Restoring search visibility through expert content
Restored search performance through expert-led content strategy following Google algorithm update impact.
- SEO
- Medical copywriting
- Holland & Barrett
- OTC
Challenge:
Facing a critical challenge when Google’s 2022 helpful content algorithm update exposed weakness in their ‘Health Hub’.
While the hub’s extensive wellness content performed well in search rankings, it lacked the medical rigor and credibility needed to meet the new standards of health-related content.
Medico stepped in to overhaul their approach, introducing a network of healthcare professionals and a bespoke medical review process to create high-quality, validated content. This not only restored their search performance but also ensured their articles complied with Google’s guidelines and resonated with their audience.
Holland & Barrett / Medico Digital
Thin, low-quality content on Holland & Barrett’s key information hub
Holland & Barrett’s Health Hub featured a wealth of articles designed to educate and drive awareness, but the focus on SEO over accuracy resulted in content that lacked authority and medical integrity. This put both the brand’s reputation and its users’ trust at risk, especially in a market where credibility is paramount.
With this health content being key for guiding customers and building top-of-funnel awareness, providing inaccurate or unverified information was an immediate liability. The Health Hub content needed an overhaul to deliver meaningful value and meet Google’s heightened standards for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content.
Google’s E-E-A-T crackdown causes issue for content
In late 2022, Google introduced stricter criteria for evaluating content, particularly when it comes to health and wellness.
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) evaluates the credibility and relevance of content online in order to minimise the spread of misinformation and increase the amount of genuinely useful content. Under their new guidelines, to compete effectively brands had an increased need to showcase content created or validated by experts with real-world experience.
This is particularly key when it comes to health information - like Holland & Barrett’s Health Hub, which was crucial for bringing in top-of-funnel awareness.
Their existing content lacked the necessary depth, medical validation and authoritative voices, putting them at a disadvantage against competitors with high-quality content and strong credentials. As a result, this decimated their organic search performance.
Our Approach:
- Comprehensive content audit and strategic improvement planTo undo the damage from Google’s update and regain a strong organic search presence, we began with a full audit of Holland & Barrett’s Health Hub. One key challenge was managing a colossal archive of old content, much of which had unclear origins and lacked an official medical review. This made it difficult to determine which pieces were harming site performance and which could be salvaged. By setting strict quality standards and maintaining a sharp focus on our objectives, we assessed hundreds of articles, removing or merging thin content to eliminate cannibalisation and rewriting or optimising existing pieces for accuracy and authority. We also created new, high-quality articles to address content gaps or replace outdated material. This became part of a bespoke Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) process, ensuring every piece met the highest standards while aligning with Holland & Barrett’s goals.
- A network of highly-regarded medical specialists for content validationAs part of a this new, tailored MLR process, Holland & Barrett needed to medically validate their content to ensure it was both credible and compliant. Our discovery process involved thoroughly understanding the stakeholders involved and identifying their objectives, targets, and pain points. This insight informed a streamlined workflow, ensuring alignment on goals. To guarantee the credibility they needed, we were able to go beyond the typical content creation process, leveraging a network of medical professionals - including doctors and specialists - who reviewed content, provided feedback and added their stamp of approval with their GMC numbers. This rigorous review process allowed potential issues to be addressed early, enabling content to pass through internal sign-offs more easily. Externally, it enhanced the trustworthiness of the Health Hub, and significantly improved search performance.
Our Approach:
- Enhanced author profiles for trust and transparencyAs part of this new process, each medical reviewer would get their own profiles on the Holland & Barrett site, showcasing their expertise and authority and providing that all-important ‘experience’ element that Google values. These profiles would appear on each approved article, alongside the profile of the writer, reinforcing transparency and building trust with users. It allowed for an elevation of their content - it was no longer innominate, and there was no doubt of its credibility. But it would also give each medical reviewer an authoritative backlink to their own websites, boosting their professional online presence in return.
Summary
By marrying SEO expertise with medical validation, Medico was able to transform Holland & Barrett’s Health Hub into a trusted resource for wellness information. The improved content not only recovered and boosted organic rankings but also strengthened the brand’s reputation as a credible authority in health and wellness.
