Accessibility isn’t just a box to check off during a website redesign or audit; it’s a critical component of creating inclusive, user-friendly digital experiences.  

For healthcare organizations, whose websites patients and families use to find essential care information, ensuring accessibility can be the difference between delivering value and causing frustration that drives a patient to a competing provider. 

By integrating key accessibility features, healthcare organizations can meet legal requirements, enhance user satisfaction, and foster trust.  

Here are six essential healthcare website accessibility features that ensure a great user experience for all your site’s visitors.

1. The ability to navigate with a keyboard

Keyboard navigation is a cornerstone of web accessibility, especially for users with mobility impairments or those who rely on assistive technologies. Ensuring that all interactive elements — menus, buttons, forms, and links — can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone is essential. 

To test your site’s keyboard accessibility, try navigating without a mouse. The focus should visibly move through interactive elements in a logical order, and all actions should be executable using keys like tab, enter, and space. Prioritizing keyboard-friendly navigation ensures that every visitor can explore and engage with your content seamlessly. 

2. Alternative text for images

Alternative text, commonly referred to as alt text, provides crucial context for users who rely on screen readers to describe the content and function of images. For example, an alt text for an image of a healthcare provider with a patient might read: “Doctor discussing treatment options with a patient in an office.” 

When writing alt text, aim to be descriptive but concise. Avoid redundant phrases like “this is an image of” and focus on conveying the image’s essential information. Beyond improving healthcare website accessibility, alt text can also boost SEO, as search engines use it to understand image content. 

Depending on the type of image, how and where you place the text can vary. For example, strictly decorative images typically do not need alt text, while complex images like infographics require a more in-depth description that requires text on the page, outside of the alt text, to explain what is visually represented. 

To learn more about the types of images that require alt text and tips on what to include, check out this blog post. 

3. High contrast visuals

Users with low vision or color blindness benefit significantly from high-contrast visuals. A strong contrast between text and background makes content easier to read (for everybody, not just those with visual impairments!). For example, dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background ensures visibility. 

To be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), colors used to distinguish elements on a webpage must meet a contrast ratio of 3:1. If your web page colors don’t meet that ratio, other formatting must be used (such as underlining or adding a border around linked text). 

Use tools like a WCAG Contrast Checker to evaluate your site’s contrast ratios. For added inclusivity, consider offering a high-contrast mode that users can toggle on or off based on their needs. 

4. Text alternatives for media

Video and audio content is a fantastic way to build your organization’s authority and foster patient connections. However, these pieces of content should always include text alternatives to ensure healthcare website accessibility. 

Captions provide real-time text for videos, while transcripts make video or audio-only materials into accessible, readable pieces of content. Both features benefit users who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as any user visiting your site in an environment where listening to audio isn’t feasible (i.e., in a crowded waiting room or public transportation). 

When creating captions, aim for accuracy and synchronization with spoken words. For live events or webinars, real-time captioning services can help ensure inclusivity. By providing these alternatives, you enhance engagement and usability for a wider audience. 

5. WCAG-compliant PDFs

As a healthcare provider, your organization likely has important documents like patient forms, educational materials, or brochures available for download on your website in PDF format. 

To be accessible, these PDFs must meet WCAG standards. This includes features like including a document title, image alt test, using tags, and ensuring the text in the document is machine-readable for visitors using a screen reader to access your site. That means if you have any PDFs on your site that are scanned-in images of paper documents, now is the time to re-upload them as machine-readable PDFs. 

6. User controls for media elements

Video backgrounds or content sliders that play automatically are popular features on healthcare websites. However, for users with low vision, motion sickness, or cognitive impairments, these elements can make your website unusable. 

To accommodate these users without giving up visually dynamic page elements altogether, provide user controls to pause, stop, or adjust these elements. This provides a more comfortable browsing experience, and allows every website visitor to be in control of the content on your page. 

Make sure that controls are easy to locate and use. For example, include a clearly labeled “Pause” button for autoplaying videos or allow users to manually move sliders or carousels to allow them to read the content at their own pace. These adjustments empower users to engage with content in a way that works best for them. 

Accessibility is about more than compliance; it’s about creating an inclusive digital environment where everyone can find the information and support they need. This is especially important in the healthcare space, where our primary job as marketers is to provide a seamless journey and easy-to-find answers from the moment a visitor first enters our sites. 

To learn more about healthcare website accessibility, check out our blog posts on commonly overlooked accessibility guidelines, WCAG requirements, and how you can check the accessibility of your organization’s website. 

If your website could use an accessibility-focused refresh, our team is ready to help with the latest healthcare website accessibility guidance and design insights to make your site friendly and usable for all visitors. Contact us today to learn more and get started! 

If your organization is establishing new locations or acquiring other healthcare providers in your community, chances are you’ve got a lot on your marketing to-do list. 

Marketing a growing healthcare organization can be challenging, from making sure your websites are up-to-date with your latest locations, providers, and service lines to ensuring your branding is consistent across your organization’s entire online presence. 

However, your job could be even more challenging if your organization is growing rapidly but still relies on a traditional content management system (CMS). CMS platforms are often limited in their ability to publish and maintain content across channels — a functionality that is absolutely essential for growing healthcare organizations. 

