January 22nd, 2021 | Updated on August 4th, 2021
After a year marred by the coronavirus and public health emergencies, just how is it that advertising and healthcare–particularly virtual health care–are linked? It’s arguably through SEO and digital marketing efforts.
Search Engine Optimization
As Manick Bhan said, “No modern business can survive without showing up in Google.” Bhan is the CTO and founder of Linkgraph, a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) platform designed and intended to help advertise various companies through the use of key terms that will force a brand to appear higher on a search query list.
Job of SEO consultants is to know all about search algorithms and stay ahead of them in order to put the company into the public consciousness.
Businesses such as Linkgraph operate solely in the digital domain, replacing the typical method of advertisements that have traditionally incorporated print, radio, and televisual forms.
In fact, in many ways, an SEO agency is not normally creating ads at all, despite still being a form of digital marketing.
They aim to put the company or product directly in front of the user, based on similar searches that they’re running. Instead of relying on gimmicks or slogans, the person visits the website after having their interest piqued directly from what is being marketed to them at the time.
SEO Is About Getting The Message Out
Unlike typical marketing, enticing people to visit a particular site is not always for retail purposes. Much of the time, this form of advertising is used to promote an idea as well as a purchasable item.
One recent example of this is when information about the coronavirus pandemic needed to reach as many people as possible in light of a public health emergency.
By putting the guidance on how to avoid catching COVID-19 in as many places as possible on the world wide web, people were able to get information on what to do and how best to go about it almost without realizing it.
Also as a result of the public health emergency that was declared due to coronavirus, people were advised to to stay home. People were asked to seek medical and healthcare consultancy for problems that didn’t require hospital admission through online mode.
In a bid to control the infection, doctors’ offices and hospitals began to implement a no visitation policy, and they dissuaded patients from visiting with anyone directly.
However, getting this message out proved to be difficult.
Telemedicine incorporates video calling and doctoral appointments to allow for remote healthcare. Originally developed in the 1960s, personal care over communication devices has seen a rapid growth of late in lieu of physical exams during the pandemic.
For some services, including cancer care telemedicine, remote care has grown to include prognosis, treatment via video chat, and consultations on cancer care going forwards, right up until the point that virtual care is no longer effective. Still, it prevents unnecessary contact until then.
A New Global Norm
This is not a United States-specific practice, as telemedicine has become popular the world over. According to the British Medical Journal, telemedicine will be popular with UK citizens even after the pandemic is gone.
In the United States, Telemedicine is expected to grow significantly in the next four years. But the argument as to whether this growth is down to marketing and advertising, or is born of a simple necessity will continue for longer.
