You’ve built a strong brand and are confident in the value of your services. Now, how can you make sure your audience finds you? To be seen online, you need an optimized life science SEO strategy.
SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is a proven way to increase your website’s visibility with search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, and others. Simply put, SEO gives the search engine algorithm a “lightning rod” to attract queries and guide audiences to your website.
Why SEO Matters for Life Science Companies
The primary goal and benefit of SEO strategy is improving where your web pages rank in search results, bringing more users to your site. One analysis found that 25% of people click on the first result on Google, with clicks falling to 15% for the second result, 11% for the third result, and only 2.5% for the tenth result. This means that if your web pages aren’t highly ranked, a significant portion of users searching for your services could miss your site. Conversely, prioritizing your SEO gives you a competitive edge.
Visibility isn’t the only benefit. By optimizing your SEO, you will also enhance user experience (UX) and technical site performance since both of these are key ranking factors. Strong SEO can also improve your paid search campaign performance.
The Risks of Ignoring SEO
By ignoring life science SEO, you not only lose out on its many benefits, but you also put your website at a disadvantage. In many cases, it can seem tempting to try to create your own niche with no regard for SEO best practices. Although standing out is often a benefit, keep in mind that Google makes the rules for whether your website is deemed relevant to search queries. Even the most unique website with the best services won’t make a difference if no one can find it.
One area of your website where this is often relevant is with the headlines (or H1) on every page. Although positioning yourself with a catchy, memorable phrase can be helpful, you need to balance this with meeting SEO requirements. If your chosen keywords do not get solid search volume, or if they are too competitive to give you a chance to rank, you hurt your chances of showing up high on the search engine results page (SERP).
What to Consider for Life Science SEO Optimization
Now that you know why ensuring your site ranks well matters, what actionable strategies allow you to achieve this? Life science digital marketing is a complex, multifaceted process, and due to changing algorithms, it’s never fully complete. There are many places you can start to optimize your website.
Metadata and Keyword Selection
Metadata, including meta titles and descriptions, help search engine algorithms determine what each page is about. They also appear on the SERP and provide context that can entice users to click on your page — or turn them away if it doesn’t seem relevant to their query. The best practice is to make sure each page on your site has a meta title and meta description.
These should include a keyword (different for each page) that:
- Is relevant to what the page is about and the service you provide. This is important for SEO, but also for user experience. A user should know what to expect based on the keyword you choose
- Has solid search volume. The exact monthly number of searches varies based on your niche. More highly specific terms are likely to have lower search volumes. Terms with very high volume may be too general to reach your target audience, but you want to make sure the keyword lines up with what users actually search for
- Has low competition. Highly competitive keywords are more difficult to rank for without a lot of content, traffic, time, and effort
User Experience
Poor UX can make your audience leave your site, and it also impacts your ranking with search engines. Two common UX issues related to SEO are page directs and page crawl issues (e.g., 404 error codes). Make sure users can find the pages they are looking for and that there aren’t any technical issues reaching these pages.
Linking Domains
Domains that link to your website, known as backlinks, have a large impact on your SEO. Credible backlinks increase your website’s Domain Authority (DA), a score that correlates with your likelihood of ranking high on the SERP and overall SEO “health.”
Backlinks from websites with a high DA boost your site’s credibility with search engines. On the other hand, links from sites with a high spam score (a measure of sites with similar features to those that have been banned or penalized by search engines) negatively impacts your site. To reduce the impact of backlinks from spam sites, you need to disavow them. This informs search engines that you don’t want to be associated with those links.
Valuable, SEO-Friendly Content
High-quality content has far-reaching benefits for your business, including for SEO. There’s considerable overlap between the factors that make content great for your audience and optimized for search engines: it should be informative, relevant, and credible. Think about what your audience wants or needs to know and write content that addresses these issues — with the keywords that match what this audience is searching for.
In addition to considering the quality of content, two common content issues that affect life science SEO are duplicative content (content that is the same on multiple pages of your site) and thin content (content doesn’t provide value or is too short). Look for these issues on your site, then expand or alter the content to make sure it is unique and substantial.
The Impact of Accessibility
In addition to the previously mentioned factors, accessibility is an important consideration for your SEO strategy.
Here’s why:
- Improved user experience: Accessible websites provide a better experience for all users, including those with disabilities; this can lead to lower bounce rates, longer site visits, and higher engagement, all of which positively impact SEO
- Increased reach: By making your website accessible, you cater to a broader audience; this can lead to increased traffic and a larger potential customer base
- Better indexing: Search engines use web crawlers to index content; accessible websites are typically well-structured with clear headings, alt text for images, and descriptive links, making it easier for crawlers to understand and index the site content effectively
- Compliance with standards: Accessible websites often comply with international web standards such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); search engines favor sites that adhere to these standards
- Enhanced reputation and backlinks: Websites that prioritize accessibility may receive positive recognition and backlinks from reputable sources, improving domain authority and search rankings
- Voice search optimization: Accessible websites often have clear and concise content, which is beneficial for voice search optimization; with the rise of voice search, this can significantly impact SEO
- Reduced legal risks: Ensuring your website is accessible can reduce the risk of legal issues related to discrimination against people with disabilities; maintaining a legally compliant site can prevent negative publicity and potential SEO-damaging penalties
- Mobile friendliness: Accessibility features often improve the mobile friendliness of a website; search engines like Google prioritize mobile-friendly sites in their rankings
Partner With an Experienced Life Science SEO Agency
Building a strong SEO strategy can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. By working with an experienced life sciences SEO agency, you gain access to a team that understands what it takes to boost your website’s ranking. At SCORR, we are experts in all facets of life sciences marketing, and we consider SEO in the context of your comprehensive strategy. From building your brand to making sure your audience can find you, we are your proven partner.
Contact us to explore tailored marketing services, built for the life sciences.
About the Author
Tim Harkleroad