If that’s the case for your team, a digital experience platform (DXP) is the answer. 

What is a DXP?

A DXP is a platform that, while similar to a CMS, goes above and beyond with a suite of integrated tools to manage and optimize the entire patient journey and provide a level of sophistication that traditional CMS platforms simply cannot. 

Unlike basic CMS platforms, DXPs are built to deliver personalized content, adapt to user needs, and integrate with other essential systems such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools and telehealth platforms. For healthcare organizations, this means the ability to create seamless and tailored experiences for diverse patient populations. 

So what makes a DXP the right choice for a rapidly growing healthcare organization? 

Quick and user-friendly editing

One of the standout features of DXPs is their intuitive editing interfaces. These platforms enable marketing teams to make updates swiftly without needing extensive technical expertise or waiting on an IT team or external agency to make changes. 

For healthcare organizations, this agility is invaluable when managing time-sensitive campaigns, such as seasonal flu shot reminders or updates about new locations or service lines. 

Geographic targeting

Geographic targeting allows healthcare organizations to tailor their messaging to specific locations.  

If your organization is building new locations or entering a new community, geographic targeting can help you promote location-specific events or services and start building relationships with the people in that community. 

Flexible content architecture

DXPs use modular content design, enabling healthcare organizations to create assets that can be repurposed across various platforms and campaigns.  

This flexibility reduces duplication of effort and accelerates the deployment of marketing initiatives, freeing up resources for other strategic goals that are part of your organization’s growth strategy. 

Advanced analytics 

DXPs provide robust analytics tools that offer deep insights into user behavior and campaign performance. Healthcare marketers can leverage real-time data to refine strategies, optimize content, and ensure their efforts align with organizational growth or acquisition goals. 

Scalability and integration

As your healthcare organization grows, so will your digital needs. DXPs are built to scale seamlessly, accommodating new users, additional content, and expanded functionality.  

DXPs can also integrate easily with other essential systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), telehealth platforms, and CRM solutions, creating a unified digital ecosystem. 

Choosing the best DXP for your growing organization

When evaluating a DXP for your organization, consider: 

• Its ease of use for non-technical team members 

• Integration capabilities with your existing technology stack 

• Its ability to evolve with your organization 

• How it enables you to address unique healthcare marketing challenges 

Optimizely One for Healthcare, combined with Geonetric’s 25 years of healthcare-specific marketing experience, is the perfect tool for growing healthcare organizations, enabling your teamto oversee the entire healthcare lifecycle, no matter how many locations you have or how specialized your digital team is. 

With personalization options, an integrated CMS, digital asset management, a content marketing platform, geographic and audience-based targeting, and more, Optimizely One for Healthcare can help your team do more and seamlessly launch content as your organization grows. 

Interested in learning more about introducing a DXP like Optimizely One to your organization? Check out this blog post that dives into more of the benefits you can enjoy from a robust DXP. 

If you’re ready to bring the power of a DXP to your growing organization, contact our team today to learn more. 

Patients in need of care expect a few things when they research your services using a search engine or scroll through your location pages. They want accurate, up-to-date information, addresses and phone numbers, and even a photo or a map of the location they’re researching. But your healthcare location profiles can offer so much more than just the basic information — you can optimize your profiles to be a valuable tool in your marketing toolbox.

Beyond just appearing in search results, a well-maintained location profile builds trust and enhances user experience — essential components for driving conversions. 

Before we dive into ways to optimize your location profiles, let’s have a quick refresher on why ensuring your profiles are accurate and up-to-date is so important: 

Why healthcare location profiles matter 

Reach patients in your geographic area 

When people search for healthcare providers near them, they rely heavily on search engines like Google. Having accurate and consistent location information ensures that search engines trust your organization enough to display it prominently in search results. 

Improve your search engine rankings 

Search engines prioritize businesses with reliable and complete location profiles. Mismatched or outdated details, such as incorrect phone numbers or hours of operation, can hurt your visibility and rankings. 

Enhance the user experience 

Inconsistent or incomplete information frustrates users and may drive them to competitors. A trustworthy profile fosters confidence, ensuring users can easily find and contact your business. 

Key elements of a location profile 

Before you can optimize your location listings, make sure you have the basic components locked down: 

• Contact information: Ensure each location’s name, address (including whether an office is located within a larger location), and phone number are accurate across not just the location profiles but across all of your channels (social media platforms, business listings, etc.) 

• Business hours: Keep your hours of operation updated, especially during holidays or other special circumstances (extreme weather events, etc.) 

• Photos and descriptions: High-quality images of the location, as well as any staff, patient, and provider images, make each profile more appealing and credible. 

Time to optimize your healthcare location profiles

If your healthcare location profiles could use a little sprucing up, try these strategies for optimizing your location pages into powerful marketing assets: 

• Optimized HTML titles and meta description: Craft unique, keyword-rich HTML titles and meta descriptions for each location page. Include relevant details such as the city, neighborhood, and services offered to increase the likelihood of appearing in local search results. 

• Schema-structured data: Structured data helps search engines understand your business better. Add Schema markup to provide detailed information such as your address, hours, contact information, and reviews. This enhances your chances of appearing in rich search results like Google’s Local Pack. 

