Stay Connected with CATMEDIA: For more information, please visit CATMEDIA.com Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter With millions of healthcare websites cluttering the Internet, it may seem completely impossible to gain the attention of leaders in the healthcare industry or anyone for that matter. Additionally, strict regulations dictate what content you can and cannot promote online. Nonetheless, having a strong web presence is greatly beneficial to the healthcare industry. Increasing organic traffic to a healthcare organization’s site isn’t as difficult as it may seem, but it does take knowledge of how search engines actually work. Lessons learned about increasing website traffic from healthcare organizations can be applied to other industries as well.

What does it mean to increase organic traffic?

While  search engine optimization (SEO) specialists understand the importance of web traffic and organic searches, some marketers may not fully understand the benefits of growing organic traffic. According to HitTail,^[1] organic traffic can be defined as “free traffic originating from search engines such as Google. It’s the best traffic to receive because it means your website is actually being visited by people interested in your product or service.” This means, in short, that with organic web traffic, there is no need for your organization to pay to increase your website ranking. This organic traffic simply refers to real people which are interested in your content. For example, for healthcare marketers these “real people” include business people in allied health fields or consumers interested in healthcare providers. So now that we have a clear understanding of the topic, here are a few helpful tips that may increase organic web traffic to your site.

1. KEEP YOUR AUDIENCE INTERESTED

Having interesting content on your website is vital to keeping organic traffic flowing to your site. This means you must understand your target audience and what they are interested in. To gain this understanding you can study the most searched topics in your industry. In addition to creating content of interest to your audience, you will want to encourage engagement with your audience as much as possible by asking questions or asking for input on a topic. By engaging with your audience you start a conversation and begin to establish your organization as an expert in your field and someone the reader can trust. Trust is especially important in the healthcare industry. When you take the time to develop quality content you build trust and help ensure your target audience spends more time on your website, and eventually reaches out for more information or service.

2. BE CONSISTENT

Consistency is key. Posting great content on a regular basis helps healthcare firms build trust with healthcare industry leaders and other members of their target audience resulting in visitors viewing the website as a reliable source for new information which they are happy to refer to others. Try to post content on some sort of schedule. People like seeing fresh content on a regular basis. Posting consistently will greatly increase your website ranking. One way of doing this is to find out when your target audience uses the Internet most often. Posting during these times can increase web traffic to your site. Another way to keep to a schedule is to post new content at least one or two times a week on the same days at the most popular times for your target audience. This creates a sense of stability and consistency that will help increase organic traffic to your website.

3. LEARN ABOUT SEO

Learning about Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is possibly one of the most important tips I can give you in regard to increasing your website ranking. SEO is a good way to help search engines figure out what your website is about and how it may be useful for web surfers. Including key words and phrases can help your target audience find your content as it relates to their search, which leads me to my next tip.

4. UTILIZE LONG-TAIL KEY PHRASES

Using smaller phrases can hinder your SEO as many other websites might be using the same ones. Creating more organic traffic to your website can be achieved easier if you separate your site from the masses. If you use longer phrases for SEO, you can differentiate your organization and increase website traffic.

5. DON’T FORGET ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

Using social media as a tool is imperative when trying to increase organic traffic to your site. Use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter or any other accounts you have to post links to your web content. Again, you will want to learn what social media channels your target audience uses. A durable medical equipment manufacturer may use LinkedIn and Twitter to reach their target audience of healthcare procurement professionals. A large clinic practice may primarily use Facebook to reach out to consumers wanting to know more about healthcare providers. The use of social media channels will most likely help you gain more organic traffic to your site. Try to include a lot of links to your web content on social media, but also be sure not to overload your followers with it. If you post new web content on a weekly basis, it would be beneficial for you to promote it on your social media channels.

6. BLOG!

Blogging can greatly increase web traffic to your site. While blogging, you get the chance to include links to external information or even to your own website or gated content. This will keep your readers interested and looking at your content for longer periods of time and ultimately increase your website ranking. Using SEO terms in your blogs will help increase organic traffic and in turn lead to more visitors on your site. Overall, increasing traffic to your website isn’t as difficult as it may seem. So whether you are a marketer within healthcare, aviation, energy, fintech, or other industry, with the correct knowledge of SEO and the tools provided in this article your website will be on the right track in no time! What are your SEO challenges? Please share in the space below and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn!

1. https://www.hittail.com/blog/how-to-increase-organic-traffic-to-your-website

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