Pharmacy SEO Cheat Sheet – How to Do SEO for the Pharmaceutical Industry?

When searching for pharmacies and medications, every Internet user wants to ensure that accessed content is valuable and tailored to the needs. Since health is of utmost importance, we should provide our customers with information about trustworthy places where they can get quality medicines that serve their intended purpose promised in the descriptions.

The development of the pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. Its increasing importance results from socio-economic factors such as the aging of the population and its level of wealth. However, decisions made by the government are the most important element that has a direct impact on the prices of medications which require proper development and production. The industry covers everything related to pharmaceuticals – from their initial design to manufacturing and distribution.

How to do SEO for the pharmaceutical industry?

You probably don’t need to be convinced that improving the position of a website operating in the pharmaceutical industry is extremely important. This sector is highly competitive, both in terms of the local and nationwide areas. For this reason, it’s particularly crucial to promote pharmacies in the search engine.

Apart from improving your website visibility, it’s a great recipe for building a positive brand image. Such a step may be particularly significant in the case of crisis situations. Search results should be carefully monitored due to the fact that the information displayed in top positions is highly sensitive.

SEO copywriting and content marketing for pharmaceutical companies

Appropriate SEO copywriting activities play a significant role in the SEO process for the pharmaceutical industry. In the case of pharmacy SEO, the content must comply with specific criteria. You can inform about the operation of the pharmacy, its opening hours, and payment methods. The page can also include standard descriptions of products offered by your company.

Content marketing which makes it easier to post expert articles on the blog is also crucial in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s an extremely important tool for communication with customers. Why can it be so profitable? Recipients are fed up with typical advertisements that manipulate their emotions without providing factual and useful product information.

How can you benefit from content marketing?

• Reach new customers,
• Advertise medicines and supplements displayed for specific phrases,
• Increase your reach,
• Improve brand recognition,
• Create a positive brand image and build relationships with customers.

Content marketing gives you enormous possibilities for doing SEO for your pharmaceutical company. Publishing valuable texts on both internal and external platforms allows you to boost your website visibility for specific phrases. This type of promotion opens the door to writing about both medications and a healthy lifestyle, which may be supported by appropriate supplementation.

When preparing the content, it’s worth keeping its recipients in mind and using language transparent to every reader. SEO copywriting should educate and inform! Bear this in mind when writing your texts.

Social media in the pharmaceutical industry

Enterprises without social media accounts? It’s hard to imagine. The pharmaceutical industry isn’t particularly keen on benefiting from possibilities offered by social media. Although companies pay greater attention to their visibility in the search results, they still don’t devote enough time to social networking sites. Even though such platforms are quite a challenge, they give you enormous possibilities. With their help, you can quickly reach customers, establish a strong market position, improve your brand recognition and present yourself as an industry expert.

Greater exposure to criticism from customers who don’t have particularly positive experiences with your company is one of the main risks of this channel. Social media platforms are frequently chosen by dissatisfied customers, however, it’s still a valuable source of information on new medications, special offers, or services. Many advertising specialists believe that we don’t fully benefit from the potential of these platforms.

Just think about Instagram which actively promotes a healthy lifestyle. Appropriate hashtags and creative posts easily reach recipients who take care of their health and are ready to invest in dietary supplements.

Brand image and recognition in the pharmaceutical industry

Positive brand image and reliability are particularly important factors affecting SEO for the pharmaceutical industry. Right advertisements can help improve the recognition of a company that specializes in the distribution of medications. However, ads must comply with legal guidelines which strictly define the nature of the Internet or TV content.

The information included in the ad needs to be in line with the document authorizing the substance to the market and the characteristics of the medicine. Ads should be objective and present instructions in a transparent, understandable way.

When formulating the advertising message, you should remember that it needs to include a product name, trademark, pharmaceutical form, dosage, advertising slogan, and additional content with a recommendation to consult a doctor. Keep in mind that your ads shouldn’t address children or suggest that a given medication will positively affect health and replace doctor’s appointments. Moreover, it’s forbidden to advertise prescription medications or drugs.

Pharmaceutical websites belong to the YMYL (Your Money Your Life) group, which is closely related to health and life. As mentioned in the section above, authority, expertise, and trust (E-A-T) content is the best solution here. Make your website a valuable source of knowledge about health, life, and other important issues.

Unfortunately, product descriptions are problematic due to the fact that you have to benefit from texts prepared by manufacturers. Consequently, creating content for a pharmacy website involves the risk of duplication. Gaining a competitive edge over platforms that have been around for a long time can be a time-consuming and demanding task.

If you decide to publish reliable, verified, and elaborate content saturated with keywords, you’ll improve your brand recognition which will definitely have a positive impact on customer loyalty and trust.

Local SEO – the recipe for small pharmacies in the area

You already know how important it is to do SEO for online pharmacies. However, you still shouldn’t forget about local stores that need to be popularized. Do you want to attract more customers, other than regular visitors living in the area? In this case, your SEO strategy should focus on keywords related to the city and district. They will make your pharmacy stand out from the crowd and inform potential buyers about the region of its operation.

The value of information is the key to local SEO. Quality, knowledgeable content with appropriately selected keywords will improve the position of your pharmacy in the search results.

Complement your site with sections such as Q&A or customer reviews that can be useful for potential buyers.

Additionally, you can benefit from thorough research and competitive analysis. Find room for improving your product descriptions and make them more attractive. Discussing two elements that aren’t included in texts prepared by other stores will allow you to make your content clearer and more valuable.

Law vs. SEO for the pharmaceutical industry – how to cope with it?

In the previous part, we’ve already mentioned how certain legal norms affect the advertising of medications and the pharmaceutical industry. What does the law say about SEO in this sector? We have some good news for you. SEO for online pharmacies doesn’t violate the advertising prohibition. It’s categorized as a set of technical activities designed to improve the order of displayed information.

Your website won’t violate the law as long as you don’t publish information that is supposed to encourage people to purchase offered products and use certain services. Both medical and pharmaceutical industries are allowed to generate conversions thanks to quality content that isn’t an advertisement.

What to keep in mind when doing SEO for the pharmaceutical industry?

When doing SEO for the pharmaceutical industry, it’s worth remembering certain elements that will improve your brand recognition and visibility in the search results. First of all, make your pharmacy website technologically advanced. Page loading time is an important ranking factor that additionally has a positive impact on user experience. Graphics frequently affect page weight. Make sure that you have the right amount of compressed images that don’t overload your website.

Take care of internal linking and intuitive navigation that will make it easier for users to navigate individual product pages and categories. External linking is a vital part of every SEO process. Choose websites with high Page Rank and TR (trust flow) indicators. Be an active member of industry forums, price comparison engines, and (frequently underestimated) social media.

SEO for the pharmaceutical industry is about setting ambitious goals and devising strategies to achieve them in a spectacular way. Improved brand recognition, user engagement, higher conversion rate, and enhanced brand image are elements that will allow you to develop a powerful pharmacy website visible in the search results and in the market.