Content

This section includes all of the elements you must include within the content. Remember, you have to do every single one.

3. Valuable content: Write comprehensive pieces of content that focus on 1 topic related to your 1-2 selected keywords and at a length of about 400-1200 words. Make sure you write for humans and not robots—and don’t rely too heavily on AI tools to write your content for you. It’s technically against Google’s policy and will likely impact your rankings. And, of course, don’t forget to include your medical marketing SEO CTA, otherwise what’s the point?
4. Keyword frequency: It’s not an exact science, but you’ll want 2-3 repetitions of your primary and secondary keywords within 500 words and a max of 8 within 1,000 words. In addition, you’ll want to toss in a few non-exact matches throughout the content as well.
5. Keyword proximity: While you’re reviewing keyword repetition, double-check that your keywords also appear within headings, at the beginning of paragraphs, and at the beginning of sentences.
6. Formatting: Humans like to skim, which is essentially what Google does when it indexes a page. Find ways to format your content to make it skimmable, and help your keywords pop with devices like pull quotes, bold font, and bulleted lists.
7. Page titles: Within the HTML make sure to write a custom page title that includes primary and secondary keywords separated by a vertical bar ( | ) or colon ( : ) and is a maximum of 60 characters.
8. Meta descriptions: Don’t let your blog platform automatically scrape for a meta description—they usually just pull from the first few words of your post. Instead write a custom description that’s 130-150 characters, placing your primary keyword at the beginning and your secondary keyword near the middle.

Technical Elements

This section describes the key technical elements of content and how to set up or check the HTML to ensure you’re making it as easy as possible for Google to index and rank your content.

9. Meta keywords: The meta keywords field should match the page title for consistency—and yes, Google checks. Simply copy and paste the page title into the meta keywords field in the HTML.
10. URL slug: During indexing, Google also checks for keyword placement in the URL. We recommend making it simple and using just your primary keyword (not the entire article title) as the slug of your URL.
11. Page headline: Place the main headline of the page in the H1 tag in the HTML.
12. Image file names: Optimize file names using your primary keyword and a descriptor to distinguish between images instead of simply leaving the default name.
13. ALT text for images: Copy and paste the page title into the ALT field for each image.
14. Hyperlink and anchor text links: When appropriate, include your keyword in the anchor text for links leading to other blogs or pages on your website.

SEO Is Just One Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Medical marketing SEO is just one part of a larger marketing strategy. We recommend combining SEO with paid campaigns, mid-funnel nurture, and direct calls to action to drive your lead generation efforts. Understanding who you should target in healthcare—let alone how to reach them—can be a challenge, especially as the industry rapidly moves away from traditional pharma tactics. However, partnering with an expert who understands the market space can propel you ahead of the competition.