The downside is that web surfers have less incentive to click on your website link, even when you land a spot in SERPs. So how do you get and keep high SEO rankings for your healthcare website in 2023, despite this new feature? You’ll need to master content creation so that your important information can be easily extracted by Google for Zero-Click search results.
Jump Into the New and Improved SERPs
The following types of data have become popular features of SERPs. Each one provides an opportunity to develop concise snippets in your content that Google can use to answer queries:
· Knowledge Graph: fact snippets in an information box
· Image Pack: photos of people, places, and things related to a search
· Product Pack: ads for local products relevant to a search
· Local Map Pack: Several business listings are included in an information box below Google Maps results, which could be a real boon to your clinic’s local SEO
Keep YMYL in Mind
The experts at Google are always looking for new, efficient ways to impose higher standards of quality. They want to prevent harmful and inaccurate information from easily getting into the hands of consumers. This is especially true for professionals whose work significantly impacts people’s lives.
Because of the relatively new YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) standards, content created by medical professionals is under the microscope more often. If your content consistently meets consumer needs with accurate health news and information, it can result in higher healthcare SEO rankings. If it falls short, or if any of your content is interpreted as spammy or harmful to users, your rankings will plummet.
Win Over Website Visitors with UX
You may excel at attracting web users to click on your website link, but you’ll want to keep them there with a good User Experience. Engage them with quality content, and use your understanding of trends in healthcare SEO to optimize your website for speed and accessibility.
Make a habit of doing these things:
· Audit your website every few months and fix glitches immediately.
· Make sure your marketing and web development teams are in regular communication.
· Use well-placed CTAs on the pages where they’re most relevant, instead of using pop-ups.
· Upgrade your plug-ins or get rid of them altogether, if possible, to improve page loading speed.
· Update all your software.
Use HIPAA as a Guide
When you request user information on your website, Google and YMYL will be watching. HIPAA compliance means that you already have a methodology in place for safely handling your clients’ protected health information.
Don’t ask for nonessential personal information that is not needed in their care plan. Work closely with your web developer to ensure that any elements on your site that collect information are not spammy in nature.
Develop Overall Key Topics
If finding effective keywords has always been a challenge, now you have an even bigger fish to fry. Lacing your articles and posts with keywords is no longer enough to get Google’s attention. Now, Google is looking for collections of information throughout your site that fit into overall key topics
Luckily, mastering this new SEO trend could help streamline your overall content development strategy. Key topics give the algorithm the impression that your content is thoughtful, and that you’ve put the time into creating a consistent story across several articles, and even across your whole website.
When putting your topics and content together, think about:
· The users’ biggest needs or desires
· Ways your clinic can provide what’s needed or wanted
· The quickest way to get needed information, products, or services to the user
· Ways for the user to find your information
You’ll Still Win with Content that Shines
Despite the shifting sands of SEO trends in healthcare, customer service is still the foundation of any successful business. If you deliver quality content and make it as easy as possible for clients and prospects to find it, you’ll get and keep more of their attention, right up until you meet them in person.
Image Credits: Image by Campaign Creators on Unsplash