Which Strategy Is a Better Option for Your Healthcare Business: SEO or PPC?

1. Which Strategy Is a Better Option for Your Healthcare Business: SEO or PPC? SEO and PPC are both relevant strategies when it comes to healthcare digital marketing. You need to implement these in the right proportion. A solid healthcare digital marketing strategy involves several components that work to provide better visibility on search engines and also attracts potential patients to the website. SEO and PPC are two techniques that help you get on the front page of search engines for your targeted audience. However, each has its respective benefits and costs. An integrated approach may be required to exploit the full potential of these techniques. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEO is a complex process that contributes to a high-quality web page i.e. your website content has been specifically created with the intent of attracting new users to your website and persuading users to return. SEO is not paid advertising, it uses customized content and website components designed to be compatible with the complex algorithm that search engines use when determining which sites to index at the top of search results. Websites listed higher have more chance to be clicked on. SEO factors may

2. be related to page content – the amount of text on the page, relevance of content to what users searched for, page-loading speed on different devices, HTML tags and so on. It generates a natural and organic flow of traffic as your website’s online reputation improves. Factors not related to the page content include the overall authority of the content author, or the number and quality of backlinks to the page. Pay Per Click (PPC) Pay per click refers to cost-based online advertising that generates highly targeted traffic to your website. You have to pay a fee when someone clicks through to your website. This is also known as Search Engine Marketing or Paid Search. Google AdWords is the primary provider of paid search advertising. With Google AdWords, a physician can choose to display ads specifically to local people who are searching for local health professionals. When the ad runs you can refine your content, keywords and where your listing is displayed until you narrow its parameters into a high-performance ad. This strategy could be expensive, especially when visitors do not convert. For medical marketers, PPC costs a full $0.85 higher than the average across all industries, and the click-through rate (CTR) is about 0.12% lower.

3. PPC is highly relevant because it has been proven to improve website traffic. Since the paid ads appear at the top of search engine results, it helps promote your brand even if the users don’t click through to your site. PPC also helps plan strategic patient or HCP targeting on the basis of device type, time, day, and location. Benefits of an Integrated Approach Many healthcare digital marketers have the question, “Which is better for my medical practice, SEO or PPC?” The answer to this question is simple- a multifaceted approach. Your model should have a strong organic foundation and then you can supplement it with pay per click PPC campaign to increase exposure and conversion. For a website to be successful, it needs key elements like implementation of general SEO best practices, and a user-friendly and technically sound website. Studies in the field have shown that organic search is responsible for about 64 percent of all website traffic and paid traffic generates only 6 percent. But paid traffic includes qualified visitors that are more likely to convert. Though paid advertising helps your business to achieve your goals, you should never ignore the volume difference between organic and paid search in terms of traffic. In PPC advertising specifically, a brand’s website is what is being advertised. So, the website must be effective in its goals for it to succeed in both organic and paid approaches. Your paid campaigns could be cheaper if you promote organic content because search engine algorithms recognize relevant and popular URLs as more valuable and lower your bidding price accordingly. Another way to reduce PPC costs is by converting some PPC keywords to organic content. PPC and SEO work well together – the former ensures the right messaging and landing experience to potential customers, and the latter ensures additional brand credibility and also complement your PPC efforts. The combined approach provides you data that can be used to plan your marketing efforts with both PPC and SEO. With information regarding where your high-quality organic traffic comes from, you will know where to focus your ad spend. Similarly, when you know the keywords that drive maximum engagement on your advertisements, you get an idea of the types of content that your organic users want to read. Search marketing includes both SEO and PPC from discovery to research and all the way down to sales and conversion. They work together well, but experts advise to implement powerful SEO improvements before moving to PPC-based approach. A well-planned and calculated balance of organic SEO and paid search will let you have the best solution for your medical business. If you have a limited budget, and need to decide on one of the two approaches, then consider factors such as current status of your website, its level of organic visibility, goals of your brand, where the majority of your site’s traffic comes from, and how your brand, service or product fit into the customer’s buying journey. A reliable digital marketing company would stay abreast of and implement the latest SEO trends and provide the right PPC ad content to ensure that your website ranks high in all leading search engines and improve traffic and conversions. (631) 494-3324