Mistakes help us grow (even if they come with a brief period of frustration and self-reflection). Even though making mistakes is a part of growing your healthcare brand, it can still be helpful to be aware of common mistakes so that you can become more aware and vigilant as you learn new processes, such as SEO keyword strategies.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of trying to get your site to rank as high as possible on search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. That’s why effective SEO keyword strategies are so essential for your digital marketing efforts.
Read on to learn mistakes that you could make while choosing keywords, and the solutions that can come to your rescue.
Mistake 1: Ignoring user intent
You always want to put yourself in your users’ shoes and think about what they’re trying to gain from searching for a specific keyword. But it can be hard to break out of your own point of view and desire to acquire more patients.
If you don’t consider user intent, and don’t take the time to understand user search behavior, you could be taking the wrong approach to your marketing efforts, such as creating content, because they’re not patient-centric.
The solution is to ask yourself, “What does the user hope to gain by searching for this keyword?” Look at the keywords that are popular for your demographics, and think about how it can be addressed to cater to the user’s needs or concerns.
Mistake 2: Overlooking long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are three words or more. This matters in healthcare marketing because longer keyword phrases tend to reflect more specific patient needs, making it easier to tailor your content to match user intent and improve search relevance.
In healthcare marketing, long-tail keywords can be an effective way to make people feel like no matter how “unique” their concern may feel, you’re there to help, and that other people are experiencing similar challenges.
If someone is experiencing back pain, searching “back pain” is too broad. Are they looking for potential causes? Possible treatments that they can do at home? By focusing on specific long-tail keywords, that may be a question or include particular circumstances, you’re able to address exactly what the potential patient is looking for. This focus, in turn, helps build credibility and boost engagement.
Long-tail healthcare keyword examples include:
- How to protect my knee as a runner
- Reducing neck pain from poor posture
- At-home treatments for elbow tendinitis
Mistake 3: Using irrelevant keywords
Irrelevant keywords often mean that they’re misleading. By using keywords that aren’t relevant to your practice, or using them in a deceptive way that doesn’t match the intent, you’re basically creating content around keywords simply to manipulate the algorithm and gain metrics without caring about the user.
Relevancy is everything when it comes to SEO performance. If you’re not tailoring your content to the keyword, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be deemed as relevant by the algorithm, making it difficult to rank high on the SERP. By making sure that your marketing efforts properly apply to the keyword, you’re increasing the likelihood of click through and reducing the bounce rate.
Mistake 4: Not analyzing competitors
Comparison may be the thief of happiness in your personal life, but not when it comes to your SEO keyword strategy. Competitor comparisons play an integral role in your keyword strategy because you want to see what they’re ranking for that you may want to focus on. You can also see the gaps in their strategy that you can capitalize on, such as a keyword with low volume that won’t have a lot of competition.
Be sure that you’re regularly analyzing your competitor keywords. There are tools that you can use to monitor competitor strategies, including Semrush and Ahrefs.
Mistake 5: Forgetting to update keyword strategy
Monitoring KPIs as you publish digital marketing efforts can give you a greater understanding of how effective your keyword strategy truly is. By keeping an eye on the performance of keyword-centered efforts over time, you can see what’s working and what needs to be adjusted.
By updating your strategy as needed, you can stay on the right track to get the results that you’re looking for. Be sure that you’re regularly keeping up with your keyword rankings, domain authority and keyword relevance. Updating the keyword strategy can include re-optimizing content for more relevant keywords or trying a different content angle that’s personalized for a specific demographic.
Want to attract new patients to your website? BURG+CO. can help
Increasing traffic to your website plays a role in increasing conversions and leading to new patients. However, it’s difficult to attract visitors to your site when you don’t know what to do. Fortunately, this is what we specialize in at BURG+CO.
Our team has years of experience in helping healthcare brands improve their digital presence to attract new patients and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more potential patients to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help.
Contact our team today for more information about our digital marketing services or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
