How to optimise a website for search: SEO fundamentals in pharma and ranking factors for 2023.

This post on organic search is Part 2 of a 3-part series. Post 1, provided an overview of the implications of organic and paid search in the pharmaceutical sectors. For reference, you can revert back to that post here. In this post, we’ll look at the specific strategies and tactics involved for SEO (and in Part 3 we do the same for Paid Search).

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1. Fundamentals of SEO

Google doesn’t tend to outright reveal too much information about SEO and how to best achieve higher rankings on SERPs. But sometimes, it does offer some information - sometimes directly from its staff - on how search works and this post from Google Search summarises things nicely. The key takeaways can be summarised below so we can fully understand how they see it from their perspective:

"Most of our Search index is built through the work of software known as crawlers. These automatically visit publicly accessible web pages and follow links on those pages… When crawlers find a web page, our systems render the content of the page, just as a browser does. We take note of key signals – from keywords to website freshness – and we keep track of it all in the Search index… When we index a web page, we add it to the entries for all of the words that it contains…. Our Search index contains more than just what's on the web because helpful information can be located in other sources."

But even though Google’s search index contains more than just “what's on the web”, everything Google crawls will be on a URL… and that means web pages. And some of the elements of a page are below – all you will find on your web pages, on your website.

• Images​

• PDFs​

• Books and journals​

• Videos​

• Travel times​

• Business information.

As you can see, almost everything Google crawls will be on a web page. Google crawls web pages far more often than anything else, meaning rankings for web pages can update daily.

From an SEO perspective, your website is always your main priority. Of course, you can optimise other content you might commonly work on in the pharmaceutical sectors, such as editorials for third-party publications – and it makes sense to try to ensure that those editorials generate lots of traffic because they feature your organisation. But, it’s your website that you would always prioritise, which you will have full control for optimising.

2. Common SEO strategies

If we were to form an SEO strategy, there are three ways in which you can generate more visitors to your website; three areas of SEO focus.

1. Ensure an optimised website​ (Optimised web pages > Higher rankings > More people can find those pages > More visitors).​

• Research keywords related to your business/offer

• Organise/edit the website's ​web pages by topics/keywords

• Optimise pages using your chosen keywords.​

2. Building a large website (More web pages > More pages for people to find > More visitors​).

• Identify the gaps, and create new web pages for new keywords

• Set up a regular programme of publishing new content (using the keywords identified)​.

3. Create an authoritative website​ (More high-quality backlinks to your web pages > More authority > Higher rankings > More visitors​).

• Create a link-building plan (with keywords for pages included in anchor text links).

• Discuss the topics/keywords on your social media posts.​

Those are the basic strategies you can adopt to increase search visibility. All are quite different, and all take time. But note that there is a research task that needs to happen, that looks to understand the types of keywords you need to be working with, related to your product or offer. Which then means you can go off and make some key changes.

And with SEO, we are always talking about (more) website visitors so they come to our website and not our competitors’ websites. But, why is an SEO strategy needed if you are to improve search rankings? Why do we need to focus on one or a mix of the three strategies of either optimising the website, building the website so we have more web pages or building authority? Some of the answers are below:

• Help you stay on track when creating content

• Provide a channel for the marketing team to focus on

• Maximise your website’s natural reach

• It takes time, so we need structure

• If we don't have one, our competition will (and competition is fierce in the pharmaceutical sectors)​

• Help you stay on track when creating content or building backlinks.

3. Importance of keywords

When it comes to SEO, we are talking about our website and we are talking about search queries and keywords and what people actually search for on Google and other search engines, to be used to bring people to our website.

And the importance of keywords cannot be understated here. What do users of search engines search for?​ Keywords.​ How does Google know what page to show users on SERPs?​ Keywords.​ How can owners of websites put their websites on SERPs?​ Keywords.

We can’t edit a website for SEO if we don’t know what keywords to use on those pages. In the title, in the meta descriptions, and in the image alt text. And we can create new pages for SEO without keywords either. And we certainly can’t create backlinks to important pages if we don’t even have those pages in the first place. Keywords appear when users conduct a search, and keywords are how we tell Google what our pages are about, so they can be indexed and ranked.

But it’s not that straightforward. It may have been so 10 years ago. But as the competition has increased and the number of pages on the internet increasing all the time, we need to be a little savvier. We need to think of intent; which is why we started off on Post 1 by looking at our audiences. Determining what and how they might conduct their searches.

The process, first of all, will entail doing some research and understanding the keywords that we need to target. Then, using these keywords, look to edit the pages we currently have or create new pages. Here, you will need to use keyword research tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, Moz and SEMRush, to determine fit and always look at the intent behind those keywords.

