If you offer medical SEO copywriting services, you should know about the industry-standard search engine optimisation tactics to use during the writing process.
Yet keyword research, an important part of the client’s digital marketing strategy, is often overlooked.
Sometimes, your clients assume they know what their target market is searching for, so there’s no need to spend time researching it.
It’s clear that a New York obstetrician would need to rank well for terms like “New York obstetrician”.
However, there is a multitude of other terms that this obstetrician’s potential market are using to find obstetricians online – and not all of them are obvious.
That’s why creative medical SEO copywriting supported by a well-thought-out keyword research plan is one of the biggest assets of medical copywriters.
Keyword research is essential in medical SEO copywriting
Writing on Copyblogger, Beth Hayden reckons that many writers take a “ready, fire, aim” approach, meaning they optimise their content “like crazy — putting keywords in their post text, titles and subtitles, and anywhere else they think Google might look” – without doing any keyword research beforehand.
Keyword research is all about knowing your audience, and getting into their skin, so you can understand where they’re coming from – but there’s a science to the process, too.
Search marketing agency Evolve Labs recently wrote about their approach to adding keyword research to a healthcare marketing plan.
They argue that keyword research illuminates the online market opportunity and that a keyword research plan provides the framework for the entire digital marketing strategy.
Why keyword research benefits medical SEO copywriters as well as clients
Medical SEO copywriters should include keyword research as a mandatory item.
Your client may have a list of terms they want you to rank for, but if these terms are competitive or haven’t been researched, it’s unlikely that you can produce copy that ranks well.
If you provide a planned approach to your keywords, backed up by research, you have a much better chance of getting your clients strong results in search engines – which ultimately looks better for you!
How do you do keyword research in medical SEO copywriting?
Moz have produced a fantastic beginner’s guide to SEO keyword research, covering aspects like long-tail keywords, and where to find resources for keyword demand and keyword referrals. I recommend you start here if you’re new to keyword research in medical SEO copywriting.
What belongs in a keyword research plan?
Evolve point to five components that form the basis of their keyword research process:
- Search volume by keyword
- Organic difficulty
- Client’s customers
- Client’s products/services
- Client’s consumer path.
A note on targeting popular terms
Your research will inevitably uncover competitive terms that your clients want to rank for. Evolve suggest that paid search can help you to secure short-term exposure for these terms while you spend more time working on your organic efforts.
Bottom line: Convince your clients to invest in keyword research
For medical SEO copywriters working with freelance clients needing search engine optimisation services, keyword research is vital to your planning.
Your client may not want to spend time or money in this aspect of their website copywriting, but it’s important you convince them to invest in a solid keyword research strategy.
As Beth puts it, keyword research is “about knowing your audience so well that you know exactly what words will grab their interest and make them pay attention — which words will make them notice you, because it feels like you’re able to read their minds.”
Do you have any more questions about how medical SEO copywriters can use keyword research?
