Recent days have revealed some interesting developments about how Google works. Effective physician website marketing depends on how successfully data and research about search engine optimization are gleaned. Here are some research and news that shed more insight on Google’s mechanisms that could help you fine-tune your strategies.
SOS Alert for Coronavirus Updates
It’s been a tense few weeks for China and also fear for the world at large with the Coronavirus epidemic spreading. Google has the SOS alert feature just for such a situation. Searches connected to the Coronavirus epidemic have got an SOS alert feature. Google activates the SOS alerts feature whenever there are crisis events causing risk to public safety. Clicking on that link can take searchers to a search result page free of ads and containing the latest news and information, safety tips, and links pointing to authoritative information sources.
Google states that it has teams all over the world to obtain content from governmental agencies, authoritative and reputable media outlets, NGOs and first responders. Google also aggregates information from Google Maps, Google News and other services and products. Google does show the same global alerts, but if required it provides localized alerts.
Algorithm Changes Are Sometimes Too Much to Handle
An interesting survey reveals that Google’s algorithm changes are taking their toll on SEOs. Search Engine Journal mentions a recent survey conducted on almost 500 SEO professionals that showed that less than half of them were secure in their jobs, with algorithm changes being their primary source of worry. Around 80% of the SEOs are worried about algorithm changes negatively influencing their career, while almost 3 in 4 fear algorithm changes would negatively affect the overall industry.
There is reason for them to be worried, since the survey found that 60% of SEOs believe they have gone through firings or at least layoffs because of algorithm changes affecting their strategy. However, only 1 in 4 SEO professionals consider the security of their job being in a precarious situation. Most participants reported having a significant level of job satisfaction though.
Frustration in the SEO Industry
But there was frustration. Survey respondents felt that they went past the usual 8-hour workday for three days per week on average. Tight deadlines are the other reason for frustration, which could be the reason for the extended hours of the workday. 44% of surveyed SEOs expressed frustration as a result of the short time frames. Changing scopes of the project, client frustration, difficult client expectations, unrealistic expectations, SEO tactics changing in terms of results, were the other major causes of frustration among SEO professionals. Difficulty in measuring results was one of the lesser widespread reasons. 39.3% confessed to have employed unethical SEO practices.
Most SEO professionals surveyed aren’t intending to be in the industry for a significant period of time. They only intend to continue for around 1 to 6 years more. Only SEOs amounting to below 12% believe they can continue in the industry for the rest of their career. The survey only proves the challenge of SEO.
Research Reveals What It Actually Takes to Get Those Clicks
What it takes for success in SEO are a deeper understanding of the algorithmic changes as well as constant research. And that’s why we’re looking at yet another survey. Ignite Visibility conducted a study that revealed that:
- Meta descriptions have the greatest influence on users clicking a listing on a search result
- The second most influential feature was discovered to be brand name, followed by page title
The survey was conducted on more than 500 participants between 25 and 60 years of age. Two-thirds of the respondents believe that the more ads they see, the lesser would they want to use Google. The majority of respondents also felt that SERP features such as featured snippets help Google improve the search results it provides.
So, the survey quite clearly says that meta descriptions are where you need to focus your SEO efforts on. And you also need strong branding to make people want to click through your links. It goes beyond just your link coming up on the search results.
With this research data, you can go ahead and finetune your strategy. Digital marketing for healthcare is competitive, but with research-based strategies you can improve your performance.