• Maps: Embedding a map of a location on its location page is a fantastic way to give prospective patients an idea of how far a location is from their home and the directions they’ll use to get there. 

• Keyword research: Identify the localized and service-specific keywords your audience is searching for. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your profile’s descriptions and content. 

• Mobile optimization: Most local healthcare searches happen on mobile devices. Make sure your location profiles are mobile-friendly, with easy-to-click links, correctly scaled images and maps, and legible information to improve the user experience and ranking potential.  

Other content components  

When building out your location profiles, consider adding these additional content pieces to fully illustrate the experience patients can expect from a given location: 

• Accreditation, awards, or certificates: Did a particular location in your health system recently pick up an award? Include a mention or badge on its location page! 

• Provider profiles: Healthcare location profiles are a fantastic place to embed provider profiles and show patients who they can expect to work with at a given office or hospital. 

• Patient reviews: Do you have a program that encourages patient reviews after they’ve visited a location or specific provider? Add reviews to the relevant location profile. 

• Service lines: What conditions does a particular location handle? Will patients have to go to another location to receive care? 

• Amenities: Can patients grab a coffee or pick up a prescription at a given location? Add in a list of amenities that the location has on-site. 

• Parking information: Give patients the most stress-free visit possible by including parking instructions if a location requires parking garage, street, or valet parking. 

• Virtual tours: A 3D walkthrough or video tour helps prepare patients for their visit and can help remove some of the anxieties around visiting a new healthcare location. 

Accurate, up-to-date, and optimized healthcare location profiles are a powerful tool for boosting your organization’s visibility in search engines and building trust with prospective patients. By implementing the tactics outlined above, you can ensure your organization stands out against your competition in location search results and provides an excellent user experience. 

Get ready for results 

What kind of results can you expect when you optimize your healthcare location profiles?  

We worked with Cedar Rapids, IA-based Mercy Medical Center, to enhance the profiles for its 63 locations with new images, trackable URLs, and more. Over the course of one year, Mercy was found more than 3.6 million times in online searches, with 117,802 of those searchers visiting Mercy’s website, another 216,305 initiating a phone call, and 64,236 getting directions. 

For North Carolina-based Cone Health, we created a keyword portfolio to focus on the content of each location profile, as well as conducted stakeholder interviews to create unique content about the benefits, services, and FAQs about each location. These changes led to an increase of 274% in pageviews and a decrease of 40% in the bounce rate for the top new location profile in a five-month period after launch compared to the same time period a year earlier. 

If you’re ready to optimize your healthcare location profiles and give prospective patients the best first impression of your unique office locations, Geonetric is ready to help. Contact our team today to get started! 

Healthcare marketers know that tying content to timely events is a powerful way to connect with audiences and increase engagement. Health holidays and awareness weeks provide an excellent opportunity to educate, inspire, and build trust with your audience through email marketing, social media posts, and blog or content hub articles. 

As we head into 2025, here are just a few of the many health holidays or observances in the United States that you may want to include in your healthcare content marketing calendar for the new year: 

January:

National Fiber Focus Month 

The new year often brings with it more people resolving to improve their nutrition. Enter National Fiber Focus Month, which was created to share the health benefits of fiber and the different ways people can incorporate it into their diets. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Share fiber-rich recipes on social media. 

• Post a blog discussing the benefits of fiber, and how to get more of it. 

• Post a Q&A with a provider or registered dietician at your organization talking about the importance of fiber and how it can impact patients’ health. 

February: 

National Patient Recognition Week — February 1-7 

Patient Recognition Week is all about honoring patients and promoting an organizational culture that emphasizes patient satisfaction. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Highlight patient success stories on your content hub. 

• Create personalized thank-you messages for an email campaign. 

• Schedule social media posts throughout the week that show how your organization supports patients throughout their care journey. 

American Heart Month 

American Heart Month was created to raise awareness of heart disease in the United States and motivate people to adopt healthy lifestyles in an effort to prevent heart disease. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Share heart-healthy recipes on your blog or content hub. 

• Promote fitness challenges on social media. 

• Create profiles of patients with heart conditions who are managing their health with the help of your organization. 

National Cancer Prevention Month 

February also marks National Cancer Prevention Month, which focuses on helping people reduce their risk of cancer through education on prevention and early detection. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Publish an article on cancer screening guidelines. 

• Share your appointment scheduling page to encourage people to schedule their next cancer screening. 

• Post a Q&A with a member of your organization’s oncology team. 

March: 

National Nutrition Month 

March is recognized as National Nutrition Month to highlight the importance of establishing healthy eating habits and making informed choices when it comes to the food we eat. The 2025 theme is “Food Connects Us” to showcase how food connects us to our family, friends, and culture. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Work with a member of your organization’s dietary team to create short videos about making healthy food choices you can post to social media throughout the month. 

• Use your content hub to share recipes and tips on how people can improve their nutrition. 

• Put a “nutrition tip of the day” on your homepage or social media accounts each day of March. 

National Sleep Awareness Week — March 9 – 15 

National Sleep Awareness Week is held each year to emphasize the connection between the quality of our sleep and our health and well-being. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Publish a tip each day of the week to your social media channels on how people can improve their sleep. 

• Use your content hub to post articles about the connection between sleep and health conditions. 

