Content Marketing Must Change with SEO Changes

Candice Claassen

Candice Claassen

Posted on October 29, 2012

The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) for a medical or health care business is to increase that business’s search engine rankings and reach. However, achieving this goal isn’t as easy as it used to be. The era of SEO for SEO purposes only is done. Search engines have evolved with SEO, and are now able to distinguish the real content versus the SEO spam. The internet is changing constantly; what works one day may not work another.<br /> Any SEO expert would agree that content marketing must adapt with SEO rather than sit and wait for results to roll in. However, there are <a href="https://www.medicalwebexperts.com/internetmarketing.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many ways to make SEO content appeal to search engines</a>.<br /> Before getting to what a medical or health business should do, it is good to know what to avoid:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Blogging for SEO: </strong>It is critical that any content produced sounds natural and delivers something valuable to the readers. Even though the goal of SEO is to increase search ranking, if no one is reading and sharing the content, it will go nowhere, fast.</li> <li><strong>Including Too Many Keywords: </strong>Although there is no optimal amount of keywords to include in a post, when writing, it is important to keep in mind that a real person will be reading the article. Too many keywords will turn off any potential patients and give them the impression that the article was written by a robot.</li> <li><strong>Using Awkward Keywords: </strong> Long-tail, awkward keywords will not make sense to readers, and they will begin to avoid this content. Yes, the Google search bar is in the minds of many SEO marketers, and long, erroneous phrases are generally used in online searchers, but they are also obviously leads to SEO spam.</li> </ol> <p>Enough with the don&#8217;ts, here is what should be done:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Write for the Patients: </strong>For the best content marketing, delivering something of value to the target audience is just as important as SEO. It doesn&#8217;t matter how great content is; if it doesn&#8217;t appeal to the target audience, it won&#8217;t go anywhere. The better the content, the better the return on investment (ROI). In addition, misspelled words and grammatical errors can damage search engine rankings, because bad writing can leave a bad impression on potential patients.</li> <li><strong>Post Constantly:</strong> Many search engines use programs to visit websites; the programs are assigned a list of URLs to visit, and when they find new content, the pages are forwarded to the search engine for indexing. Posting frequently can help search engine ranking, because more frequent posting will lead to the more consistently that these programs will visit the page and update ranks.</li> <li><strong>Research the Keywords: </strong>Many businesses will not get a high ROI if they use 1) competitive keywords (like “cancer”) and 2) awkward phrases. These days, there are several keyword graders available for a business to use. Any medical or health care business can examine the search volume and competition of specific keywords to help determine how the target audience will get to their page through the search bar.</li> </ol> <p>The success of content marketing has backed away from keyword stuffing and buying links, and is more focused on authentic, original material that can provide the reader, or potential patient, something of value. Search engines, including Google, are constantly updating their search engine algorithm. What works today will not work tomorrow, so it is best for companies to stay relevant and informed on the best SEO practices.</p>


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