This week’s update is part Question of the Week and part Round-up.
We wanted to answer a few senior living content questions we often receive with advice that extends beyond our in-house crew.
For credibility’s sake. So we don’t seem self-serving. Because —let’s face it — in the midst of what will likely go down in history as one of the wackiest, most ridiculous presidential primary seasons ever, we’re all craving facts.
Not more bluster and blarney.
How Important is Quality Senior Living Content?
Let’s start with a question that comes up often…how much does the quality of writing really matter on a senior living blog?
Let’s translate that to what the real underlying question people are asking is… Does it pay to invest in quality content or can we have someone in-house write articles or hire a content mill?
Quality Senior Living Content vs Regurgitated Content Mill Gunk
We get it. The content mills crank out articles for $50. It’s tough for a quality crew like ours to compete with that bargain basement price.
At least in the short run.
Until senior living providers realize their content —gasp—isn’t helpful. It’s not connecting. Or answering questions. Or being shared.
So let’s look at how the content mills operate shall we?
They round up a bunch of kids straight outta college… park them in an office or a home office… and have them write different versions the same article fifteen times a day. Literally.
Read the reviews on GlassDoor. And I mean scroll down to the posts written by folks who have been there longer than a minute. See what I mean? Plug any old content mill name in to GlassDoor and the results will be similar.
Modern day sweat shops? Not quite. But close.
Have these rookie writers ever been in a senior living community?
Maybe. Back when their Brownie or Boy Scout troop sang at one during Christmas.
Do they know what keeps adult children up at night?
Do they understand the often confusing maze of senior care options?
Or the types of payment senior living and skilled nursing communities accept or don’t accept?
And those are just of the few issues families face.
Customer Experience and Senior Living Content
Customer experience is important for the seniors and families who visit your site. And because Google wants to give searchers a good experience, it’s important to them too.
The providers you see ranking high in the search engine results have solid, quality content. Written by real senior living writers who have walked the walk. Talked the talk with families.
Here’s what Google and other experts say about quality content:
Adding SEO “Words” to Existing Content
Another question we often receive from our friends in senior living is if it is OK to “just add SEO words to the content we already have?”
Many times the question is immediately followed by an acknowledgement that the content was written by someone in-house and it’s not really great content to begin with. But it “doesn’t really matter that much does it?”
While you might get lucky and find a marketing director or public relations person on your in-house team that is a talented writer, do they also understand the ins and outs of writing for the online reader? And optimizing content for search?
Again maybe you will luck out and find someone who does. But it’s important to know that there is more to it than just stuffing “SEO words” (a.k.a keywords) in to existing copy.
This is what the experts we count on to help us stay ahead of the senior living content writing pack have to say:
The bottom line is… do yourself and the adult children who visit your site looking for answers a favor and pledge to create quality content that answers questions and provides value.
Don’t just clog up with senior care space with clutter. Ain’t nobody got time to trudge through all that to find the answers they really need.
Meet the SCS Team
And to help clarify what senior living content experts look like… Check Us Out!
Because we hired two new fabulous senior care writers last week, our waiting list for new blog clients is finally down to zero. So if you’ve been thinking about adding a blog to your assisted living or retirement community site, there’s no time like the present.
Contact us today to see why one of the biggest senior living companies in the country calls our content “ridiculously good!”