• Encourage patients to schedule an appointment with their primary care provider if they believe they’re having issues with their sleep that could impact their health. 

April: 

National Stress Awareness Month 

April is recognized as National Stress Awareness Month to help inform people about the negative impact stress can have on their health. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Post daily or weekly tips on how people can manage their stress and anxiety on your social media accounts. 

• Publish an article on your blog or content hub highlighting healthy stress management strategies. 

• Host a series of free yoga classes to help patients learn how they can reduce stress through physical activity. 

National Public Health Week — April 7 – 13 

National Public Health Week is held each year to celebrate the public health contributions and the importance of public health in addressing key health issues in our communities. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Share infographics on social media that focus on important public health topics like emergency preparedness, mental health, accessibility, and nutrition. 

• Publish a profile of a public health leader or changemaker in your community. 

• Use your blog to post news articles about the most pressing public health issues in your community and what people can do to help. 

Patient Experience Week — April 28 – May 2 

Patient Experience Week celebrates the healthcare workers who impact the patient experience every day. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Create a series of social media posts sharing what individual employees like most about working with patients. 

• Highlight a long-time employee and their commitment to the patient experience in a blog post. 

• Send an email campaign that focuses on unique things your organization does to ensure a stellar patient experience. 

May: 

Mental Health Awareness Month 

Mental Health Awareness Month has been held since 1949 to eliminate the stigma around mental health while fostering public education and advocacy. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Publish blog posts about the ways people in different age demographics (children, teens, adults, older adults) can care for their mental well-being. 

• Post facts about mental health on your social media channels throughout May. 

• Highlight your organization’s mental health providers and the vital work they do for your community. 

National Women’s Health Month 

May marks National Women’s Health Month, also known as Women’s Health Awareness Month. This observance serves as a reminder for women to prioritize their health and stay educated on the most common health risks. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Send a series of emails to female patients reminding them of essential health checks they should schedule throughout the year. 

• Post infographics featuring women’s health tips to your social media. 

• Create a blog series for your content hub about different women’s health topics like fitness, heart health, maternal health, and more. 

National Hospital Week — May 11 – 17 

National Hospital Week is an opportunity to highlight health systems, hospitals, and the providers who keep them running smoothly. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Create a video tour of your hospital(s) to help familiarize patients with the space. 

• Profile hospital staff on your blog and social media throughout the week. 

• Promote community events held at the hospital. 

June: 

Men’s Health Month 

June marks Men’s Health Month, which was created to raise awareness of health issues impacting men and the importance of preventative care. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Launch an email campaign reminding male patients to schedule necessary health checks. 

• Create social media infographics that share crucial men’s health stats or tips. 

• Write a blog series for your content hub about men’s health topics, including mental health, cardiovascular health, and cancers. 

July: 

UV Safety Month 

Held every July when people are most likely to be out having fun in the sun, UV Safety Month was created to raise awareness of the dangers of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and skin cancer risks. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Share sun protection tips on social media throughout the month. 

• Publish a blog post on crucial facts about skin cancer. 

• Promote your dermatology service line and encourage patients with skin concerns to schedule an appointment. 

August: 

National Health Center Week — August 3 – 9  

National Health Center Week celebrates and recognizes the essential work of health centers across the country. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Highlight different health centers in your system and the services they provide. 

• Promote events at your health centers. 

• Share testimonials of patients who have received treatment at your health centers. 

September: 

Healthy Aging Month 

September is all about recognizing the ways people can stay healthy as they age, from eating a nutritious diet to prioritizing physical activity. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Falls Prevention Awareness Week also takes place in September, so consider creating a blog post with tips and exercises older adults can use to try to reduce their fall risk. 

• Create a series of social media infographics or posts with health tips for older adults. 

• Launch an email campaign to older patients with tips for healthy aging and reminders about health checks recommended for patients their age. 

October: 

National Primary Care Week — October 5 – 11 

National Primary Care Week is an annual event highlighting primary care’s vital role in healthcare. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Create a series of staff profiles or videos introducing your organization’s primary care providers. 

• Share social media posts promoting primary care visits. 

• Send an email campaign reminding patients of the importance of primary care services, and the location where they can receive them. 

November: 

American Diabetes Month 

November marks American Diabetes Month, a time to raise awareness and rally support for diabetes prevention, care, and research. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Share success stories of patients who have received diabetes treatment at your organization. 

• Promote healthy lifestyle tips and other diabetes prevention information through your social media channels. 

• Feature diabetes management resources on your service line page. 

December: 

National Handwashing Awareness Week — December 1 – 7 

Wrap up the year by recognizing National Handwashing Awareness Week, which takes on a particular importance during cold and flu season. 

Healthcare content marketing ideas:

• Post handwashing tips and reminders in facility bathrooms. 

• Share social media posts that include stats about handwashing — and what can happen when people don’t wash their hands. 

• Create a blog post about the importance of handwashing this time of year. 

Incorporating these holidays into your 2025 content marketing plan can position your organization as a leader in healthcare and strengthen your connection with your audience. Mark your calendar and start planning impactful campaigns today! 

Need some more healthcare content marketing inspiration? Keep reading the Geonetric blog, or reach out to our team today to learn how we can take your content marketing to the next level in 2025 and beyond! 

