Why SEO is Crucial for Your Pharma Business and How to Do It

An effective SEO strategy is fundamental to achieving online visibility in an increasingly competitive healthcare digital landscape. With numerous websites contending for top search rankings, establishing a robust online presence is essential. It enhances brand recognition, builds trust, credibility and brand awareness, ultimately leading to increased sales and revenue.

Consequently, in the pharma industry, harnessing the power of SEO is more important than ever. Many healthcare brands struggle to recognise the importance of online and search marketing, usually as a result of being unsure about how to do so, whilst simultaneously being compliant with industry regulations.

In this article, we delve into the importance of SEO for pharmaceutical companies and explore effective strategies to navigate the complexities of the search engines and healthcare.

The Importance of SEO for Pharma

In an era where health information is predominately sought online, having a robust online presence is becoming a non-negotiable. Google conducted research, with the following key findings:

  • Physicians spend twice as much time using online resources compared to print
  • On average, HCPs perform 6 professional searches a day
  • Only 17% of physicians searched using terms related to pharmaceutical manufacturers
  • 46% of physicians search for symptom-based keywords
  • 84% of physicians search for condition-related keywords

Patients and healthcare professionals frequently turn to search engines like Google to seek information about diseases, medications, and treatment options. Effective SEO allows pharmaceutical companies to target specific demographics and geographic regions. By tailoring content to address the needs and preferences of their target audience, pharma companies will attract the right customers and drive conversions.

Investing time into online presence has never been more important for pharma companies. In order for Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and the general public to be aware of and trust your brand, creating valuable SEO content is vital. By prioritising transparency and compliance in SEO efforts, pharmaceutical companies can build trust and integrity within the industry.

How to Master SEO for Pharma

While the benefits of SEO for pharmaceutical companies are undeniable, navigating the complexities of search engine algorithms and industry regulations can be daunting. Here are some areas to think about:

1. Conduct comprehensive keyword research

Understanding the search intent of website visitors and conducting effective keyword research are at the heart of an effective SEO strategy. This means understanding your searcher intent – which is the user’s goal when typing a query into the search engines.

There are three main types of search intent:

Informational, where users are looking for information to answer a query or to access some knowledge

Navigational, where users seek a specific website or webpage

Transactional, where users are looking to make a purchase.

In the pharma industry, the majority of users tend to be making informational searches about symptoms, diagnosis, treatments and seeking a community. 

Once you understand the intent of your users, you can then implement an effective keyword strategy. Utilise tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to uncover high-volume keywords with moderate to low competition and prioritise long-tail keywords, ensuring each of your pages is optimised for the relevant keywords. 

2. Understand your intended audience

Before a website can appear effectively in SERPs for relevant keywords, you need to make sure the intended audience is considered. For pharma websites, this can be split into the general public and HCPs. Both of these audiences will be looking for separate pieces of information and it’s therefore vital to ensure that these sections are separated clearly onsite, as their content and keywords can differ massively. Additionally, the content should be compliant with pharmaceutical marketing regulations, such as those prescribed in the ABPI code of conduct (for UK-based sites).

3. Optimise On-Page Content

Once you’ve identified target keywords and your intended audience, next you’ll need to optimise your on-page content accordingly. This includes meta titles, meta descriptions, H1 and H2 headings, and all of the copy on the page. This optimisation should be specific for each page and its targeted keywords. It’s vital to ensure you are creating relevant content that’s informative for users who end up on your page. 

4. Earn High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks continue to be a crucial ranking factor in SEO. Focus on earning high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Reach out to medical professionals, research institutions, and healthcare blogs and ask for valuable backlinks to your website. Avoid buying links or engaging in link schemes, they’ll only result in penalties and damage your reputation. You can read more about why backlinks are important for your healthcare website here.

5. E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)

In the past few years, Google has increased its emphasis on E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), especially within the medical field. With every new algorithm update, expect Google to favour sites that embody these values within the content. 

Expertise is expected to be shown through providing information about the content creators expertise, their qualifications, educational background and relevant personal experiences. User reviews, references and coverage in notable news sources all serve in evaluating the authoritativeness of a website.

Lastly, a brand’s trustworthiness is rooted in if they provide accurate and detailed information which appropriately cites other credible sources. This reinforces the reliability of the brand’s content. This holistic approach to E-A-T underscores Google’s commitment to promoting high-quality, reliable information across the digital landscape, particularly in critical sectors like healthcare.

6. Make it mobile-friendly

Optimising your website for mobile devices is essential. Ensure that your website is quick and user-friendly across all screen sizes. Mobile-friendly websites not only provide a better user experience but also receive preferential treatment from search engines like Google, which prioritise mobile-first indexing.

Get in touch with our expert SEO team

Varn Health is a specialist pharma SEO agency which has a deep knowledge and expertise in medical comms and compliance. We can assist you in accelerating the growth of your Pharma brand and business so get in touch to speak to one of expert team, we’d love to help.

Article by:
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Katie,
Technical SEO Expert
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