Hide-and-seek is one of those games you don’t really want to win. No one wants to be the last one standing — crouching alone in a bush, hearing all the neighborhood kids having fun without you.
Marketing has a lot in common with hide-and-seek — both come with a lot of anxiety about being found.
But while you “win” hide-and-seek by staying hidden, in marketing, being hard to find comes at a cost.
Your content isn’t really useful or valuable unless people can find it. So how do you get it in front of the right readers?
Read about the 4 features of findable content:
- Search engine optimization
- Intuitive site structure
- Audience-centric messaging
- Relentless distribution
1. Create Search Engine Optimized Content
Not all findable content is searchable. But all searchable content is findable.
This means SEO isn’t the end-all-be-all of creating content that gets read, but content that ranks is much more likely to be seen.
Make sure your website content is searchable:
- Target the right keywords: Use a keyword research tool like Semrush or Ahrefs to find keywords you both want toand can rank for. The “sweet spot” is generally a monthly search volume greater than 50 and keyword difficulty (or competition level) below 40.
- Use those keywords correctly: Incorporate keywords in the right places, such as meta tags, headings and throughout the content. But don’t overuse keywords (called keyword stuffing) and make sure to mix in related key phrases.
- Follow E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness are the gold standard according to Google’s guidelines for creating helpful content. Consider all 4 ranking factors with every piece of content to increase your Google search visibility.
- Link strategically: For external links, focus on helpful, trustworthy resources that aren’t your direct competition. For internal links, stick to relevant pieces of content that add value for readers.
- Ensure fast page load speed: Search engines recommend pages that provide a good user experience. 50% of people expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less; 80% abandon pages if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Check your pages using PageSpeed Insights.
- Keep your content up to date: Readers (and search engines) notice when a page or piece of content becomes outdated. Conduct regular healthcare content audits to stay on top of your content and make needed updates.
- Add value through imagery: The rise of AI has created a new search landscape — Search Generative Experience (SGE), where visual content ranks even higher. (View an example below.) Capitalize on this trend by using infographics, rich imagery and videos in your content.
Related: Create content with the 4 types of SEO in mind.
2. Make Your Website Easy to Navigate
Your site structure impacts how users navigate your website and how search engines crawl it.
Cluttered navigation bars and long pathways to important pages don’t only frustrate users. They make it more challenging for search engines to determine what your content is truly about.
Follow our guidelines to create an information architecture, or website structure, that’s intuitive to both users and Google:
- Don’t clutter your navigation bar: Spotlight the content users often look for, like transactional and category pages. Examples include appointment request pages and service line overview pages. Make important content easy to find.
- Avoid creating dead-end journeys: Use CTAs wisely in every piece of content to keep users engaging with your website (and to help them find more valuable content along the way).
- Categorize your blog content: Blog categories help readers and search engines understand what your content is about and how it all connects.
- Use a smart URL structure: Create short, organized URLs that make sense to both humans and search engines. See an example from our client, Henry Ford Health:
Related: What other healthcare website mistakes should you look out for?
3. Create Content Your Audience Will Share
The more readers that share your content, the more readers that see your content.
Social sharing positively impacts SEO — and boosts visibility in general.
Create audience-centric content that readers feel compelled to share:
- Start with your readers: Write content that speaks to your audience’s needs, problems and goals.
- Use their language: People are less likely to share content that feels academic or medical. Using your readers’ language (like “swollen feet” in place of “edema”) makes content searchable — and shareable.
- Write in plain language: Make content reader-friendly with short sentences, bulleted lists, bolding and conversational language (no jargon). Read 10 principles of plain language.
4. Distribute Your Content Far and Wide
You need a lot of content to stay competitive in healthcare. But even your most engaged readers miss most of the content you share. Important messages often go unheard.
Use content distribution methods to bring more attention to your content and ideas.
- Distribute your website content on social media channels and within newsletters. Use hooks to build curiosity and encourage readers to click through to your website.
- Don’t post and forget. Research shows people need to see a message 7 times for it to sink in. Repetition is your friend. Some of your best content likely already exists — return to those pieces to capitalize on what you have.
- Promote core pieces of content, like new research or annual reports, in creative ways. Include important pieces in email signatures, speak about them during events or use a banner on your website to promote them.
- Focus on amplifying your message over simply driving traffic. Distribution is about getting your message out to people who need to hear it. Instead of overwhelming your email and social audiences with links, repurpose ideas from website content for other channels.
Checklist for Making Findable Content
Download a one-pager with our best tips for creating findable content.
