Living in a strong community helps people make friends, provides support to those in need and means working toward the betterment of the area. If you’re a community health partner organization, then your goal is to help every person in the community work on their health and wellness journey by collaborating with other providers.
When you’re trying to grow as a community health partner organization, or CHPO, it’s natural to encounter challenges as you’re trying to grow. But with search engine optimization and content marketing strategies, you can come out the other side to continue your goal of helping your community stay happy and healthy.
We’re here to discuss three growth challenges you may come across, as well as the SEO and content marketing tactics that can help you overcome them. Then you’ll learn how BURG+CO. can help you get the most out of your efforts.
Challenge #1: Limited brand awareness and online visibility
Why this matters:
Brand awareness and online visibility are key ingredients in the growth of any healthcare provider. If people can’t find you online, or they aren’t able to pick your brand out of a lineup, then they aren’t likely to become patients. CHPOs often serve rural or underserved populations, which means that they may lack the online presence needed to help those in the surrounding areas.
Here are a few SEO and content marketing strategies that can help to boost your online presence and get the word out about the CHPO to those in need:
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Local SEO focus
Search engine optimization at a local level means optimizing your site to appear on search engine results pages, or SERPs, and navigational apps for relevant queries being searched for by people in your surrounding area.
You can use keywords throughout your site that are locally relevant, such as “free clinic in [city name].” You can also keep your Google Business Profile listings updated and encourage reviews from patients in the community to boost your reputation and credibility.
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Educational content
Content marketing allows you to connect your CHPO to relevant concerns that people are searching for. That means you can educate them to boost awareness about issues that may require treatment from you. Create content that focuses on preventive care, community health services or chronic disease management on blog posts or your FAQ page.
Educational content gives you the opportunity to focus on niche topics that align with long-tail keywords, which are three words or longer. It not only showcases how you personalize your content to target demographics, but you’re also establishing authority on specific issues.
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Backlink development
A backlink refers to a link to your site that’s found on another source. Building a backlink network increases your domain authority and broadens your reach while also boosting your rankings on SERPs. You can work with other credible local resources, such as local governments, schools and nonprofits to earn backlinks.
Challenge #2: Difficulty attracting and retaining patients or participants
Why this matters
CHPOs often rely on specific population demographics, such as people who are uninsured or receive Medicaid. This can lead to significant competition from larger providers, making it harder to grow your patient load. There are also likely communication barriers and low health literacy that can hinder your outreach.
Here are a few SEO and content marketing strategies that can help to increase your patient acquisition:
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Persona-driven messaging
When you’re serving specific population segments, they should be who you’re aiming your content toward. It’s important that they feel validated and supported, when they may not feel like the healthcare system has helped them in the past. For example, if older people are one of your target demographics, you can create a blog post titled, “How to get used to walking assistance devices.”
By working your messaging around the personas of the people you’re serving, you’re increasing the relevance and rankability of the content on SERPs.
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Conversion-focused pages
You should always prioritize informing the user over trying to advertise your services. However, it’s possible to use educational content as a way to nudge people in the direction of booking an appointment or contacting the office. Include clear calls to action in relevant spots throughout the post, as well as at the bottom.
You can create calls to action that lead to conversions by linking pages like:
- Appointment scheduling
- Transportation assistance
- Eligibility screening
- Frequently asked questions
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SEO for accessibility
The key to successful CHPOs is making sure that accessibility is highlighted at every opportunity. No one should ever fall through the cracks because they feel like they aren’t eligible for quality healthcare. And that accessibility should also come through your site development, as it’s a contributing factor to SEO.
When building your site, use structured data and alt-text to improve site accessibility and usability. Mobile friendliness is especially important for those who might only have access to a cellphone or those with disabilities.
Challenge #3: Resource constraints (staffing, time, budget)
Why this matters
Many CHPOs don’t often have the resources they need. They often operate on tight budgets with limited marketing teams, which can make it highly challenging to create large-scale digital marketing campaigns. Every marketing dollar and effort should have measurable results, because there isn’t room for waste.
Here are a few SEO and content marketing strategies that can help grow your community health partner organization when you don’t have resources to spare:
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Evergreen content strategy
Try to prioritize content that will continue to be relevant and accurate, no matter how long it’s been since it’s been posted. These can bring steady traffic without needing to be regularly updated.
Evergreen content ideas include:
- “Cold vs. Flu: Which Symptoms Do You Have?”
- “At-Home Care For Back Pain”
- “What To Do When You Hurt Your Ankle”
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Content repurposing
The key to working with resource restraints is to get as much use as possible out of every piece of content. For example, if you create a blog post, you can use that same post in your email campaigns, as video scripts or to create an infographic.
Repurposing content helps you to maximize the reach of your content by stretching it out into all distribution channels and media types.
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Analytics-driven decisions
You never want to make a decision if there’s not a high probability of getting positive results. You don’t want to waste resources on efforts that weren’t successful. That’s why you should try to use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console. They can help you identify what content has been performing best, so that you can make informed decisions with the next efforts.
Want to attract new patients to your website for your community health partner organization? BURG+CO. can help
Being a CHPO gives you the opportunity to provide wellness to those who may feel “othered” by the healthcare system. It’s also important to use SEO and content marketing to show them what resources are available in their area. At BURG+CO., we can help you overcome growth challenges and get the most traffic, engagement and conversions possible.
Our team has years of experience collaborating closely with healthcare brands to improve their digital presence, allowing them to better attract new patients and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more potential patients to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help.
Want expert support with your digital marketing? Connect with BURG+CO. today to explore how we can help your healthcare brand grow.