Content – it’s king. I am sure you have heard this phrase for some time now, however, it rings true now more than ever. Especially in the drug treatment space. With more and more lead generation sites going up, Google is looking to crack down on low value content with backlinks pointing to it.
Think of it this way, if you look at your site, and honestly assess where you are, how do you rank your content? I review websites all day, and reviewing the content is a large piece of that. I can tell you, 80% or so treatment websites have very thin content. “Thin” means it was built for SEO and is not providing information or value for the visitor. Some rehabs use an old school SEO company that stuffs in keywords for ranking purposes. Others have great Local pages, but lack the depth of true reference content. Both of these methods are no longer effective due to Google’s updated algorithm. Below I will outline what you should be writing about and how content directly affects your search results ranking.
What Content to Write:
Here are the categories of content that we build out for our clients:
1) Local Pages – If you want to rank highly in Google for local search terms, you need to build your content to speak to the local market. Use your city and state for these pages. City and State should be in your Title Tag, H1 Tag, alt Image tags, and of course, the actual body copy. Have no idea what that means? Contact us; we can help you.
a. Local pages can also mean going outside of your facility’s exact geography. Trying to rank for surrounding cities or states is a great way to expand your reach. A lot of our clients will look to gain patients from around the country, starting close to home and branching out. Some facilities even offer to pay for the patient’s flight out. Build these local pages as you would the original. Remember, do NOT say you are in a location that you clearly are not. That is just bad business. Let the reader know that you are located out of state, and give the reasons your facility is worth the travel. Many facilities will discuss how “moving away from the environment and things that started you down this path” is important for learning how to live a new life.
2) Drug Names – I was shocked to find that not many treatment centers do this. People are searching like crazy for a specific drug and a treatment term. Give it to them. Your content should speak about the specific drug and how your facility treats that drug. Remember, write to your audience. Find any opportunity to connect with them. You know their drug of choice, so speak to it. Give examples of success stories because of the way YOU treat the patient.
3) Evergreen Content – Evergreen content is content that is simply informative, but will always have value for the user. Cover topics such as “Am I an Alcoholic?” or “Signs of drug use in teens.” These types of search terms drive a large amount of traffic. Evergreen content is considered to be top funnel of the sales cycle, but it is a great way to build a brand and actually help people.
ROI from Content
We have outlined the content you need to write, but you may be asking yourself, “Okay, Marcus, thank you but why does this matter for marketing and lead generation?” Here is why…
1) Google wants content – If you are doing any type of link building, and you have very thin content, you will be penalized. It’s as simple as that. A link is a vote for your firm and the content on the site. If you have very little or thin content, it wouldn’t make sense for people to link to you. Hence, penalty. This has happened in the past to many of our newest clients who have worked with agencies that think SEO is a plug and play, rather than an investment. We stress to them the need for content before we can do anything else. Most of the time, they come to us after the penalty, which increases the repair we need to do to help them, raising their costs. Don’t be that facility. Write good content and save yourself money.
2) Traffic – We all know the name of the game is traffic. Traffic turns into conversions, conversions into intakes, and intakes to dollars. But the types of traffic you’re generating is also important. You need to understand the funnel of your website visitors. Some will enter your site through keywords like “Drug rehab Phoenix” or “heroin treatment Mesa Arizona.” These will convert better. But what about that huge amount of traffic you could get from people searching for help, like, “Am I an Alcoholic?” Those people exist in HUGE numbers out there. Remember, as much as we all want to build our business, giving people helpful information always pays off. Look at you, right now. You are reading a blog that helps you for free from my company. Maybe you’ll be one of the ones who reads this blog and becomes a client.
3) Link Building – This is a piece most marketers forget about when planning content in the treatment space. People link to resources they find online. If all of your copy is sales copy, don’t expect much linking to take place. Build out great pieces of content, and then get people to link to it. It’s a great generator of the number 1 ranking factor in Google.
4) Retargeting – If you are not using retargeting, you are leaving leads on the table. Retargeting allows you to turn those evergreen content readers into phone calls. Retargeting is the use of display advertising based on a site visitor’s actions. Using retargeting, you can serve ad reminders to people who came to your site and left without converting.
Here is how most treatment centers handle visitors to evergreen content:
Son is showing signs of drug use.
Mom searches for “Signs of Drug Use.”
Your website comes up in the top 3, and mom visits your page.
She gets educated and spends the next few days watching her son and putting to use the information you gave her. The end.
Here is how OUR clients are successful:
Son is showing signs of drug use.
Mom searches for “Signs of Drug Use.”
Our client’s website comes up in the top 3, and mom visits the page.
She gets educated and spends the next few days watching her son and putting to use the information our client gave her.
While she is evaluating her son, she is shown simple ads whenever she is online. Ads might say “Need help identifying addiction?” or “Call us now for complementary intervention services.”
At some point in the future, Mom clicks on your ad and makes the phone call.
You now have a new lead.
That is the power of retargeting!
We have covered the type of content to write, why you should write it, and what to do with the traffic once you get it. At the Drug Rehab Agency, we cannot stress enough the importance of resourceful, well-written content. It is truly the right way to succeed in organic search.
If you are having a hard time getting started, or just don’t have time to create and execute a content plan, please contact us. We only work with treatment centers, and our copywriters have gone through treatment. Our writers can speak to your users from the addict’s perspective and help you build your business.