The process for researching keywords is as follows:

• Develop a list of relevant topics based on what you know about your business (usually products and services)​

• Create topic groups and add keywords – try to cover each of the buyer’s journey stages

• Verify what a user's intent is in a keyword – a keyword can mean multiple things when other keywords are added to it

• Research related search terms ("Related searches" at the bottom of SERPs).

And the process for choosing keywords for your web pages is as follows:

• Use Google Keyword Planner to cut down your keyword list (volume/competition)​

• Prioritise the obvious (big) opportunities

• Check the monthly search volume for keywords you’ve chosen for any trends

• Factor in SERP features as you choose keywords (Featured snippets, lists, images)​

• See how competitors are ranking for these keywords – Authority etc.​

4. Optimising a website for search (on-page and off-page)

More people in more parts of the world are spending more time online, which is the same story in B2B, and across B2B pharmaceuticals generally. And this has been largely positive for people like ourselves. Healthcare professionals have always preferred to access and consume content from pharmaceutical companies without the need for sales reps to provide this information. And similarly, R&D and procurement managers can access technical documents about manufacturing capabilities and methodologies without having to speak to reps or visit plants. We feel more empowered to complete tasks without the need for others to be present.

This means that a different approach is favoured by the marketer, which might not have been the case before Covid-19, and before digital began to take hold in the pharmaceutical sectors. We prefer a more pull approach rather than a push approach… and SEO is very much a pull approach. 100% inbound from our perspective, as we aim to make ourselves visible, and as visible as we possibly can on search engines so that we increase the chances of a click-through to the website.

The best marketing plans will actually do both inbound and outbound, but inbound is what we’d suggest focussing on due to its sustainability, as well as being a better fit to reach our audiences. All of which is achieved via on-page and off-page SEO elements.

On-page SEO

On-page SEO focuses on the content that's actually on web pages and how to optimise it to boost the website's ranking for specific keywords.​

Google states: “Google prioritises webpages in order of relevance and value relative to the search query.” So, first of all, we need to do some research and understand the keywords that we need to target. Then, using these keywords, look to edit the pages we currently have or create new pages.  Pages need to be mapped out, via an itinerary if you have lots of pages, and then keywords need to be chosen for those pages and used often on the page – so we remind the search engines that “this is what this page is talking about.”

On-page keyword mapping checklist:

• 2-4 primary keywords (theme) based on intent per page​

• Keywords featured in the page title (70 characters approx.) and meta description (155 characters approx.)​

• Keywords featured in H1 and H2 titles (and H3 and H4 if possible) and front load the keywords themselves​

• Keywords in image alt tags (and file name if possible)​

• Keywords featured in URL.

So, the page layout needs attention. However, the actual content itself also requires some optimisation work; the main body of the page. Again with the chosen keywords in mind.

On-page content checklist:

• Keyword density 3-5% (keyword repeats on the page)​

• The more words the better - aim for 1,000+​

• Link to external high authority websites (General rule: Try not to link off to external websites with considerably lower authority than yours.)​

• Use headlines (H titles tags)​

• Internal linking is important​

• Eliminate duplicate content and keep everything up-to-date​

• Update old content if not performing – it may just need a boost to get moving on SERPs.​

Images and multimedia content also serve a range of purposes for SEO. They provide the opportunity to include our keywords in the alt tags, again telling Google that our content is relevant. Visual content stimulates us in different ways than written content, and we are able to further engage with our audience, improving engagement metrics (such as time on page), which also helps Google understand the value of the page.

In the process, we also generate some content for the image search feature on Google. Especially good for our visual searches, not to mention for those searching for videos on Google, or using YouTube.

On-page visual content checklist:

• Ensure the page has images – infographics, charts etc.​

• Add alt text to images (title of the page, with keywords)​

• Ensure the page title is also in name of the image file​

• Adjust the image file sizes to make them as small as possible (compress)​

• Include videos where relevant (your own videos if available).​

Next up, after the content is sorted, we need to be wary of the technical elements of our website and web pages. Two caveats before we go through these technical on-page elements: First, you will need access to a developer to configure most of them. And secondly, individually, these elements do not provide as much weight as the content elements we spoke about earlier. But together, they do add up.

Search engines frown upon bad performance as it results in a negative user experience. They prioritise user satisfaction above many other factors. Therefore, anything that takes away from a good experience negatively impacts your SEO.

On-page technical SEO checklist:

• Page load (speed) at 2.5 seconds​

• Crawl errors – broken links​

• Optimize Your Robots .txt File​

• XML Sitemap ​

• Structured data (Schema)​

• Mobile-friendliness​.

Technical SEO can be a real minefield. But rest assured, these are usually standard in all web builds, and individually do not impact SEO ranking as much as some of the earlier on-page elements.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO focuses on backlinks directed to the website from elsewhere on the internet on other websites. The number of backlinks a site has from reputable sources helps build trust with search algorithms.​ And building  backlinks is at the heart of off-page SEO. Search engines use backlinks as indications of the linked-to content's quality. So, a site with many high-value backlinks will usually rank better than an otherwise equal site with fewer backlinks.

