Pharmaceutical Organic and Paid Search
An overview of the implications of organic and paid search in the pharmaceutical sectors.
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. For example, AZO Network’s “The State of Scientific Marketing” survey which generated its data from 140 responses in the science, engineering, and healthcare sectors found that the #1 tactical marketing priority in 2023 is search engine optimisation (SEO).
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This priority is possibly affirmed by the fact that second to SEO in the priority list was content creation; which heavily influences SEO and how websites can be optimised to attract organic visitors. And sixth on the list of twelve tactics is Paid Search. So, we really are talking about a channel and marketing approach that is out in front of any other tactic that pharmaceutical marketers like you and I need to focus on for 2023.
This post on pharmaceutical organic and paid search is Part 1 of a 3-part series, where in Parts 2 and 3 we will focus on the specific strategies and tactics involved for SEO and Paid Search. Please subscribe to our blog alerts to keep on top of all of our insights as they are published.
Search in the pharmaceutical sectors
Our audiences (in B2B pharma), whether from the lab or procurement or from a product-related position, will likely come from a scientific background, where a methodical personality is more common; things might get done according to a systematic or established procedure. If this type of user is just browsing or knows exactly what he or she is searching for, how-type questions are likely to be asked and specific answers are sought after. The methodical user is curious, but more than anything he or she is happy to conduct independent research. And an obvious starting point to conduct this search is search engines.
89,000 searches pour into Google every single second. So, the enormity (and importance) of search cannot be ignored – Google is used as often as it is for business use just as it is for consumer use. And within all of these searches, there are three basic types of search: Transactional search queries, navigational search queries and informational search queries. It’s key to try to identify which type of search your target market might conduct to prioritise how you will approach things on a strategic level.
And as a business or organisation, and as marketers, our aim is to put our organisations in these three areas whilst also aiming to influence purchasing decisions as much as we can. It’s our responsibility, for example, to oversee the first commercial-based touchpoint with the organisation – all of the activity before sales. As we have already concluded, everything points to this happening on search engines or at least it does at some point of the buying process.
The essence of organic search and SEO
Search engine optimisation is the process of improving the number of organic visitors to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic rather than direct traffic or paid traffic and is one of the most rewarding marketing tactics available due to its trustworthiness, but potentially the most difficult.
When it comes to SEO, we are talking about search queries and keywords and what people actually search for on Google and other search engines, and then providing our web pages within the results for these queries. And to be able to see a significant increase in the number of traffic to your website via search engines, and generate those clicks, it’s imperative to aim to reach the top 3 pages on SERPs. The second page of Google just isn’t really going to generate a return for your efforts.
To achieve that, the simplified way to focus your resource if you are not a full-time SEO expert is by looking at on-page and off-page factors of any given web page – remember, web pages are ranked, not websites. So, the pages you chose to rank for your keywords need to be optimised. The more authority that the page has (which contributes to the overall domain authority of the website), which Google will mainly attribute from the backlinks on other websites pointing back to this page, the higher it can be pushed on the SERPs relative to how optimised that competitor keywords are.
Paid search and Pay-per-click
Pay-per-click in pharma is a model used to drive traffic to websites via the same channels as SEO, but this time an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked – so it is paid rather than earned. This is referred to as paid search. It’s a highly targeted way to reach audiences when they are searching for products or solutions similar to SEO. It differs, however, as it has a controlled cost of acquisition and it can extend reach and remarket using the display network – and is something all organisations operating within the pharmaceutical sectors should consider for its search terms. You do not necessarily optimise content to show results on SERPs, you pay for it. You will see all of the paid listings above and below the organic results, depending on how well your paid campaigns have been built.
It is relatively costly compared to SEO, certainly in competitive sectors like pharma, particularly where others are paying over the odds, and you may see lower search volumes compared to organic search as organic results are deemed more trusted. But paid search is a good way to get onto the first page of SERPs if your SEO efforts have only begun and you are looking for website visitors quickly. SEO campaigns can take upwards of six months to show any signs of progress (if any at all), so paid search - via Google Ads or Bing Ads - are great for instant results.
