The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article: March 2005, Volume 4, Issue 3
SEM Vertical Industry Focus: Pharmaceutical
by John Krochune, Algorithmic Search Manager, iProspect
Beginning with this issue, the Search Marketing Advisor will present a series of industry-specific articles that address unique search engine marketing challenges posed by certain online vertical markets. The first in this series examines SEM campaigns for pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, specifically, campaigns for branded drug websites.
Branded Drug Terms
One of the main focuses of a drug manufacturer’s SEM campaign is to attract Internet users to their website who are looking for information by searching on the specific drug’s name. Although obtaining search engine rankings on a specific drug’s name may seem automatic for the manufacturer of that drug, there are many competitive sites vying for visibility on these keywords (more on this later).
Tough competition or not, it is typically the SEM campaign’s top priority to get the official drug site visible in the search engines on keyword phrases that include the drug’s name, particularly phrases that would be used by people looking for the drug’s safety information. A drug’s manufacturer needs to ensure that their site gets natural search rankings higher than other sites that also include information about their drug.
Condition-Related Terms
Another key focus for the drug site’s SEM campaign is attracting visitors who are searching for information on the condition or disease that the drug treats. Understanding what keyword phrases people use when they are trying to find treatments or general information about the condition is crucial to any drug site’s SEM campaign. Once these keyword phrases are discovered, they are used to optimize relevant Web pages. By doing this, one has a good chance of obtaining natural search rankings on these condition-related phrases to drive this type of visitor to the site.
Unique Challenge: Getting Team “Buy-In”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the pharmaceutical industry. Every word on the branded drug website needs to be approved by the pharmaceutical company’s legal department in accordance to FDA regulations before it goes live. Generally, a search engine marketing professional is working with the client’s in-house Web marketing and technical teams to implement optimization recommendations. In the pharmaceutical industry, the legal team needs to be included in any content change to the site.
The SEM professional should understand the company’s vocabulary and style guide before making any of their recommendations for changes to the site. In addition, taking the time to communicate SEM best practices and the type of recommendations they can expect to receive from each of these teams (legal, tech, and marketing) is essential in guaranteeing the campaign progresses smoothly.
Unique Challenge: Monitoring Your Competition
Competition within both the paid and organic listings on drug-related keyword phrases is fierce. Many sites that resell the same drug that the pharmaceutical company manufactures and markets employ unethical search engine marketing techniques to gain top search engine rankings; blocking the official site from appearing in the top spots on the drug’s name. Thankfully, search engines take these matters seriously. Sites that are caught obtaining high search engine rankings through illicit practices are generally penalized – often being banned from the natural search results. SEM professionals should know how to detect these illegitimate tactics and how to contact search engines to report sites that are practicing these techniques.
Game Plan
The first step towards a successful campaign is discovering the best drug-related and condition-related keyword phrases. After the keyword phrases are selected, the SEM professional needs to work together with the multiple teams to make certain all needs (legal and corporate) are met when optimizing the site. Once the site is optimized, analyzing search engine results for sites practicing unethical tactics (and reporting them to the search engines) will ensure the drug site is attaining the best rankings it possibly can.