It’s no secret that consumer expectations for digital experiences are at an all-time high, especially in the healthcare space.  

One consumer survey found that 50% of healthcare consumers said a poor digital experience from a healthcare provider would ruin their entire experience with that provider. Patients and prospects look for seamless, responsive, impactful experiences across multiple channels, and if your organization can’t provide that, they’ll likely move on to a competitor. 

However, as the demand for robust digital experiences grows, so does the need for a solution that goes beyond a traditional content management system. For larger healthcare organizations or those implementing marketing strategies across multiple channels, a digital experience platform (DXP) is a better fit.  

A DXP offers healthcare organizations a suite of integrated tools to manage and optimize the patient journey and provides a level of sophistication for healthcare marketers that most CMS platforms can’t match. 

If you’re new to the world of healthcare DXPs and wondering if one would be the right fit for your organization, here are just a few of the benefits a DXP like Optimizely can provide your team:

1. Seamless content management

A fully-featured healthcare DXP should offer an integrated content management system to streamline website content creation, management, and distribution. Unlike a standalone CMS, however, a DXP can publish content across all channels and include features like personalization and artificial intelligence. 

By making content management this easy, a DXP allows your team to take care of updates on the go — without waiting for IT or an outside agency — saving you valuable time to focus on other marketing efforts. 

2. Personalization possibilities

Not on board the personalization train yet? You should be!  

Personalization in healthcare gives healthcare marketers the power to provide digital experiences tailored to patients’ unique needs, and a healthcare DXP can drive that process by leveraging data from the organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform.  

By offering meaningful, relevant, personalized experiences, you can connect with prospective patients and show them that their care journey matters to you from their first digital interaction with your organization. 

3. Simplified digital asset management

How much time does your team spend tracking down your organization’s most recent logo or other branded content? 

A standout healthcare DXP should offer digital asset management that helps your team manage, organize, and reuse content like videos, images, documents, and branded graphics. This ensures brand governance and management and makes it easy for people across your organization to find and use the content that puts your brand front and center. 

4. Easy optimization

Your website isn’t set in stone — experimentation is crucial for optimizing digital experiences and providing precisely what patients want. 

A healthcare DXP allows you to use A/B testing to see which experiences patients prefer and quickly hone in on the ones that will help lead to more conversions for your organization. When your website updates are backed by real engagement data, you’ll waste less money and time on ineffective tactics and get more value from making confident decisions. 

5. Engaging, converting content

When we say a DXP unites all of your digital marketing efforts into one place, we mean it! With the right DXP, you can plan, create, collaborate, and launch content across any channel, as well as track analytics on how that content is performing. 

6. The ability to scale

If your organization is growing, a DXP is the solution for you. Between multi-channel publishing and the ability to create custom templates, launch a landing page for a new location and personalize campaign content for patients in a certain geographic area, a DXP is key to keeping up with the demands of a growing health system. 

7. Keep everyone involved

At large healthcare organizations, collaboration within and beyond the marketing team is a fact of life. Make that process go a little smoother with a DXP that includes collaboration features like comments, markups, and the ability to instantly share new content with departments across your organization. 

The right healthcare DXP

While a robust healthcare DXP should provide all of the benefits listed above, only one comes backed by Geonetric’s 25 years of healthcare marketing experience: Optimizely.  

With Optimizely, your entire marketing department can get the tools they need to create, streamline, and optimize healthcare-specific digital experiences that win over prospective patients and build loyalty with existing ones.  

Want to learn more about the benefits a DXP can deliver to your organization compared to a traditional CMS? Check out this blog post to learn more about the difference between the two, and which one is the right solution for your team. 

If you’re ready to see firsthand how a DXP can help your organization, contact our team today! 

 If your organization has increasing patient conversions, growing a specific service line, or drumming up business for a new location on its 2025 to-do list, healthcare search engine marketing is just the way to do it. 

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the strategy of utilizing paid advertisements on search engine results pages to increase awareness and drive users to your website. Healthcare marketers use paid ads to capture potential patients’ attention at crucial moments in their online care journey and guide them toward a specific service line or location. 

Over the past year, Geonetric has helped clients across the country meet their healthcare search engine marketing goals and win some awards while doing so. If you’re looking for SEM inspiration for your organization, check out these 2024 award winners! 

University Health

Geonetric has worked with San Antonio, TX-based University Health on its healthcare search engine marketing efforts since 2021. One specific multi-year campaign was designed to promote the health system’s primary care services and increase online appointment scheduling while staying on budget and decreasing cost per conversion. 

The multi-year format of this campaign allows the Geonetric team to continuously experiment with campaign assets to drive the best results. Those assets include keyword research, search engine-optimized landing page copy, the landing page design, ad copy, and more. 

As a result of this experimentation, University Health saw its highest number of online appointment requests to date, as well as year-over-year results including: 

• A 26.3% increase in overall conversions 

• A 19.5% decrease in cost per conversion rate 

• A 30% increase in conversion rate 

These impressive results earned University Health a Platinum MarCom Award for SEM Campaign, as well as a Gold Award for Best Search Engine Marketing Campaign in the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. 

