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News people will tell you that all news is local. Before a story makes it to CNN, Fox News or into the New York Times, it was somebody’s local story first. People care most about what’s happening around them. Organic search results on search engines (Google, Yahoo! and Bing) aren’t conducive to local searches. Looking for a florist? Organic search results are limited to the national chains ─ FTD, 1-800-Flowers, etc. ─ because they carry the most “authority” and have a lot of other websites linking to them. Sure ─ a local business can buy paid search links, but not everyone looks there.

Enter local business listings. (Actually, they entered about two years ago, but there are now a lot more people paying attention to these links.)

At least 40% of online searches have local intent. Just like the news, people are most interested in what’s around them. The big three search engines now present links for local businesses on the results page for searches they believe have local intent. Try it ─ search ‘retirement communities’ and then ‘retirement communities in Kansas City’ (or, wherever you’re located). In both cases, you should see a map like the one above.

Senior living communities with a presence in these local listings are getting 20-25% of their website traffic from these links. Frequently, more than 60% of those visits are derived from non-branded searches (meaning: a community’s name is not part of the search query). AND ─ of the visits from non-branded searches, more than 80% are by first-time visitors to the website. The local business results can play a big role in your community’s ability to reach new prospective residents. Oh, and they’re free.

This is the fourth blog in the 5-week series. Read the original post with all 10 questions. Or read answers to Questions #1 and #2, Questions #3 and #4, and Questions #5 and #6.

Q7: How can I be sure that my web site is optimized for search engines?
(Answered by Blake Hodges, Digital Media Strategist)

People ask about search engine optimization because it impacts how web sites are ranked in search engines’ non-paid results. Optimizing your site has three components: web site content, programming and inbound links (other web sites that link to yours). Keyword usage in your site’s headlines, body copy and tags is the first step. Below are five areas you should address. However, these days, search engines want more – fresh content such as blog posts, photos and video is equally important. Search engines put a premium on fresh content, and fresh content promotes more inbound linking from quality web sites.
 
Search engine optimization starts with properly classifying your site for search engines. Here are five areas you can easily modify today to give your site a competitive edge:

• Title tag. This is the text that appears in the bar at the very top of your browser. It is one of the first things search engines see when they visit your site – they want to know what it’s about. Depending on the page of your site, the title tag should contain keywords such as “retirement community,” “senior living” or “assisted living,” along with the city in which your community is located – e.g. Kansas City retirement community. If your title tags just say “home” or “welcome” or simply your community’s name, you’re missing an important opportunity to optimize your web site for search engines. Vary the title tags between pages.

• Headlines. Search engines look for text that has been bolded, enlarged or underlined to see which words stand out more than others. Use keywords in your headlines. Instead of “The Best Care,” try “Chicago’s Best Assisted Living Care.”

• Body copy. Search engines look at the beginning, middle and end of your web site’s body copy to see if the keyword for which you want to optimize is used throughout the page. They will also gauge keyword density, which is the number of times a keyword is used within all the words on the page. If the keyword appears throughout the page and clearly supports the headline and title tag, you stand a good chance of getting ranked higher in the natural search results for the keyword.

• Links between pages. The body copy needs to include links to other pages of the site. These links help the search engines better understand how the site is organized.

• Meta description. The meta description doesn’t appear on the page. It is located in the site’s programming code; however, search engines will likely use it as part of your listing in the search results. The meta description provides more detail on what the page is about. It should be a complete sentence and include keywords. Like the title tag, vary the meta descriptions between pages.

Start optimizing your web site for search engines by checking the five areas above. Then assemble a team at your community to work out a solution for continually adding fresh content to your site that will give you a competitive edge in non-paid search results.

Q8: I want to create an online community/social networking site for my community. How can I go about doing this, and should it be something I let anyone view, or keep it protected for resident use only?
(Answered by Lori Whetter, Digital Community Manager)

By definition, an online community is simply a group of people who interact via online communication, rather than face-to-face communication, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. For senior living communities, an online community can provide personal communication with prospects, leads, residents, adult children and influencers.

