Why SEO?
Search Engine Optimization offers better traffic and leads for less budget.
Digital Advertising is Undergoing Massive Transformation
A seismic shift took place among advertisers after Apple announced they would allow iOS users to opt out of being tracked. Due to the large number of opt-outs, Facebook’s advertising platform stopped performing well and marketers were forced to appropriate budget into other avenues and platforms including Google, Amazon and Pinterest.
As such, Google reported a 33% increase in their advertising revenue in Q4 2021. Yes, 33%. As such, cost per click advertising prices also rose. Specifically, Google’s average CPC rate jumped by 37% in 2021 and they’ve announced they will be rolling out similar privacy protection across their products including Android devices. This will undoubtedly increase the average cost per click again. As a result, smart marketers are investing in search engine optimization (SEO) to drive more qualified and better traffic to their brand websites.
What is SEO?
The primary purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to earn website traffic from organic search. It is a less expensive, longer lasting, higher ROI approach to attracting eyeballs to your pharma website than digital advertising. This has become especially true with the decreased effectiveness of ad platforms since Apple rolled out iOS 14 changes to privacy settings. As Google works to implement similar privacy features by 2024, pharma companies who prioritize SEO will be well positioned to weather the storm of less effective ad platforms.
Why is SEO Important for Pharmaceutical Companies and Brands?
In an ideal pharmaceutical digital marketing mix, there is planning and execution of both paid and organic acquisition strategies. While pharmaceutical companies often rely heavily on paid acquisition, changes to digital ad platforms and privacy rules are forcing companies to reevaluate Search Engine Optimization as a long-lasting, economical, reliable acquisition tool.
Whether branded or unbranded, patient or HCP focused, building a smart SEO strategy can save hundreds of thousands of dollars on ad budgets while providing a higher return on investment.
What is different about SEO for pharmaceutical brands?
For most web properties, SEO entails a list of target keywords to optimize toward in order to achieve first page rankings on search engines, especially Google search. Pharmaceutical SEO is more nuanced because of the way pharma approaches marketing. Many pharmaceutical acquisition strategies involve websites targeting very different consumers – the patient and/or the Health Care Provider. Additionally, SEO may need to focus not just on specific drug keywords, but disease state or condition, while remaining mindful of backlinks which could potentially be objectionable to legal. And finally, pharma marketing involves a mix of both branded and non-branded properties where the branded sites are specific to a company or drug, and non-branded properties are intended to educate patients or HCPs.
With the multi-layered approach required to attract pharmaceutical customers, it is imperative that each brand or product has an individual content strategy for SEO. In short, SEO is not a one-size-fits-all approach for pharmas. That’s why it’s crucial to work with an agency who can tailor strategy to specific needs and goals.
