New SEO Methods for Medical Device Marketers

Modern SEO Techniques

Any medical device marketer can use this two-part series on Modern SEO Techniques for Med Device Marketers to understand SEO. Part one will cover modern link building and part two will cover user experience as a search engine ranking factor.

Search Engines

We love them when we’re looking for the hottest sushi restaurant in town. But when it comes to getting our business to rank at the top, they can be a pain in the wasabi.

Search is a moving target.

Google has been known to alter its algorithm — its method for determining and delivering search results — as many as 600 times per year in its quest to deliver ever more relevant search results.

So what has you sitting at the top today could have you suffering at the bottom tomorrow.

TRA

FFIC

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In the recent past, Google has adjusted how it views two important ranking factors: inbound links and user experience.

Link building is one of the most important ranking factors, but often the most misunderstood.

? ? ? ? ?

Link building is the process of acquiring links to one of your web pages from another external web page through some kind of activity.

Years ago links were a commodity, you could buy a link package that would guarantee a certain number of links, keywords to target, and the timeline in which they'd be completed.

While you can technically still do this today, you won't get the results you are looking for. In fact, Google may penalize you for using this outdated technique.

Think of it this way, when something is scalable (like building links with bots, as many companies still do) it can be hard to ensure quality and control.

Quality control is a human job, and Google favors links that are done with intention by humans.

and ultimately fall outside of Google Webmaster Guidelines.

So any technique for building links that can be scaled will be seen by Google as bogus–

So, now that you can't simply grow links on the farm, how do you acquire them?

Well, it turns out the new way to build links is a lot like the old (timeless, longstanding) way of pursuing public relations.

You know the outlets you want to go after, but instead of pitching them with only a press release–

you pitch them with a link-building asset.

A link-building asset is anything available to you that someone may find interesting enough to link to, such as:

CONTENT MEDIA DATA PEOPLE

Content

Has your company written a white paper on an interesting topic? 

People

Does your company have an expert who can comment or be interviewed on a hot topic? 

Data

Has your company done research that might be applicable to a larger audience?

Media

Can your company provide an educational video on a topic?

Once you have your asset, you should target media that:

1. Cares about your content 2. Can provide a link

3. Has authority

Not all links are created equal.

Yes, Google will look at the number of links pointing at your website, but it will also look at the quality of those links.

Google will want to see that your links are from trustworthy

sources on diverse websites and on

websites that are relevant to your

content.

If you want to know more about creating link-building assets, targeting media or writing a pitch, we recommend The Link Building Book by Paddy Moogan.

Another good one is the Primer App by Google. This smartphone app has educational lessons on marketing skills, including building content assets.

In part two of our series on modern SEO techniques, we'll cover your website's user experience as a search engine ranking factor.

Grey Matter Marketing is a marketing performance agency—the first of its kind. Built from the ground up, we partner with med tech companies to identify and seize their essential advantage. We focus on solving your toughest business challenges by uncovering and leveraging your greatest strengths to create—not just capture—value in the new outcomes-based healthcare environment.

www.GREYMATTERMARKETING.com