There are several ways you can go about creating an online community. Facebook and Ning are examples of free applications that allow you to set up a few pages for your community; these are a great way to get your name out, develop the first lines of communication and start to build relationships. The downside of these applications is that they are templated and don’t offer much customization. Other applications, such as LINK, offer a variety of page options – which allow you to extend your content sharing, provide community customization and send professional email communications to assorted audiences.

Whether you prefer a limited site or a more robust one, the most important thing about an online community is the content.

Now on to the second part of the question … should the content on your online community be available for everyone to see or restricted to residents? There isn’t a right or wrong answer here; it’s more of a question of how the content can best serve the audience and your community. For example, things such as events and sample menus draw a wider audience and are good to show everyone.

However, when it comes to internal community information like resident directories, profiles, community maintenance updates, suggestions boxes, internal chatrooms, etc., it might be best to keep those protected under a username and password. Then residents don’t feel as if their information is in the public realm for everyone to see.

Don’t think of having a login as restricting access to certain information. In fact, you can use it as a sales incentive when talking about the great, open communication you foster with your residents and their families. Position the password-protected access as a new dimension of the community that not everyone can see.

Here are examples of several online communities we’ve created for our clients. Does anyone else have an online community they’d like to share?

It’s Wednesday, which means more answers to the great questions we received following our Building Relationships in a Digital World presentation at AAHSA earlier this month. This is the second blog in the 5-week series. Read the original post with all 10 questions.

Q3: How can I drive more people to my web site?
(Answered by Blake Hodges, Digital Media Strategist)

Paid search advertising is a great place to start. It’s the quickest, easiest way to ensure that a link to your web site displays when someone searches for senior living options in your area. Since Google has a 70+ percent market share for online searches, go with Google AdWords first. Expand your campaign to Yahoo! and Bing once you’ve established a comfort level. (While we’re talking about search, it’s important that your web site be properly optimized for search engines to include it in their natural search results and business listings.)

If you want to cast a wider net, technology allows you to run display ads on web sites only for people who fit certain geographic, demographic or behavioral parameters. Online display campaigns need to run 3-6 months to develop traction, and you need to buy enough impressions to make a splash. The creative execution is important, too, and make sure you know the cost per thousand impressions (CPM). If it’s above $10-$12, visits to your site will likely wind up being expensive.

Don’t forget about social media! Getting involved in select online communities, actively managing a Facebook or Twitter profile, or publishing a blog can also bring web site visitors. If you contribute to an online community, remember that you need to add value to discussions, not plaster links to your web site. If you Tweet or blog, share interesting vignettes about people at your community or the families that you help.

Finally – email. It is possible to buy an email list to solicit interest in your community. However, we generally recommend that communities use email marketing to communicate only with established leads. Email is a great way to bring people familiar with your community back to your web site to see your new blog post, event photos or web site video.

Are there other successful techniques you’ve used to drive people to your web site? Share them here!

Q4: What kind of video do you think works best on the web and how much do I have to spend to create a video?
(Answered by Janel Wait, Director, Digital Services)

I love video on senior living web sites! The evolution of video consumption via the web over the past few years is astounding, and senior living communities can really make videos work hard for them on their sites. Here are just a few reasons why video makes sense for senior living communities:

• Residents can tell you why they love where they live. Testimonials are much more compelling when you can see and hear the current residents talking about their experiences.
• Videos with doctors or caregivers who work in your community offer credibility.
• Prospects can get a better feel for the physical aspects of your community.
• Events and activities can be showcased so prospects can better understand what it is like to live at your community.
• Special programs and your unique approaches can be brought to life and emphasized via video.
• Videos shared on social networking sites can increase reach and inbound links to your web site.

