A renewed interest in Healthcare marketing production brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has digital marketers scrambling to give their clients an edge over the competition. Those of us in the SEO industry notice it most frequently in terms of content. Tons of new content is hitting the web every day with the goal of grabbing the attentions of coronavirus-weary consumers.
Corona related content will absolutely give healthcare sites a temporary boost. Why? Because coronavirus is one of the hottest topics being searched right now. Related content that offers relevant information is going to do well. But know this: it is not going to last forever. At some point, the coronavirus pandemic will be a thing of the past.
This suggests that SEO providers who claim to specialize in healthcare SEO need to think more long-term. They need to devise their content to go beyond specific topics to reach a more personal connection with consumers. This is not to say that coronavirus – or any other topic – should be avoided, but rather that there is something more important than the topic itself.
According to Salt Lake City-based WebTek Interactive, that something is the journey. In other words, it is the entire experience a visitor has on a website – from the moment of first landing to the last thing done before leaving. Content plays a big role in the user journey.
There are three big things that influence user journey. They make for genuinely great healthcare content that gets long-term results:
1. Value Proposition
‘Value proposition‘ is a fancy business term that describes whatever it is of value that your organization offers customers. In the healthcare setting, value proposition goes beyond helping patients feel better. There must be something about your organization that makes it different. Whatever that difference might be is at the core of your value proposition.
With that in mind, all of your content should be created to reflect your value proposition in some way. For example, if one component of your value proposition (and there can be multiple components) is to provide a relaxing and comfortable environment in which to receive healthcare services, use your content to discuss things relevant to that goal. Use your content to transform your value proposition from words on a mission statement to concepts your customers understand.
2. Individualized Focus
Healthcare delivery is unique in that it is incredibly personal to each and every patient. Every healthcare service affects the recipient in a way that nothing else will. In light of that, great healthcare content presents an individualized focus.
Consider a rheumatology clinic that specializes in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia. You could create content that addresses these three conditions from a purely medical standpoint. You could throw in plenty of science along with numerous studies. Even with completely factual content, you could fail to make a connection with visitors.
On the other hand, create content that speaks to visitors where they are, and you will gain their trust and loyalty. Create content that talks about symptoms and how to address them. Create content that gives patients resources they can tap into. The point is to make every patient feel like an individual your organization cares for deeply.
3. Outcome Directed
The third and final thing that makes for truly great healthcare content goes back to the discussion of journey. Ultimately, your goal is that website visitors eventually avail themselves of your services. In technical terms, we call this conversion. Conversion is the end of the journey for each visit. It is also the launching point for a future journey.
To get to conversion, visitors have to be led through the journey with purpose. Thus, your content should be outcome directed. In other words, multiple pieces of content work together to lead the patient through the journey and to the desired outcome.
Again, go back to the previously proposed rheumatology clinic. The clinic could produce a series of informational articles speaking about rheumatoid arthritis. The articles could be presented as a single piece of content broken down into multiple pages and chapters, or as a series of posts published over a certain amount of time.
The goal is to encourage visitors to read through that content along a journey that eventually invites them to contact your clinic to make an appointment.
Value proposition, individualized focus, and outcome direction are key to content creation. For purposes of time and space, they have been simplified in this post. Needless to say, there are nuances in all three. Get them right and you will create genuinely great healthcare content that delivers results.