ProHealth Care 

Waukesha, WI-based health system ProHealth Care has partnered with Geonetric to provide SEM and paid advertising services since 2020, including an ongoing campaign to increase site traffic to priority service lines and boost online appointment scheduling while decreasing the cost per conversion. 

This campaign was designed to drive organic traffic and online appointment scheduling, effectively track conversions, and decrease conversion costs to maximize the organization’s digital ad spend.  

To connect with the right audience at the right time, Geonetric created ads that target users in southeastern Wisconsin, where ProHealth has more than 80 locations. The team also optimized the ads for relevant keywords and continuously monitored performance to pinpoint opportunities where paid ads can enhance organic traffic without undermining SEO success.  

Since this healthcare search engine marketing partnership began, ProHealth has earned more than 4.3 million impressions, 383,900 clicks, 84,900 conversions, and a 22.28% conversion rate. 

For those results, ProHealth earned a Gold MarCom Award for SEM Campaign. 

Hartford HealthCare

Hartford, CT-based Hartford HealthCare has worked with Geonetric for more than five years to make its healthcare search engine marketing efforts more cost-effective while breaking down the system’s siloed approach to harmonize digital advertising across organic search, paid ads, and other channels. 

To optimize Hartford HealthCare’s ad spending, Geonetric uses weighted conversions, which allow Google to prioritize certain conversions based on their strategic value. By informing Google which conversions carry more significance for this ad strategy, the Geonetric team can optimize for the most valuable user actions and lower the cost per conversion. 

These campaigns are also continuously improved to respond to healthcare trends and consumer needs to help build brand awareness, reach patients at critical points in their care journey, and encourage consumers to make informed healthcare decisions. 

Since their Geonetric partnership began in 2018, SEM and pay-per-click efforts have earned Hartford HealthCare more than 255 million impressions, 1 million clicks, 111,500 conversions, and a 10.16% conversion rate. These incredible, ongoing results earned Hartford HealthCare a 2024 MarCom Award Honorable Mention for SEM Campaign. 

Need more inspiration? 

A great healthcare search engine marketing campaign isn’t worth much without an outstanding website to send users to. Check out these 2024 award-winning Geonetric client websites to inspire your next refresh, redesign, or intranet project! 

To learn more about search engine marketing, check out our Digital Advertising service page and request a free consult from our team today! Your organization could start seeing incredible results like these in the coming years and even pick up a few awards along the way.  

Have more questions about SEM, digital advertising, or website development? Let our team know — we’re ready to help take your digital healthcare marketing to the next level! 

Healthcare marketers’ ability to connect with prospective patients is what sets successful organizations apart from struggling ones. Without a strategy for patient acquisition and outreach, the people searching for care in your area may choose your competitor over your organization. 

That’s why it’s essential to have a plan with tactics to foster new relationships and turn your community members into loyal patients. 

There’s no better time than the start of a new year to reevaluate your marketing strategy. If your organization is looking to connect with new patients in 2025, try these strategies: 

Tap into the power of personalization

Patients look for care tailored to their unique needs, and your paid ads should reflect that. Leverage personalization and optimization to create highly targeted ads based on demographics, location, and search behavior.  

For example, personalize the art in an orthopedic ad to depict someone in the same age group as the person searching for care. You can also personalize other aspects of your website to make them more useful for people in your area. For example, put local urgent care clinic information front and center on your homepage after 5 p.m. 

Personalization not only improves click-through rates but also builds trust with potential patients by demonstrating that you understand their needs. 

Pay attention to website analytics

Your website’s analytics tell the story of every prospective patient who visits. How long did they stay on your site? What pages did they visit? Did they complete an action or leave before scheduling an appointment? 

Use these insights to optimize content, improve page load times, and identify areas of friction in the patient journey. For example, if analytics show high exit rates on your appointment scheduling page, it’s time to reassess the process for usability. 

By regularly reviewing your analytics, you can sense how website visitors are using your website and whether it’s a helpful resource or a frustrating experience that sends them to one of your competitors. Speaking of which… 

Make sure your site is easy to navigate

If users can’t find what they’re looking for on your website quickly and easily, they’ll look elsewhere for care.   

Ensure your site has an easy-to-understand navigation menu, is mobile-friendly, and has clear calls-to-action like “Schedule an Appointment” or “Find a Provider” to guide patients on their care journey. 

Navigation should feel intuitive, guiding users seamlessly to the information they need. Conduct user testing to identify pain points and make adjustments accordingly. Remember, a well-designed website reflects the quality and accessibility of the care you provide. 

Provide streamlined appointment scheduling

Prospective patients expect convenience from your organization. If scheduling an appointment takes too many steps, they’ll likely go elsewhere for care. 

Integrate online scheduling tools that allow patients to easily book, reschedule, or cancel appointments. Offering appointment reminders via text or email and highlighting telehealth options can further simplify the process. The easier it is for patients to take the next step, the more likely they are to choose your organization. 

Build a robust content hub 

A healthcare content hub is a fantastic way to introduce your organization and its experts to prospective patients and help answer questions they may have on their care journeys.  

You can use your content hub to share health-related news, helpful healthcare information, patient stories, and other posts related to the care you provide. You can also use your content hub as a way for your care team to get involved and promote their expertise by authoring posts themselves or helping with the approval process. 

