Search engine marketing for your orthopaedic website Boost your Presence, Build your Brand Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Shoulder & Elbow Reconstructive Surgery University Health Network

Disclosure My disclosure is in the Final Program Book and in the AAOS database. I have no potential conflicts with this presentation.

Objectives  Understand the basics of search engines  Describe what SEM is and how it is done  Natural optimization (SEO)  Pay-Per-Click (PPC)  Understand the importance of social media in search rankings  Learn how to measure the success of SEM

How does a Search Engine Work?

Who is who? Jan 2012

Search Marketing Landscape Dec 2011 Source:

Overlapping Links

Why do we care?

Location! Location! Location!

Click through rates

Health Consumers Online  59% of all adults in the U.S. look for health information online  80% of Internet users look online for health information  making it third most popular online activity  Most start with a general search engine, rather than a medical vertical

Health Information is a Popular Pursuit Online

SEM vs. SEO  Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Positioning of your web site in the search engines so that it is found by your target market at the right time.  Search Engine Optimization  Link-building  Pay-per-click  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEM technique to optimize site content to improve search engine rank and visibility

How does it fit together? Search Engine Marketing SEO Search Engine Optimization “Organic” PPC Pay-Per-Click “Search Advertising” Pro: Great Long-term ROI More exposure, branding, awareness High ceiling and volume Con: Tough to quantify Lots of work (Design/Development) Takes a while Pro: Quick setup Highly measureable & quantifiable Less development resources Con: More expensive Lower ceiling and volume potential Subject to “Ad Blindness”

Paid Organic vs Paid Search Organic

10% of Clicks Organic vs Paid Search 90% of Clicks

Search Engine Marketing – Next Gen SEO Search Engine Optimization PPC Pay Per Click SMO Social Media Optimization Target keywords Link Building ALT/TITLE attributes Keyword density Sitemap Reporting/Analytics Campaign design Google Adwords Facebook Ads Microsoft adCenter Increase linkability Make tagging and bookmarking easy Reward inbound links Help content travel

What do Search Engines look for?  Readable Text  Fresh, unique content  Relevant inbound links  Good site architecture  Unique meta info Google Webmaster Tools -

CONTENT!

SEO Pyramid

SEO Workflow Keyword research & analysis Analyze site for crawl / performance issues Implement optimization Monitor results

What Steps Can You Take Mini-Online Marketing Plan 1.Keyword research for target market 2.Select 3 prioritized optimization terms 3.Set up hosted tracking solution 4.Optimize the home page with location + service/product 5.Optimize inner pages of site and sitemap 6.Submit site to search engines and directories 7.Research link building opportunities 8.ADD UNIQUE FRESH CONTENT AND GOOGLE+ BUTTON!

Step-by-Step SEO - David Nelson, MD

1. Research your target market  Brainstorm:  How will your target market search for you? Hand surgeon, hand surgery, wrist surgery  Are you targeting a geographic area? California, Greenbrae, San Francisco, Oakland

Keyword Research Suggestion Tools  Google Keyword Tool   Nichebot  (free)  Wordtracker  (free)  (paid)  Keyword Discovery  (free trial + paid)

Keyword Research Tools

2. Select 3 top search terms  David L. Nelson’s 3 prioritized terms:  California hand surgeon/surgery  Hand specialist California  San Francisco/Greenbrae hand specialist  Consider:  hand pain, wrist pain, carpal tunnel, trigger finger

3. Set up hosted web analytics

Setup Webmaster Tools  Google Webmaster Tools   Yahoo Site Explorer   Bing Webmaster Center 

Google Webmaster Tools

4. Optimize home page  Title Tag  Meta Info  Alt Tags  H1 Tags  Javascript  Embedded links  Footer

View Source

5. Optimize inner site pages  Unique text and meta information for every page on your site! Title Tag Meta Info Alt Tags H1 Tags Javascript Embedded links

Internal Linking (aka Information Architecture)

90% of the Rankings in 4 Factors  #1 - Keyword Usage & Content Relevance

90% of the Rankings in 4 Factors  #2 - Global link popularity (PageRank)

90% of the Rankings in 4 Factors  #3 - Anchor Text Weight Dr. David L. Nelson – Hand Surgeon

90% of the Rankings in 4 Factors  #4 - Domain Authority

6. Submit your site  Suggested search engines:  Google  Yahoo  Bing  Suggested directories:  Google Local/Places  Yahoo Local  Bing Local

7. Research Link Building Opportunities

Inbound Link Best Practices  Obtain links only from quality, authoritative sources related or relevant to your site  Top sites have good PageRank - Can view PageRank levels from Google Toolbar  Links to any page on your site; not just homepage  Deep linking  Do not obtain links from “shady” sources  Link farms/rings  Link exchanges from sources of little/no Page Rank  Do not purchase links from others

Where else?  Blogs – WebMD, RevolutionHealth  Profiles – AAOS, LinkedIn, Orthopaedia  Orthopaedic Directories/Authority Sites  Orthopaedic Web Links  Orthogate  Spine Universe  Local Directories  Citysearch, Yellowpages, Physician Compare Sites  Press releases/Topic articles  Link back to your site

8. Keep your site fresh  New content ideas:  Press releases  Articles  Events  News updates  Photo galleries  Interviews  Videos  Blogs

Growing impact of social  Google Plus is going to revolutionize digital marketing as we know it Google+ is growing at a rate of 50x faster than Facebook or Twitter did Image source: Leon Håland (

Google+ and SEO  The Google+ button affects search engine optimization  Add the Google+ to your home page, product pages, blog posts  There are negative impacts when users block a site

Twitter and SEO  Use keywords in tweets that link back to your website  Use keyword descriptive hashtags  Optimize your company bio aka description, URL

SEO Methodology  Keywords Research & Analysis  Crawlability issues / HTML Optimization  Content Development / Copywriting  Onsite Optimization (body texts, titles, meta tags etc)  Internal Linking, Navigation, Sitemaps  Link Building Campaigns  Analytics, Testing & Refinement

Let’s take a break

The Power of PPC

PPC Step by Step 1.Choose terms through mini-marketing steps 2.Create a paid placement budget 3.Campaign Set-up 4.Monitor and tweak campaign

1. Select Your Terms  Use spreadsheet & research to determine which terms to begin campaign with

Are you a billionaire?  Don’t pick overly competitive keywords unless you have an unlimited budget

2. Create paid placement budget Align budget allocation with the search engines’ market share

3. Campaign Set-up  Put the keyword in the title  Use a Call-to-Action  Consider ad testing

4. Monitor and Tweak Campaign

Important tips with PPC  Stay away from general terms unless your campaign is geo-targeted  ex: orthopedic surgery  Turn off Content Network searches  Budget, ads, and keywords can be adjusted anytime  Link ads to the most relevant page on your site - don’t dump everyone onto your home page

PPC Methodology  Keywords Research & Analysis  Advertiser Account Creation  Account Structure (Campaigns, Adgroups) & Targeting  AdTexts Copywriting  Creation & Optimization of Landing Pages  Analytics, Testing & Refinement

Let’s Review  Content is king  Keep it fresh  Keep it original  Links are powerful  Keep a healthy SEO and PPC balance  Watch and tweak your campaign

Google says: “Don’t be Evil”

QUESTIONS?