This post is part 3 of a 3 part series on the web, online marketing and healthcare. Our first post looked at mobile, our second post looked at social, and today’s post is on search marketing in the healthcare industry.

Web search serves a unique function for the healthcare industry.  Before search, medical questions were answered exclusively by health professionals or by researching medical books and journals.  But, with the advent of search engines and the medical websites they link to, people are now able to attempt self-diagnosis with a few simple keystrokes.

They cross-reference their research with the advice given by their doctor.  They can shop for specialists rather than relying on referrals from their primary physician.  In short, search has fundamentally changed the equation.  Let’s look at a few statistics around how search marketing has affected the entire healthcare industry.

Search Facts

Since the first http page was developed in 1991, countless attempts have been made to organize and retrieve information from the web.  Here are some quick search volume statistics.

• Over 16 billion searches were conducted in September of 2010 alone.
• As of 2009, 78.1% of adults in the United States use the internet.
• Google receives over 65% of all search engine traffic.

Search Statistics in Healthcare

As Susannah Fox of Per Internet puts it, “Our data consistently show that doctors, nurses, and other health professionals continue to be the first choice for most people with health concerns, but online resources, including advice from peers, are a significant source of health information in the U.S.”

Here are a few statistics on health search:

• 59% of all adults have looked online for information about any of 15 health topics such as a specific disease or treatment.
• 18% of all adults have consulted online reviews of particular drugs or medical treatments.
• 13% of all adults have gone online to find others who might have health concerns similar to theirs.
• 12% of all adults have consulted online rankings or reviews of doctors or other providers.
• 11% of all adults have consulted online rankings or reviews of hospitals or other medical facilities.

Many of these search activities can lead a user to a medical news and resource website like WebMD.com.  WebMD is a popular tool for researching symptoms, current health news and offers many health community features is the 174th most popular website in the United States with 86.4 million unique users per month on average.

Search Types & Strategies

Search engines display results in various ways, but the two most popular and well-known types of results are organic search and sponsored search.  Making efforts to have your website show in the results in the organic section is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Placing ads under the sponsored search results section is often referred to as Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing.  These two types of marketing fall under the larger umbrella of Search Marketing, often referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

To maximize exposure and to ensure you’re not missing potential patients, having the website for your clinic, hospital, or healthcare organization appear under all sections of the search engine results for relevant queries is essential.

A well thought out, expertly crafted SEM campaign can:

• Convert people looking for answers to patients
• Keep your current patients from considering other providers
• Reinforce the brand and build the reputation of your organization

Search Marketing Example

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one client of Spyder Trap Online Marketing who utilizes PPC to great effect.  In June of 2011 alone:

• Over 9,000 visits were delivered to the Children’s website from sponsored search.
• Organic search delivered 36% off all traffic to their website, even more than direct traffic.

Ultimately, building a user friendly website with valuable information is just the start.  Implementing a strategy to present that website to the people you want to see it is what Search Marketing is all about.

If you’ve had experiences with Search Marketing for your Healthcare organization, please share with us your thoughts in the comments.