Many different types of videos work well for senior housing on the web. Here are a few links to communities that are using video to set their communities apart:

-Brookdale has a comprehensive video gallery with doctor testimonials, program overviews, residents talking about how they’ve been able to do things they never would have without Brookdale — check out Jean Pettit’s skydiving video — pretty impressive! http://www.brookdaleliving.com/video-library.aspx

-Peachtree Hills Place also has a comprehensive video gallery on their web site, but what I especially like is that they’ve interspersed the video links throughout their site so they bring certain sections to life with more than just static content on a web page.  http://www.peachtreehillsplace.com/our_members/video_information_center.php

-Redstone utilizes a video on their home page to help prospects envision what it will be like when the community is operational. http://www.redstoneliving.com

-And don’t forget YouTube…check out what Immanuel Senior Living is doing with their branded video channel.  http://www.youtube.com/user/immanuelseniorliving

How much do I have to spend to create a video?

No longer do you have to spend a ton of money to produce videos that users will accept and embrace. The proliferation of user-generated content on the web with YouTube, etc., has created a lower threshold of acceptance for videos that demonstrate experiences.  

That doesn’t mean you can’t spend more money on a video you will use on your web site or in your sales office if you want a high-quality marketing video, but the lack of a large video budget shouldn’t keep you from considering video for your site.

More reading about using video on the Internet:

• Using Online Video Can Help Explain Complex Terms and Situations
• 5 Reasons Senior Living Communities Should Add Video to Their Web Sites

Two articles I read last week got me thinking again about online video and senior living communities (previous discussion in September 2008). One in Advertising Age was about the kinds of online videos people are watching; the other was a report by social media thought leader Rohit Bhargava about how hospitals are using social media. Did you know there are 186 channels on YouTube with over 5,000 videos that are produced by hospitals? These videos talk about current trends in health care, provide tips for post-surgery and healthy living, show how to treat common ailments, and allow patients to share experiences about surgical procedures – things people have lots of questions about. Juxtapose that with the report on what kinds of online videos people prefer – short-form videos that are either consumer-created or news-oriented.

Independent living, assisted living, Life Care, continuum of care, skilled nursing, in-home care, rehabilitation, long-term care, respite care – these are everyday terms for those of us who work in senior living, but difficult to understand if you haven’t had direct experience with them. Why not use video to enable newcomers to get up to speed? Would it be more impactful to show how easy your community makes moving in, rather than explain it? You probably get many of the same questions about your financial plans – why not address them with a series of short videos? Yes, seniors want to stay in their homes as long as possible, so why not provide some common-sense home safety and caregiver tips — especially if your community offers home care, or you want to position your community as a resource for senior-related information.

Hospitals using social media cite an exponential rise in web site traffic as people gravitate to their original content. A quick search for “senior living” on YouTube returns 70 channels and over 7,000 videos. How could your community use online video to influence seniors and their families making very important decisions in their lives amid complex questions and situations?

Have you been hearing more than usual about search engines recently? Each of the Big 3 – Google, Yahoo! and Bing – has been making news over the past year. The latest is Google’s announcement about an update to its search methodology, which has been dubbed “Caffeine.”
 
The name Google isn’t going anywhere. Caffeine is simply an update that will enable faster, more accurate searches. Search results for “retirement communities” and “assisted living” in your market won’t drastically change right away when Google flips the switch. In some cases, our tests returned less “junk” in the top 10 results.
 
But here’s why Caffeine matters to you. With this update, Google is putting more emphasis on fresh content. The web is dominated by blogs and social networks; thousands of pages are added every day. Google’s traditional methodology wasn’t effectively capturing this content, but Caffeine does. Over the long run, fresh content will make the difference in search results for senior living community web sites.

My colleague Janel Wait reminds communities to think of web sites as living, breathing organisms that need to be constantly fed. If your community wants to be high in the natural search results, it’s no longer adequate to simply have a static web site. In addition to optimizing your web site for search engines, you need to regularly add pages with information on community activities, photos and videos, and insights about your community (read: fresh content for search engines to crawl).
 
Competition for top natural search rankings will only get more challenging. It’s important for your community to get accustomed to the best practices that sustain search engine visibility under the new standards. Moreover, you will be providing your web site visitors better information about your community!