Why Does SEO and SEM Matter
The internet is the most powerful tool of our time, and when used properly, it can work wonders for your healthcare brand. This is why understanding SEO and SEM is so vital to the ever-changing landscape of healthcare marketing. If you have never heard of SEO or SEM or if you’re unsure how to use them, worry not, NewGen is here to help! This guide will give you a foundational understanding of SEO and SEM. As well as how to use them to the max for your healthcare practice.
NewGen is an expert in SEO and SEM engineering. We understand healthcare industries thoroughly, and we use expert tools such as SEMrush and web analytics to craft the ideal web pages, web content, and social posts all to promote website growth, higher rankings within search engines, and more business traffic. We can help your brand reach new leads and a wider audience by using these tools. If you have any questions feel free to contact us!
What is SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is essentially a marketing strategy that involves improving your website. These improvements help your brand’s exposure, and website visibility, and gain credible leads through search engines.
These are all very important in the healthcare space as healthcare is becoming a much more competitive field with so many brands vying for attention to the healthcare services they offer. Not only that, but the way healthcare has changed in recent years has forced this concept into a necessary practice for your healthcare brand. We live in a world where everything can be done digitally.
SEO can expand the audience you reach and ranking high on search engines makes it more likely for new leads to find your brand. For the most part, the entire healthcare experience can now be done online, from scheduling appointments to online doctor consultations, in fact, about one-third of patients now see their doctor virtually according to WebMD.
How You Can Improve Your SEO Strategy
This means optimizing your website is now more important than ever. Using SEO has become a necessity for growing your healthcare brand. SEO can be difficult to manage but it is the backbone of an effective website. When thinking of an effective SEO strategy consider the following:
- Quality Content: Having great quality content sends a message to search engines that your healthcare brand offers legitimate services. Part of the way they assess you is via link building and keywords. Quality content can range from engaging, helpful medical blogs to eye-catching social media posts that show off your healthcare brand and what you are capable of.
- User Experience: It is crucial that your website is easy to manage. This is especially true for healthcare brands. There is so much information that healthcare covers so having an easy-to-navigate website is vital to a successful SEO strategy.
- Link Patterns: Often overlooked but having internal and external links is another important aspect of effective SEO. When employing external links make sure your sources are credible and up to date.
These are just a few concepts of an effective SEO strategy. In reality, there is so much SEO that can be complex and difficult to keep up with. At NewGen, we have closely worked with healthcare brands that offer orthopaedic care, spine care, dental corporations, and many more. We can handle all your SEO needs, making your website the best it can be while also maintaining your brand’s values and focus.
What is SEM
SEM, or search engine marketing, is the usage of paid ads to appear in top search engine results. It is a strategy used to gain visibility for your brand’s website, which in turn promotes brand growth. You may be wondering why SEM is so important. The reason is in part due to the increasing number of people researching products, services, and brands online. In fact, a search engine query is the most common method of finding a new website in our day and age. It has become a crucial tool for any brand to consider, not just healthcare.
When it comes to SEM, advertisers are essentially only paying for impressions that result in visitors, making the concept an efficient marketing strategy. On top of that, every new visit helps improve the website’s rankings in organic searches. SEM as a marketing strategy is arguably the fastest way to drive traffic to a website.
What is The Difference
SEO is sometimes used as an umbrella term that includes SEM, but because SEM refers strictly to paid advertising, they are actually separate. SEM is about getting traffic via paid ads, and SEO is more about naturally acquiring, monitoring, and analyzing organic (unpaid) traffic patterns.
Both concepts are used for the same reason – to increase your brand’s reach. The difference lies in the method. SEO optimization is known for promoting organic growth. Having an effective SEO strategy leads to your brand ranking well in search results meaning you have the most relevant content for a given keyword search. Meanwhile, SEM is paid marketing. It uses paid ads that lead to growth and higher ranking for specific search results. However, understanding and using both are key to growing your brand as they cover organic growth and paid growth. Using both is vital to maximizing your brand’s reach.
How to Use Them
Both these strategies of marketing can be used for ad campaigns which are a series of advertisements that focus on a single service or product your brand may offer. This can include a new medical technology your brand employs, a new form of treatment, or a new facility. Whatever the focus may be, make sure the content is geared toward showcasing said new service. Make sure the content also maintains your healthcare brand’s values, aesthetics, and overall look. This focused set of content can help promote growth both organically and through paid ads, while also promoting said new service.
Another important aspect of both SEO and SEM would be keywords. In simpler terms, a keyword is a word that can be associated with your brand’s content. This word normally needs to rank well during an engine search. Understanding and effectively using keywords can achieve higher click-through rates, lower costs-per-click, and generally stronger overall performance of your content online.
How Do SEO and SEM Work Together
Although both are interconnected concepts, having an SEO-friendly website is absolutely necessary when employing SEM strategies. You can’t have one without the other but SEO needs to come first. It’ll not be nearly as effective as it should be. Both strategies rely heavily on keywords as they drive traffic to your website.
When someone searches for something they will either find it organically through SEO or through ads with SEM. Both are powerful tools on their own but having both is even more effective as they build off one another.
Consider the following search term: virtual appointments. This term’s relevancy is due to the new age of healthcare that Covid-19 ushered in that healthcare brands have had to adapt to. When searching this term, what first pops up is a series of ads. This is SEM in action. After the series of ads, you’ll find normal websites, these websites rank high and well due to an effective SEO strategy.
NewGen Can Help!
SEO and SEM can be very complex concepts to grasp and take advantage of but it is necessary for your brand’s growth and reach. NewGen can help you with all your SEO and SEM needs as well as other healthcare marketing help. Feel free to contact us. We can help your brand’s growth, reach, and so much more!