Healthcare search marketing: what is it? I came across an SEO firm that claims a top search result for “Healthcare search marketing” and I am reminded of the debates about SEOs ranking for “SEO”. But then “healthcare search marketing” really is a broad term, and in no way as meaningful to it’s market as SEO is to the search marketing market.

This appears to be a classic case of marketing to the client, while mis-representing niche marketing competence. The potential client (perhaps a pharmaceutical company or a PR firm working on a project for big health system like Kaiser Permanante) may search “healthcare search marketing” to find a marketing firm, but the target market won’t. The targets of healthcare search marketing are so-called “conditions” or “indications” and “medications” or “treatments”. Think “rosacia” or “treatments for rosacia” or “rosacia treatment”. If an SEO/SEM firm specializing in heathcare search marketing proclaimed it held the #1 spot for “rosacia” (on behalf of a client, obviously) that would be special. It would be indicative of talent and skill. By the way, that is a mis-spelling of “rosacea”, a common skin affliction. Cool. They not only rank #1 for rosacea but knew enough to go after and rank for rosacia! I bet rosacia gets more search traffic than rosacea. That’s a good SEO/SEM firm for healthcare marketing!

But no, just as those looking for SEO find the firms that are best at ranking for SEO (and not necessarily the best at ranking for anything else), those looking for healthcare search marketing or conditions, afflictions, and related treatments will find firms good at showing you they can do what you think needs to be done, even if they can’t do what actually needs to be done. For many of those firms, the money you spend with them, figuring out what you really need, is enough.

Is it any wonder most of heathcare search marketing is driven by referral and word of mouth? So what is a #1 ranking for “healthcare search marketing” worth?

I’m going to guess this is another example of C-Ego ranking. The CEO wants to see a #1 rank for something, and that’s why it’s a target. Of course I might be wrong. It might be very impressive to potential clients when they land on the SEO firm home page and see the proclamation “we rank #1 for healthcare search marketing”. I can just imagine the client meeting… “we define healthcare search marketing on the web”.

Related info:

FirstRanked tops the SERP and healthcare search marketing is their specialty.
Catalyst competes at #2 with rich content on-theme. It’s also their core focus (nice 301 BTW ;-))
#3 is a standard directory.
Bill Hartzer is the cross-over site in the “healthcare searchmarketing” SERP, with very thin content. He’s got strong SEM relevance, of course, but we might see this post competing up there for the same reasons.
SMTUSA is another dedicated medical marketing firm
DMNews covered search-engine marketing for healthcare
SEMPO did a case study in healthcare marketing via search engines
Marshall Clark has a health marketing blog
Novartis ranks for “healthcare search marketing”… not sure why that’s relevant

22:22 8.0 16 added 5 ext links 1 internal and sidebar
1.10:48 4 1 known BL (t) 600 stumbles
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Topical Tags:c ego healthcare marketing healthcare search marketing public relations rosacea rosacia rosatia sem SEO

I joined Stumbleupon in July of 2004. Yes, I said 2004. So what happened to my account?

I hate it when sites forget their early adopters. I know, back then it was a FireFox extension. I know, back then it was really, really small. I know, pre-Web2.0 and Social Media and all that. And that’s *exactly* why I wanted to claim my early adopter status! But there is no account anymore. They have moved up and out of the neighborhood, living large with their success, and forgotten me despite my early faith and support. Alas, woe is me.

Ted Leonsis, the Man, the Myth, the Legend himself, has declared himself “Web 2.0″ with the announcement and beta launch of Revolution Money Exchange.

First, let me say relax. Ted’s no longer calling himself an SEO, and he even told me he respects what SEOs do and hires plenty of them in his businesses, so no need to fire up another Ted Leonsis SEO Contest, ok? ;-)

According to the press release, it’s Revolution Money, a payment processor and more. There’s a gift card, a pre-paid card, a credit card link, and PayPal-like money transfers with NO FEE on either end. That’s right… free transfer of money to and from your bank account, and then between account holders. Like PayPal without the fees. Imagine that.

Oh and did I mention it’s Web 2.0? Really. Steve Case says it is, in the press release:

“So we have built an innovative Web 2.0 company based on the latest technology to disrupt the decades-old system…”

It’s innovative. It’s Web 2.0. I didn’t see the words “brilliant” or “passionate” used to describe the founders, but clearly they are brilliant and passionate. And it’s Web 2.0, as the press release continues to assert:

“Revolution Money has created the first Web 2.0 payment platform designed for a mainstream consumer audience, especially those who enjoy the convenience of handling their financial affairs and purchasing online.”

Personally, I’m not sure what’s Web 2.0 about it. The site itself does have some light green and light blue coloring, and the corners of the boxes are slightly rounded if you look real close, but it’s using the transitional doctype and it fails validation. The gray on white text? Nope. And I don’t see any shiny floors either. To me, it sort of looks like a thin affiliate payday loan site. But hey, it is in beta and it’s free so maybe it is Web 2.0 worthy? Not my call. They say it’s Web 2.0. There are a bunch of domains… not all un-parked yet. Maybe that’s the Web 2.0 part?
Anyway it is an interesting project for sure, because of the big names on the management roster:

Management Team: Ted Leonsis… Steve Case, Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary; Russell Hogg, former President and CEO of MasterCard International, Inc.; Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae and former director of the Office of Management and Budget; David Pottruck, former CEO of Charles Schwab; David Golden, CFO of Revolution LLC and former Vice Chairman of JPMorgan; Jason Hogg, Founder and CEO of Revolution Money; and Patrick Graf, Co-founder and CTO of Revolution Money. Marshall Group Chairman and CEO Dennis Mathisen is also a founding investor.

With such heavy hitters is almost seems shameful to proclaim it Web 2.0. So well established and impressive, why suffer the Web 2.0 label? Even the worker bee managers are big business:

Hogg was previously a founder of MBNA Canada and chief business development officer at MBNA Canada. He was the COO of Medsite, Inc. and previously President of HorizonLive. Hogg is the son of Russell Hogg, the former President and CEO of MasterCard International Inc., who is credited with launching BankNet, MasterCard’s global packet-switching network. Graf was previously SVP for Q1 Solutions. Hogg and Graf are joined by COO Dax Cummings and CFO Darren Thompson. Cummings is a seasoned veteran who previously ran MBNA’s US Endorsed Card business and served as member of their Management Committee. Thompson was formerly the head of Credit Finance at Fannie Mae and a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs.

That’s some serious pedigree going after online banking via the micropayment route. These guys know how to manage float, and surely they have the acquired taste needed to truly appreciate the sweet taste of slippage. Did I mention they are actually promoting this as a means of “anonymous transactions on the Internet“? It’s in the press release. From what I see you need to tie both ends to bank accounts, so I don’t see the anonymity myself, but I trust Ted Leonsis. If “overthrow the second oldest profession” was on Ted’s ToDo list, this would be the attempt.

Filed under Ted Leonsis and I wish I had screened Nanking.

Topical Tags:Revolution ted leonsis The Rape of Nanking