A robust, consumer-focused content hub is a way to highlight that prospective patients will be in good hands with your organization and that your providers are ready to help them take the next step on their care journey.  

Connect with your community

Healthcare is deeply personal, and community connections can make your organization stand out. Host health fairs or classes, sponsor local events, or partner with schools and community centers to build awareness of your services.  

You can also engage with your audience on social media by sharing patient success stories, celebrating milestones, and addressing community health concerns. Authentic engagement fosters trust and positions your organization as a cornerstone of the community and truly drives patient acquisition.

Ready to work on your 2025 patient acquisition goals?

Attracting new patients in 2025 requires a mix of advanced digital marketing techniques and old-fashioned relationship building. Ensuring your website and marketing tactics are a helpful, seamless stepping stone in a prospective patient’s care journey will help position your organization as a leader in your community and improve patient acquisition in the new year and beyond. 

Want to learn more? Check out this Geonetric blog post that provides even more strategies for winning over new patients. 

If you’re ready to take the next step in your patient-centered digital marketing journey, let our team know! We’re ready to help you implement strategies that will make your 2025 acquisition goals a reality. 

The new year will be here before we know it — are you (and your marketing strategy) ready?

If you could use a few pointers to help reach your 2025 goals, the Geonetric team is here to help! We put together several resources over the course of 2024 to help you tackle rising digital healthcare marketing trends and use them to advance your marketing efforts.

Download your free copies of these resources today, and get ready for a successful 2025!

• eBook: DXP — Empowering Compelling Patient Experiences 

• eBook: The Future of Findability — Search in the Age of AI 

• Webinar: Beyond the Horizon — Digital Healthcare Marketing Trends Shaping the Future 

• eBook: Your CMS Isn’t Working for You — Here’s Why 

Have questions about any of the topics covered in these resources? Let our team know — we’re ready to put our 25 years of digital marketing expertise to work for your organization!

In healthcare, we typically focus on the moments that drive a prospect to become a patient of your organization. These moments include patients finding your organization in search engine results, clicking on a paid ad, or scrolling through your site to learn more about your treatment options for a specific condition. 

However, one moment that often gets overlooked is when a prospective or even current patient visits the blog page of your website.  

What do they see when they arrive? Is the information on your blog helpful or generic? Is the content patient-focused, or simply a way for your team to blast out press releases that don’t have much — if anything — to do with patients’ concerns? 

If your blog has gone stagnant or turned into a lackluster page where press releases go to die, it’s time to consider a revamp. Even better, it’s time to consider launching a healthcare content hub for your organization. 

What is a healthcare content hub?

A content hub is a term used to describe an area of a website where organizations publish quality content that’s useful to their target audience. These hubs often have an editorial look, feel, and tone, creating an engaging, branded experience that goes beyond your basic blog page. 

In healthcare, content hubs are used to share vital health information, patient stories, and news-related posts that relate to the services they provide.  

If you have a healthcare content hub that needs some TLC or are just getting started on your healthcare content marketing journey, here are a few tips from our team to get you started. 

Keep it timely 

Not all of the information you share through your healthcare content hub has to tie in with current events or seasonal happenings. By adding in timely content, you can capture your audience’s attention and make your content hub a go-to place for the latest in health news. 

Timely topics could be tips for allergy relief during the spring months, healthier recipes to try out during the holidays, or suggestions from your care teams about health topics in the headlines.  

Keep it consumable

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that consumers’ attention spans are short. This is especially true as Gen Z patients start making their own healthcare decisions, and more and more patients consume healthcare content from their phones. 

Aim to keep your content on the shorter side, with a layout that utilizes bulleted lists, headers, and bold text to make it skimmable. You may also consider creating video content, especially short-form videos, as they’re a fantastic way to share critical information while holding viewers’ attention. 

Keep it credible

Your healthcare content hub is a place to let your organization’s expertise shine!  

This means bringing in providers as subject matter experts to inform the stories you cover, provide quotes, and even write content themselves if they have time. If your organization is working on a physician marketing strategy, having providers serve as content hub authors is another great way to provide them with promotion and exposure. 

Keep it audience-focused

No matter what your content hub looks like, your content strategy needs to be centered around the people who will be visiting it: your audience of patients and prospective patients.  

Think like a patient when brainstorming story topics and consider articles they might find helpful, like patient success stories, “get to know a provider” profiles, and health information they can use in their everyday lives. By weaving in stories of the people your organization employs and has helped in addition to health content, you can add a component of social proof and trust-building to your hub. 

Not sure about the types of helpful stories patients want to read on your healthcare content hub? You can also employ a poll or survey within the site where users can provide their thoughts and ideas on what they’d like to see next! 

Keep it actionable

Every piece of content should include the next steps a reader can take. Examples of these calls to action can include: 

• A link to your appointment scheduling platform at the end of a provider profile 

• Links to your relevant service line pages in an article about a condition or treatment 

• A call to share their experience at the end of a patient success story 

• Links to previous articles on a similar topic in a health-related news story 

Whatever you do, make sure the posts on your content hub aren’t the end of the line for your readers. Instead, they should open the door to more helpful, engaging content. 

Looking for healthcare content hub inspiration? 

