Off-Page SEO for Healthcare Providers: What's Your Strategy?

Many businesses with a website have been investing in SEO consulting to connect with prospects seeking contactless purchasing of food, clothing, household goods, and more. But healthcare? Wait! Healthcare? Yes. Healthcare.

Few hospitals, almost none of the ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and nearly none of the medical groups and ancillary providers have a director of business development who oversees marketing, advertising, social media, website design and management, public relations or event marketing.

If you do it, you'll be the rockstar"!

That translates to "if you do it [effectively], you'll be the rockstar"! Why? Because if found, you'll benefit from 100% share of voice (SOV). Nobody else is making much commotion out there.

But when it comes to off-page marketing and promotional strategies to get your practice or your facility or brand noticed and recognized as "the" authority on whatever it is you do, an online strategy is important -- assuming that's how people find you. In healthcare, the linkages to the market are, in my opinion largely word of mouth from friends, families and nurses and other physicians. So in every instance of online marketing, your content is king and success depends on sharable, high-quality and well-written content that can be reshared by others. 

You may attract those people who want to trade or exchange links, but you may not want their names on your site. And organic links are tough in healthcare because of the liability for negligent referral among other problems.

On-page vs Off-page SEO

There are many "hammer" digital marketing firms out there talking up on-page and off-page SEO links. They are all looking for nails. None of my client physicians or facilities are nails. They are superior healthcare facilities and surgeons who are worthy of better and more effective consideration. I believe SEO may not be right for them in all instances.

Back in May, 2020 I authored an article, titled, SEO: Three Powerful Letters. In that article, I shared information about writing healthcare marketing and advertising content and applying SEO treatments to it. SEO must be learned or hired and applied or your pretty, modern website won't attract new patients, so I shared a few practical pointers you'll need if you've never studied SEO and learned why it is important. But SEO takes time to learn, and time for the practical learning curve in order to be consistently effective with it. No one just "knows" how to maximize their content for SEO success. Don't beat yourself up over this. It's all fixable.

In August 2020, I authored Navigating the New Demands of Post-pandemic Healthcare Using SEO, and I shared a second lesson about how #digitalmarketing IS DIFFERENT for healthcare advertisers and marketers, I've decided to focus on how to adapt and move forward. Amid the distractions of remote work, economic uncertainty, and the tenuous fragility of the headlines, the news cycle, the impending presidential election in the USA, healthcare keeps on "operating" as an essential service.

For an off page SEO strategy, you may ponder about if there even is such a thing. Perhaps the term is good old "marketing" and "advertising strategy?" and that there's nothing really tied to SEO other than press releases and event announcements. And for healthcare, where t the largest growing segment is the Medicare population that may not be internet or smartphone savvy, does SEO really come into the mix?

Got questions?

Ask them in comments and I will do my best to get to them as quickly as I can. Or drop me a line at #AskMariaTodd | or call 800-727 4160 and give those five secretaries of mine something to do, will ya? It's job security for them!