By Lauren Farabough and Jackson Carter
As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to be realized, telemedicine has become a critical service for many health care organizations. While it is intended to be a convenient option for those looking to interact with providers, this technology is often new to many and therefore perceived as too complex to be viable.
This means providers need to articulate clear and concise messaging about the services they are providing to their clients and prospects during these times. That messaging must also be presented in a way that is accessible and easy to find when searching online. In this blog, we will map out the best practices for SEO relating to telemedicine during this pandemic.
Website Landing Pages
With many clients in different aspects of the health care industry, our team discovered that both providers and patients have adapted to telemedicine and are becoming comfortable with this technology; it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. With this in mind, it is important to update your website and landing pages to make your audience aware of the services you are providing. Address the following on a landing page about telemedicine:
- What services are available virtually and what services require an in-person appointment
- Insurance information, such as which providers are covered or where a patient or prospect can go to for questions about coverage
- Explanation of what technology is needed on the patient’s side. For example, a smartphone, tablet or a computer, and if they will need to download
a program or application - How to make an appointment
Local Listing Optimization
Local listing optimization is a great way to tell users that options like telemedicine are available. In a recent update, Google My Business (GMB) now provides tools for health care providers to list telemedicine as a service offered and include a link to the corresponding page. GMB also provides an area for organizations to provide a link to its COVID response information. This information is easy to access and is one of the ways that individuals interact with an organization, simply because these listings show up without requiring searchers to click to a site.
Content Creation
Content in General
As always, content needs to be created with the queries used by searchers in mind. Right now, these queries are heavily question-based and are driven by an information-seeking intent. With this in mind, content should be focused on answering questions that your users have. Formatting content into very detailed FAQ-like pages is a great way to both provide important information for users and show search engines that you are working to give users the best experience possible.
Titles
Titles also need to be focused on addressing the queries of users. Other than content, titles are one of the most important factors in search performance.
Titles that accurately and concisely convey the type of content on the page are going to be the most helpful in attracting users and improving search
performance. In short, the main point of the page needs to be in the title.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are a snippet of content from the page or a summary that builds on what is communicated in the title. They should be viewed as a short pitch that shows users that the content on the page will answer their questions.
Keyword Targeting
Within all landing pages, listings and content, it is important to make sure that the correct keywords are being utilized. Our experts examined Google Ads and Answer the Public to find keywords that should be considered
for use. Keywords include the generic telemedicine and telehealth keywords (even though there is a difference between the two, Google is grouping them in the same category), as well as broad questions like “can telemedicine be over the phone?”, “can telemedicine diagnose (insert ailment)?” and “is telemedicine covered by insurance?” What does that mean for healthcare organizations? It means the content should both address telemedicine in terms of the basics and then answer questions that you’ve had people ask or that you would anticipate people would ask. Along with the questions and keywords mentioned above, here is a shortlist of more keywords/searches that are currently popular.
- What to expect with telemedicine
- Why use telemedicine
- States where telemedicine is legal
- Can telemedicine be used to prescribe (insert medication)
- Telehealth across state lines
- Telemedicine consultation
- Telehealth pricing
At MHP/Team SI, we have an entire team of SEO, web development and digital marketing experts available to help your clinic transition into this new phase as effectively and efficiently as possible. Contact us today to schedule a consultation by calling (501) 553-9321.