If you’re due for a new or revamped healthcare content hub and aren’t sure where to start, check out these case studies to see how we helped organizations like Cone Health in North Carolina and Silver Cross Hospital in Illinois transform their content strategies and get results (like a 56% increase in social media traffic!). You can also find inspiration in these content marketing hubs, which our team finds particularly impressive. 

When you’re ready to get started with your own healthcare content hub, Geonetric is ready to help! Reach out to our team to learn more about the development process and how we can create a powerful content hub that accomplishes your goals. 

In need of some inspiration for your next website redesign, intranet project, or microsite? Check out the Geonetric healthcare websites honored with awards for their cutting-edge visuals, user-friendly features, and comprehensive content in 2024.  

This year, Geonetric clients won big in boh the MarCom Awards, which honors excellence in marketing and communications, and the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, which recognize achievements in healthcare websites and digital initiatives. 

If a website redesign or project is on the horizon for your team in 2025, consider these examples for healthcare websites and digital experiences that raise the bar! 

FirstHealth of the Carolinas – Website Redesign

Pinehurst, NC-based FirstHealth of the Carolinas worked with Geonetric in 2023 to redesign its website in a way that showcased its visual branding, simplified the site structure, accommodated the more than 40% of visitors who came to the site using a smartphone and helped it stand out from its competition.  

The result was a user-friendly, responsive website that made navigating and searching the site a breeze while highlighting FirstHealth’s commitment to whole-person care through imagery and strategic messaging.  

In the first year since its launch, the FirstHealth site racked up more than 402,000 engaged sessions, 582,000 mobile users, and 4.3 million page views. 

The 140-location, 6,100-employee health system was honored for its redesign with a Platinum MarCom Award in the Mobile Website category, a Gold MarCom Award in the Website category, an honorable mention MarCom Award for its provider directory, and a Gold eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Overall Internet Site. 

Adventist HealthCare – Cancer Center Microsite

Adventist HealthCare, a 63-location, 6,200-employee health system based in Gaithersburg, MD, was experiencing rapid growth of its cancer service line by establishing new partnerships and treatment centers.  

Adventist reached out to Geonetric to create a dedicated microsite that would tell the story of the system’s comprehensive cancer services, grow with the organization, and satisfy all stakeholders. 

The resulting microsite guides users on their care journey with location profiles, lists of the cancers Adventist treats, classes and events, provider profiles, and resources for survivors. All of these features are set against a calming color palette and simplified navigation so visitors know exactly where to go for the information they need. 

Adventist’s cancer center microsite was honored with a Gold MarCom award in the Microsite category. 

Benefis – Internet & Intranet Redesign

The time had come for Great Falls, MT-based Benefis Healthcare System to update not only its website design but the platform it used to manage it. Its current website had become technically and creatively outdated, which didn’t align with the health system’s expanding presence across the state. 

Benefis worked with Geonetric to launch a revamped site that had a modern look and user experience, new EPIC/MyChart functionality that replaced an old patient portal, and messaging that clearly showed which communities the organization serves. 

The new Benefis.org features an intuitive user interface, simplified navigation and search, mobile responsiveness, and scalable content like Location profiles that can grow along with the organization. In the first six months after its launch in February 2024, the website brought in a 200% increase in average click-through rate, a 253% increase in organic traffic to Locations, and a 25.3% increase in average Google ranking. 

Around the same time, Benefis wanted to replatform its old BenefisConnect employee intranet to a solution that could increase engagement and allow its team to update the site without assistance from the IT department. 

The new BenefisConnect also launched in February 2024, and saw a 42% increase in average engagement time, a 63% increase in user engagement events, and an 18% increase in page views. 

For their website work with Geonetric, Benefis earned MarCom Award honorable mentions for Intranet and Website Redesign, as well as Gold eHealthcare Leadership Awards for Best Overall Internet Site and Best Mobile Website, and a Silver eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Digital Internal Communications. 

VHC Health – Careers Microsite

Like many healthcare organizations in the post-pandemic era, Arlington, VA-based VHC Health needed a boost for its employee recruitment efforts. VHC worked alongside Geonetric to create a new home base for job seekers, as well as the recruitment team’s SEO, SEM, and paid advertising efforts. 

The new VHC Health careers microsite showcases bold branding, a modern design, images of real employees, and an information architecture that seamlessly guides job candidates to the information they’re looking for. On the back end, comprehensive keyword research, on-page optimization, and Schema code help improve VHC’s findability for candidates searching for healthcare jobs online. 

The content on the microsite offers job seekers information about current openings, employee perks and benefits, workplace culture, individual employee experiences, professional growth opportunities, and the application and hiring process. All of these elements work in tandem to show why VHC is a great place to work for anyone seeking employment in the Arlington area. 

VHC’s careers microsite earned a MarCom Awards honorable mention, as well as a Silver eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Landing Page or Microsite. 

Ready to get started on your own award-winning healthcare websites?

Whether you’re looking to launch a microsite, revamp your employee intranet, or undergo a complete redesign and replatform, Geonetric is ready when you are. Our team of designers, developers, content pros, and digital marketing specialists have more than 25 years of experience creating healthcare websites that take the patient experience to the next level. 

Learn more about our healthcare website design services here, then reach out to our team when you’re ready to get started on your own award-worthy digital experiences!