The three main types of links are:​

• Natural links are editorially given without any action on the part of a page owner​

• Manually built links are acquired through deliberate link-building activities​

• Self-created links are created by adding a backlink to a page yourself.

Authority, in SEO, is the value a search engine assigns to a web page and website. The higher the value, the more likely the search engine will return a web page early in organic search results. (SEO tools (such as Moz) provide a score for you.)​ A toxic backlink needs to be "disavowed" via the Google Search Console, to tell Google not to consider them for SEO as they are out of our control and potentially harmful.​

Authority, as a score, is usually dictated by:

• The linking site's popularity

• The "freshness" of the link

• The anchor text used on the linking site

• The trustworthiness of the linking site

• The number of other links on the linking page.

So, a good link has a high authority whereas a bad or toxic link will have a low authority and high spam score. And there are three main types of links which we can categorise, defined by how they were earned: natural links, manually built links, or self-created links.

Regardless of how links are obtained, links that offer the greatest contribution to SEO efforts are those that are of high authority, usually indicated by a score such as domain authority or page authority (provided by the common SEO tools). One of the key issues with building backlinks is that the process of achieving a link can often be hugely time-consuming. It is generally difficult to obtain good backlinks.

Some of the common methods of receiving links:

• Requesting for links to be added to web pages ​

• Partner sites or editorial sites​

• Forums​

• Guest posts​

• Blog comment​

• Listings/directories​

• Influencer marketing​

• Press releases submitted to third parties​

• Social media.

This was a hugely complex and long section. I have also previously shared 10 areas to focus your pharma SEO which can be used to help with focus. To summarise all of the on-page (and off-page) elements, use this handy checklist from Wordstream.

5. Things to avoid!

SEO is often misunderstood. Those without prior knowledge or experience can work on SEO activities that do not contribute to their SEO efforts, even if they are using a checklist. And sometimes, the execution of those tasks are done in an incorrect manner which can also negatively affect an SEO score.

As a reminder, here is a list of common things to avoid when doing SEO.

• Creating generic or naked anchor text​ for links

• Having little or no content (or duplicate content)​ on web pages

• Producing keyword-stuffed content​

• Too many inbound anchor text links (backlinks need to look natural)​

• Bad/toxic backlinks (with high spam score)​

• 404s or broken web pages that have been deleted​

• Not refreshing or updating old content​

• Lack of multimedia content​

• Making changes too frequently (SEO changes take time)​

• Creating content for the sake of creating content​

• Not thinking about intent and the buyer's journey/cycle​

• Not measuring progress (aim to measure the things you have been working to change or the​ things that are important to the marketing plan and objectives).

6. Content strategy for SEO

As we touched upon, for effective SEO, we need a content strategy with keywords in mind. Once we have that covered, only then can we go about optimising the on-page and off-page elements where we identify your target audience​, define topics,​ pinpoint keywords that meet your audience needs/topic area​, optimise using on-page elements, ​keeping on-page information up-to-date​ in the process.

As Google has become older and wiser, it now looks to rank web pages based on the overall authority of the domain, rather than just how informative the actual web page is. That is, to look at other pages on the website, and how they are related. This is to crack down on those trying to manipulate some of the more historic SEO signals. This is where EAT (Expertise, Authority, Trust) is a key factor/idea that Google uses to evaluate the overall quality of the content on a web page.

Organisations in the healthcare space, for example, have reportedly struggled here as information may be inaccurate and Google is looking for sites to prove their overall EAT. So, rather than think short-term always think long-term with your SEO efforts - this is a prerequisite in the pharma sectors. Your aim is to tell Google in as many ways as possible that your organisation (and website) is an expert, is authoritative and is trustworthy and you can do this with thought leadership content. So, the goal is to become an expert in a niche or particular area.

You achieve this by grouping topics, or what HubSpot calls, creating topic clusters. A topic cluster is multiple pieces of content grouped by a shared topic and related subtopics. As a whole, these pages offer comprehensive coverage of a specific subject. That enables visitors to satisfy their search query while visiting your site. Organising site content into clusters helps search engines distinguish your area of expertise and better understand the relationship between these pages.​

With this in mind, circle back to section #3 of this post (on Keywords) and then begin the process of optimising the web pages/content you are creating.

7. SEO in practice

A lot has been discussed in this post, but from a practical perspective, this one is important from an SEO perspective: Setting expectations​! SEO is no longer a set of one-time activities; it needs ​constant work​. And you likely won’t be able to cover all the work and SEO elements yourself​. Almost even more frustrating is not all of your pages will rank well​, and not all of your high-ranking pages will generate lots of traffic​. So, expectations need to be managed.

