Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a tricky thing, part art, part science. For the average person, SEO can seem quite overwhelming and confusing. In the simplest terms, there are three key elements of successful SEO: content, links, and site optimization. All three of these elements are critical to good search engine results, but many focus on just one or two of these elements. The most ignored of these elements, and perhaps the most important, is content.

There are hundreds of sites out there that attest to the fact that content is often left by the wayside or altogether forgotten. You’ve no doubt come upon a number of sites offering very little meaningful content over just a few pages, though they may have lots of links and keyword repetition. In fact, it’s been proven that commercial sites have better conversion rates when they provide content like detailed product descriptions and customer reviews rather than simple lists of products or services.

Search engines favor websites with complementary information because they are more likely to be regularly updated and are thematically relevant. While this may prove challenging for some sites, particularly those geared toward selling products, a site for a plastic surgery practice is ideally suited to handle lots of content. This content can come in a variety of forms: procedural guides, instructions for before and after surgery, testimonials, forums, Q&A’s, articles, current news stories, and more. Your website can include an article about the latest technique for rhytidectomy, the newest instrument used for rhinoplasty, or an in-depth, detailed look at the actual breast augmentation surgery. All this content can provide you with a valuable opportunity to set yourself apart in a very competitive environment while also allowing you to rank well in search engines for keywords contained within all that content. Further, this content can help with your conversion rates, turning more site visitors into actual patients. A site visitor is no doubt going to be more likely to go with the surgeon whose site answers all of their questions and contains the most authoritative and valuable information out there.

Many people are resistant to the idea of adding content, and lots of it, to their website, though it seems like such a simple solution. Some resist because it’s not always easy to update a website and, of course, creating all of that content takes time. Nevertheless, it’s an opportunity that really should not be missed. Great results can come from simply adding one article a week to your site. Further, with good SEO, it all comes back to content. By creating pages with meaningful, regularly updated content, optimization can fall naturally into place and each new page of content allows for further site optimization. It’s much the same with link placement. Linking, or when other sites link back to yours, can help your search engine results, particularly when the sites that link to you have a high PR and/or many backlinks. These are the sites that everyone wants linking back to them, but you can give them a reason to link to you by providing relevant, meaningful and regularly updated content and turning your website into a valuable resource. Use these powerful suggestions to maximize your own cosmetic surgery marketing efforts!