The main factors that influence the position of the ad, and therefore its quality score, relate to the three components of the ads – the relevancy of the ad for that keyword, the relevancy of the landing page relative to the ads, as well as the overall CTR for previous clicks for the ads campaign. And controlling such elements page is budget, and generally the higher the budget the higher you can go, depending on that quality score. Adding to this, as pointed out by Econsultancy, is the somewhat uncertainly of whether the ads are showing to our target audiences every time - a meticulous approach to targeting is required.
When I speak to clients looking to embark on an organic or paid search campaign, I always try to gauge objectives relative to budget and internal resources. Should the client have limited content creation resources, and a lack of access to the content management system that drives the website, then I would be recommending a paid search approach. On the other hand, should a client have long-term objectives of increasing trust on search engines, and a team of digital marketing executives, then I would recommend SEO with the via of increasing organic presence. No situation (or budget) is the same. Speak to us to understand more about the best approach for your pharmaceutical organisation.
How to get there?
As previously mentioned, I will be providing some more insight into both of these approaches in future blog posts. However, as you might be aware, there are a range of factors that might be used to increase visibility on search engines for each of the two areas we have looked at.
From an SEO and organic search perspective, First Page Sage began conducting a continuous study of Google’s algorithm 14 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 sets on which to base its understanding of the factors that comprise Google’s search algorithms. They identified the top three factors that can affect search engine position for web pages as being: 1) Consistent publication of engaging content, 2) Keywords in Meta Title Tags, and 3) Backlinks. Focusing on any of the above will likely increase your rankings over time. As long as you create content and ensure it is ‘helpful’ in some way then you are on the right track.
As for paid search, no matter your advertising objectives, Google Ads can help you get more enquiries and visitors to your website and ads can appear on Google Search and Maps, and across Google’s network of partner sites. Key webpage and key products and services can be prioritised, and depending on the budget, Ads can be shown to as many countries around the world as you would like providing you are abiding by the rules and regulations within each region. A string of landing pages is all that is required for the creation of ads, and a healthy budget is, therefore, needed to push those ad campaigns to SERPs.
The only caveat for paid search in the pharmaceutical sectors is that you cannot outright create ads to promote drugs or pharmaceutical products or unapproved/experimental substances or clinical trial services… which of course creates a potential barrier. Again, speak to us should you have any questions regarding regulations and restrictions because you could fall at the first hurdle here (there are certifications available to demonstrate competency in such sectors).
Pharmaceutical organic and paid search
As for Google and Bing (and any other search engine), SEO and PPC are two tactics which we believe that a B2B organisation that caters to a scientific audience cannot ignore.
From an SEO perspective, the aim is to earn website traffic through unpaid or free listings. SEO delivers a continuous flow of free and targeted traffic but results may take time and has no guarantee of results. So, by developing search optimisation capabilities (site structure, semantics, management of the web environment, URL strategy, relevance of the page etc.) your website should organically climb up in the natural index list.
Pay-per-click from a search perspective revolves around buying traffic through paid search listings. Instant traffic can be expected and ROI measurability is easy. But this is far from being simple as there are lots of settings and tricks that create complexity in managing the campaign. As the competition is also tough, this can lead to high costs.
Taking into consideration that every customer naturally turns to search engines when they look for a new product or service, a search engine strategy (either from an SEO or Paid Search perspective) is a must first step in 2013. It provides results and therefore it is cost-effective.
This post on pharmaceutical organic and paid search is Part 1 of a 3-part series, where in Parts 2 and 3 we will focus on the specific strategies and tactics involved for SEO and Paid Search. Please subscribe to our blog alerts to keep on top of all of our insights as they are published.
For more on SEO and paid search, and how we can help, visit our web and pay-per-click sections.
