First, let’s take a look at why the search engines should be responsible for having to change the way the results are displayed. No matter what search engine you use, none are proficient at semantic search. For instance, take a look at the result set returned on Hakia for the search query “how can I treat my heartburn?”. As you can see, the intent of my search wasn’t fully understood, and it appears to simply match the terms in my original query. What this means is that text analysis is still a critical factor when determining what pages/sites to include in a result set. Therefore, including targeted disease-state terms in your titles is still going to make a difference in the success of any SEO campaign. Now I know that not including keyword in a title tag isn’t the only reason a site would/wouldn’t rank for a targeted term, but I’m not the only one that knows it matters (just look at #1 under On-Page Factors)! Along with this, at the Social Media hearings that were held recently, Google already stepped forward and showed examples of possible Paid Search ad formats that would be used in order to abide by the FDA’s rulings.

So what have we learned from this example? The engines have the capabilities to alter their results, it’s now just a matter of them doing it.

As we all know, the engines have enhanced results for different verticals. It’s now time to apply those enhanced results styles to pharma. Although a scalable solution that could be supported by all major search would be optimal, for the purposes of this post I will be giving examples that are engine specific. Here are just a few ideas/examples of what the engines currently are doing for other vertical results, and how they could be applied to pharma:

Bing & Document Preview

Bing has a pretty sweet feature called “Document Preview” which allows for a user to gain some understanding as to what a particular result is all about. As you can see in the above example, AJAX is used to display part of the page’s content (ironically enough, the preview above shows the user the Safety Information) when the user hovers over the result. Currently there is only a way to block MSNBOT from adding the document preview via the <meta name=“msnbot”, content=“nopreview”> meta tag. What this leaves open is the ability to implement a directive that tells MSNBOT what content to actually include in the document preview (I’d imagine it would be a microformat / RDFa that was specific to Bing). This would enable a pharma webmaster to mark up the PI, or whatever content is desired to be included that preview.

Microformats & RDFa for Pharma

This is a more scalable solution, that if adopted by all engines risk information could be included in all pharma results. As you may already know, Google and the soon defunct Yahoo! support microformats and RDFa which help them provide enhanced listings for sites in their indices.

Above is an example of a Yelp result that utilizes the hReview-aggregate microformat. This allows Yelp to provide additional information, such as average star and price rating. This sort of enhanced listing would perfect for pharma SEO because of the fact that is could provide a direct link to safety information and it could be supported by all major search engines. A webmaster would simply have to go in mark up the safety information on a page with the correct microformat and they would have an enhanced listing (obviously this is somewhat oversimplifying the process, but you get the picture).

So, what do you think? Do you feel that it is up to the SEO to simply change how their results are displayed in order to comply by future FDA guidance, or should the engines show a little love and make the SERPs a little more pharma friendly?

It may seem like an uphill battle. How could a patient change the way a physician prescribes? Believe me, I’ve heard it many times before. “We don’t focus on patients,” and “Our only real target is physicians – patients don’t matter.” Really? That sounds like a great strategy – for 1997. Let’s keep up with the times, people. Consumers are hungry for information. It doesn’t matter what the category. My dad used to choose whatever the local mechanic recommended, but now he won’t even buy a new headlight without searching ratings, reviews, and shopping engines. People want to be fully informed before making a decision. Show me the CARFAX!

So why would we think healthcare is any different? People want to make the right decision when it comes to health and safety, and they will do the research. So why fight it? It isn’t hard to give people what they want. It doesn’t require a multi-million dollar ad campaign. You just have to be there when they are looking for you (even if they don’t know they are looking for you).

1-800-flowers can run commercials all day long and I may never feel the need to order flowers. However, a search ad is very likely to get my attention when it appears for the term “same day flower delivery” on October 7th (my Mom’s birthday). This is exactly how it works in pharma. Consumers develop symptoms/are diagnosed/need a refill and immediately start searching. These are the opportunities you must pounce on. They are looking for you. They want your help.

Encourage them to seek diagnosis. Prompt them to ask questions. Help them save money.

If you don’t, your competitor will. I have a great case study, but first something I stumbled upon while writing this post. I asked a coworker to pick a random disease and then I started searching. “how can I stay awake?” “narcolepsy treatment.” “ghb coupon.”All roads should have led to Xyrem. But they didn’t. They led to Nuvigil. Even a search for “xyrem coupon” led me to Nuvigil. The icing on the cake – Xyrem.com won an eHealthcare Leadership Award in 2008 for “best website.” People want to be empowered, and they will use the tools you make for them. But only if they can find them…having a great site does nothing for you if people can’t find it!

Let’s get back to my original question. Can patients influence prescribing habits? Well, I work with a smaller brand in a marketplace dominated by several blockbuster drugs. This smaller brand can’t afford a big consumer campaign, but they do make sure they reach the right people at the right time. Year after year they continue to prove that smart paid and organic search campaigns get results. Results that are driven by patient requests. Patient requests for a brand that those patients had never heard of before they started searching.

This brand dominates natural search, continually being the only brand on the first page for key disease-state terms. This natural search presence plus a strategic paid search campaign has resulted in highly qualified patient traffic that continues to increase every year. More than 20% of their traffic in 2009 printed a coupon and 30% of those prints were redeemed. Need more proof? The brand did a 3rd party study and found this interesting stat:

In 2009, 10% of their prescriptions were driven by patient requests.

Not bad for the annual cost of a handful of sales reps.