That’s why we always start with an audit. To understand what has gone on before, and what the environment we are operating within looks like, so we can work to improve it in an efficient and effective manner and do the right things. Always doing things strategically to maximise return and doing the best we can with the time that we have at work.

To provide an example of the average time it might take to launch an SEO project, consider the following timelines:

Month 1: Likely be all about research and discovery​

Month 3: With a solid framework to achieve goals, success will not be shown analytically during the first three months​

Month 6: SEO strategies should be recognised by search engines, which will be measurable within your dashboards…

When setting out on an SEO project, you will need to select an SEO tool to help with your efforts. SEO tools which you can access with a subscription are great in this respect. They have graders and checkers that can do a lot of the manual research work for you. You can do it for the domain (entire website), and for individual web pages. Aim to use one source of data (one core tool)​. And you can also run similar checks for your competitors.

So, you know exactly what needs to be improved upon, and how you can potentially begin to counter those that you compete against. I think this is great for pharmaceutical companies. Because I know that not all your competitors will have large marketing teams, maybe more salespeople, rather than marketers. Certainly not digital marketers, and almost definitely not a SEO focus. Therefore, whilst this all seems daunting, the potential gains in the pharmaceutical sectors can be large.

Internal marketing is also hugely important for SEO when communicating direction, focus and progress.​ SEO in pharma requires SMEs outside of marketing to contribute to content creation and review​. Sales and revenue managers are eager for leads, and would need to be communicated the benefits of an inbound marketing approach​. Budgets usually dictate the SERPs in competitive fields (such as pharma), so Finance also needs to see it as a sustainable marketing initiative etc.​ All meaning you need to be aware of the internal environment around you.

Internal marketing allows companies to provide key messages to employees for alignment with company strategy. Engaged and aligned employees act as informal influencers for the company​​ ​and can communicate the progress made from an SEO perspective - something which is important within the political landscape of a large pharmaceutical organisation as SEO takes time to demonstrate results.

8. Ranking factors in 2023

So, to 2023 and to the weighting of the ranking factors discussed throughout this post. Yes, we do have an idea of where the money is at and where to focus - because we can’t always do everything at once and would need to do things from a strategic perspective.

Out of the SEO tactics and strategies, where should we focus on based on what we know about Google’s priority factors? First Page Sage began conducting a continuous study of Google’s algorithm 13 years ago, and for the last several years has published its results publicly. They are a large SEO company in the US that has data set on which to base its understanding of the factors that comprise Google’s search algorithms.

Not surprisingly, high-quality content, keywords and backlinks all focus within the top 3. Closely followed by niche expertise and then a range of technical elements on the website. Take a look at the chart below to see the full breakdown. The percentages may not mirror Google’s algorithm exactly, but you can bet the priority order is accurate…

9. Things you can do right now to improve SEO​

As were near the end of the post, I thought it would be a good idea to summarise some quick wins to get you thinking about SEO and making some progress right away. Looking at the top 3 ranking factors from First Page Sage would be a good start. Alternatively, below is a list of generic things you can do right away that will put you in a good position to start seeing increased organic visitors.

• List blog posts/articles/resource ideas, backed by keyword research, that your website is missing

• Identify current web pages that can be updated or refreshed (via a content audit)

• Clean anything negative: Duplicate content, broken internal links, pages that are not mobile friendly or with slow page speed

• When working with keywords, we look at intent​. Ask yourself, why are users on your website?

• Thinking about the buyer's journey (and the types of web searches) can help when creating SEO content​

• URLs are crawled individually by Google; pages also need the same individual attention from marketers​ - therefore, create an itinerary and start working through your web pages

• See the “3 general SEO strategies” section above and choose one to focus on.

10. Organic search (and SEO) in pharmaceuticals

Over the last few years, the focus on driving visitors to the website via search engine results pages (SERPs) has increased dramatically in the pharmaceutical and life science sectors. We have noticed this not only by speaking to our clients in the B2B sectors but also by reviewing independent research (highlighted in Post 1 in this series).

Search engine optimisation is a powerful marketing tactic that can help pharmaceutical organisations improve their online visibility, attract more traffic to their websites, and ultimately increase their revenue. However, SEO in the pharmaceutical sector is a unique challenge due to a variety of reasons. By focusing on creating high-quality content and building a strong backlink profile, pharmaceutical companies can improve their online visibility and attract more traffic to their website.

This post on organic search is Part 2 of a 3-part series. Post 1, provided an overview of the implications of organic and paid search in the pharmaceutical sectors. For reference, you can revert back to that post here.

For more on organic search and SEO in the pharmaceutical sectors, and how we can help you increase your rankings and visibility, visit our section on web.