From Rags to Riches With Successful SEO Copywriting: Georgetown Surgical Clinic SEO Case Study
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Jill Whalen, Owner
HighRankings.com
http://www.highrankings.com
(Author's disclaimer: I created this SEO copywriting page for Jill - and if you've ever seen us conduct a "Writing for Search Engines" session, you know that it's one of our favorite case studies. Enjoy!).
After successfully optimizing numerous Web sites over the years, it's readily apparent to me that search engine optimization (and specifically good SEO copywriting) can make or break a business.
Take the Georgetown Surgical Clinic, for instance. GSC is a relatively small clinic in Kentucky that performs gastric bypass surgery (commonly referred to as "stomach stapling") for the morbidly obese. In 2000, they had a professional Web site designed to bring new patients into their clinic. The owner of the clinic, Dr. Randall Bolar understood the power of search engine marketing, and paid his design firm extra to ensure that the site could be found in the search engines. However, after many months of obtaining only two-to-four new patients a week from the Web site, Dr. Bolar felt like he might as well have taken that extra money and simply lit it on fire! (Those were his actual words.)
When I first reviewed the Georgetown site, it was painfully obvious to me why the site couldn't be found in the search engines. The most glaring problem was that the visible copy on the home page had only 85 words, and no keyword focus to speak of. On top of that, the copy was not well written, and had no human appeal. In fact, it completely lacked feeling and emotion and was - quite frankly - BORING!
Here's the original copy:
Welcome to Georgetown Surgical Clinic, PLLC. We specialize in gastric bypass surgery. This is an appropriate alternative for patients who have tried all conservative measures to control their weight and have failed. We can and do treat people with this medical problem successfully. Significant and long term weight loss can reduce or eliminate some medical problems, improve the quality of life, and is statistically likely to increase the length of life.
Please browse our site to learn more about the clinic and its services.
A rewrite from scratch was definitely necessary for this site's all-important home page.
But before we could rewrite the copy, we had to determine the most appropriate keyword phrases for the SEO campaign. I asked Dr. Bolar to send me the keywords he felt were the most important. Here's the list he sent me:
Dr. Randall Bolar Georgetown, Kentucky
Diets
morbid obesity
gastric bypass
Weight Loss Treatments
Georgetown Surgical Clinic
right weigh (our competion)
morbid obesity surgery
bariatric surgery
weight loss surgery
obesity surgery
gastric stomach stapling
gastroplasty centers
weight loss
weight loss program
weight loss clinic
weight loss plan
Diet
Overweight
Fat
diet pills
obesity treatment
Some of these keyword phrases were definitely appropriate for the Web site, such as "morbid obesity" and "gastric bypass." However, other keywords such as "diet pills" and "diets" really weren't relevant to what this clinic offered.
A common mistake that site owners make when attempting a search engine optimization campaign is believing they should target keywords that are not actually relevant, but that might be searched upon by the same target market. Another blunder is trying to target keywords that are too general - such as "fat." Sure, "fat" is related to morbid obesity and gastric bypass surgery, but what are the chances that someone who typed in the word "fat" at a search engine would actually be interested in having gastric bypass surgery in Georgetown, KY? Surely, it's slim to none.
In fact, trying to target the phrase "gastric bypass surgery" isn't as targeted as it could be. Because the clinic is located in Kentucky, someone from California or Massachusetts would not be part of their target market. Therefore, it was important to pair the most important keywords with location keywords. For example, instead of "gastric bypass surgery" we needed to target "Kentucky gastric bypass surgery" or even the more targeted "Georgetown Kentucky gastric bypass surgery." Now, it's true that keyword research through WordTracker probably won't show many searches for such highly specific phrases; however, it's necessary to use this strategy for "local" sites, regardless. Of course, when you optimize for "Kentucky gastric bypass surgery" you're also targeting the more general phrase "gastric bypass surgery" because it's part of the longer phrase; therefore, you may rank high for the general phrase as well.
Once the best keyword phrases for the home page were determined, it was time to bring in the professional search engine optimization copywriter, who just happens to be the author of this book, Heather Lloyd-Martin. It's critical to search engine success (and Web site success) to have copy written by someone who understands marketing flow, and who can also write copy based on particular keyword phrases.
So let's take a look at the new, professionally written, keyword-rich marketing copy:
Specialists in weight loss surgery for a healthier, longer life.
If you're morbidly obese, now there's a life-changing solution just for you!
You don't have to suffer the psychological, social and physical effects of being morbidly obese anymore. If conventional diets have failed, and you're chronically 100 pounds or more over your ideal body weight, gastric bypass surgery can help you lose weight. And keep it off.
Welcome to the Georgetown Surgical Clinic, conveniently located near Lexington, Kentucky.
Now, with gastric bypass surgery, you can finally take control of your health!
We've successfully performed weight loss surgery (otherwise known as stomach stapling) on countless patients like you from our Lexington, Kentucky office. Our warm, caring staff will take the time to explain the gastric bypass procedure, helping you understand what stomach stapling is and how it benefits you. Finally, you can have the weight loss surgery you deserve from an experienced and knowledgeable bariatric surgeon.
We can reduce the problems you've faced from morbid obesity, and help you live a healthier, happier life. Contact our Lexington-area office today for more information on gastric bypass surgery or browse our site to see if you're a candidate for stomach stapling. Bariatric surgery is an important step - and we're here for you every step of the way.
Do you have questions about bariatric surgery? Read our gastric bypass FAQ's for the answers you need.
Discover if you're a candidate for weight loss surgery! Learn more about bariatric surgery today.
Get to know us! Learn more about gastric bypass surgery and stomach stapling at Georgetown Surgical Clinic, today.
The underlined phrases are hyperlinks (or "call-to-action" links) to entice people to click further into the site.
Kinda makes you want to hop on a plane for Kentucky and get your stomach stapled, doesn't it? When copy speaks to you in that way, you know it's good!
We also edited the copy on the inner pages to ensure that the relevant keyword phrases were well represented throughout the entire site. Lastly, we edited the Titles, Meta Tags and other optimizable HTML code to correspond with the chosen phrases. Keyword-rich copy can go a long way towards high rankings, but it should always be used in conjunction with every possible (ethical) SEO technique at your disposal.
Between the copy, the new tags and a Yahoo! appeal, within a few months this site's visitors (and more importantly new patients) SOARED! The clinic went from a couple of new patients a week to a whopping 50 - 70 new patients each and every week! The Georgetown Surgical Clinic metamorphosed from a struggling practice (which nearly went bankrupt), into a strong, thriving practice. Since most of the new patients were finding the clinic through the Web site, GSC even began to see patients from far and wide. One patient even drove seven hours to the clinic! The last time I spoke with Dr. Bolar, he was meeting with 11 new patients the very next day - all of which had found the clinic through the Internet.
The Georgetown Surgical Clinic case study clearly illustrates how well written, keyword-rich copy, used in conjunction with traditional SEO techniques, can make a huge difference to a Web site and a business
Next: Editing your copy