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SEO is Changing: Essential Insights for Life Sciences, Biotech, and Healthcare Growth

Although search is always evolving, 2024 has already brought unprecedented changes, and there’s more to come. Here, we examine how SEO changes are impacting life sciences, biotech, and healthcare digital marketing and look at ways marketers can prepare for this new era.

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Google’s algorithm update and life sciences marketing

Even though Google regularly updates its algorithm, March 2024’s update was different as it directly addressed the wave of low-quality, AI-generated content currently flooding the online space.

Google’s success relies on serving only high-quality, relevant search results, so it was forced to act. This algorithm update aimed to bring users more useful information – what they call “helpful content” – while filtering out articles more focused on search results than readers.

And this is already having an impact. In April, Google announced that users would see 45% less low-quality, unoriginal content than before the algorithm change. (https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/)

So, what does Google consider “helpful,” and how can life sciences and biotech marketing teams avoid being affected by these SEO changes?

Put simply, helpful content is made “by people, for people” and scores highly within Google’s EEAT framework (Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness). (https://blog.google/products/search/more-content-by-people-for-people-in-search/) As Neil Patel stated in a recent webinar, there’s no point trying to “rig the game or take shortcuts”. (https://www.youtube.com/live/TE-4QkZvL4w)

This means marketing teams must continue focusing on their long-term SEO strategies rather than aiming for short-term quick wins. This is best practice for all marketers but is especially relevant for life sciences, biotech, and healthcare businesses built on trust, authority, and expertise.

So, life sciences marketers should aim for quality, not quantity. Unique, authentic articles and videos with a strong point of view and focus on real customers continue to be the aim.

What SERP changes mean for life sciences digital marketing

2024 has also seen an increasing number of users turning to AI platforms like ChatGPT rather than search engines for answers. Google is making changes to its search results page to compete.

Users in the US are already seeing AI overviews pushing out organic search on their results pages (SERPs), and this is likely to be rolled out to more countries soon.

Certain marketers say these changes herald a “new era of search” as SERPs displaying one or two paid links and a list of organic search results become a thing of the past. Instead, we’re seeing more complex results pages featuring links to videos, news reports, shopping results, additional questions, social posts and more.

This is already affecting the number of clicks to organic and paid results. A recent study by Semrush suggested that over half of all Google searches were answered on the SERP rather than via a click-through to more content. https://www.semrush.com/news/242672-zero-click-searches-are-on-the-rise-but-marketers-shouldnt-be-scared/

However, life sciences and biotech marketers don’t need to panic. Some tried and tested SEO practices will help boost search results in this new world.

Knowing your audience and understanding their search intentions is always important, and this is essential when optimising for new SERP layouts. Answering customer questions quickly and directly gives them the best experience and helps ensure your content is showcased on these new-style results pages.

Similarly, making sure your content is clear, concise, and well-written helps readers navigate and digest it. It also allows Google to better understand it, so it’s more likely to be featured as a snippet.

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Changing search behaviour in life sciences, biotech and healthcare

2024 is also bringing a change in the way users search for and find information. Just a few years ago, search engines were the only tool available. Now 30% of people are using chatbots and 17% are using social media to ask questions online and many are using one or both alongside search engines.

Life sciences, biotech and healthcare marketing teams will need to understand how these SEO trends apply to their specific audiences and adjust their approach accordingly.

For some, this could mean focusing on more video. But best practice still applies here – ensuring content is relevant, answers customer questions and targets keywords remains key.

And if AI chatbots are a priority, utilising proven SEO tactics is still the best approach. This is because optimising content for AI has much in common with optimising content for Google. Keeping articles focused on a specific question and one topic, structuring content clearly with headings and subheadings, and concentrating on keywords will all help AI to understand content more easily.

How marketing teams can stay ahead of search trends

SEO is a fundamental part of marketing any life sciences, biotech or healthcare business. Staying up to date with the latest practices and developments needs a dedicated team of specialists. Some businesses choose to do this in-house but that requires long-term investment and increased headcount.

That’s why many life sciences, biotech and healthcare businesses turn to Arttia Creative, your specialist creative marketing agency to optimise their websites, SEO strategies and digital content and stay ahead of the latest search developments.

At Arttia Creative, we know that keeping up with SEO changes can be challenging in the life sciences, biotech, and healthcare sectors. Our team includes search experts who can help you understand what search developments mean for your business and recommend the right action to take to stay visible and drive traffic.

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The Takeaway.

2024 has already seen seismic changes within SEO. A new Google algorithm, SERP layouts and search tools mean there’s much to digest for life sciences, biotech and healthcare marketers.

While some new tactics are needed, many proven practices are still relevant. The best way to drive results is to focus on high-quality content that addresses your target customers’ real questions or pain points and offers original ideas or distinct opinions.

Need help optimising your life sciences, biotech or healthcare website and content? We can help.

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Belinda White | Creative Director

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