While civility seems to be in short supply these days, one area we continue to debate is political correctness in senior living key phrases.
Here’s what we mean by that…
As an industry, senior living has been on a quest to create senior-friendly and family-sensitive websites. To skip using jargon online and offline that seems insensitive and frightening.
For example, “facility” is such an awful term isn’t it? How excited would you be to give up the home you raised your family in to move to a “facility?”
A few other terms and phrases we try to avoid are:
- “placing” a person in assisted living
- having an open “bed” in a long-term care center
- promoting memory care as “locked” versus “secure”
You could probably come up with a mile long list right?
But when we research senior living key words and phrases for a client or get a list of them from the client’s SEO consultant, some of those that still rank well aren’t very friendly.
Assisted living “facility” and assisted living “home” are still phrases families use to search by.
Quite the conundrum…
What should you do?
That’s a question only your team can answer. But we do have a few pointers and tips for you to keep in mind.
How PC Should Your Senior Living Key Phrases Be?
When clients ask us this question—as they almost always do—we offer them some insight to help make the decision.
- Google gets synonyms: No longer are SEO copywriters locked in to using exact keywords and phrases. Google can now understand synonyms. So if you really want to say “assisted living community” instead of “assisted living facility” know that synonyms count.
- Mix it up: Many of our clients end up compromising. They might sprinkle a few “facility” or “facilities” in here and there, but largely opt for content that is PC.
- Test drive content: Try it both ways and see what performs better. You might find there is very little difference or not enough difference to make it worth having content you aren’t proud of.
- Take the high road: If you feel strongly about avoiding negative-sounding senior living key phrases, don’t use them. Politically correct search terms really are catching up. So it’s okay to focus more on the experience and create a site that is positive, educational, and solution-oriented. You might need to invest extra time promoting it, but that’s good to do anyway.
Shoot us a note if you have questions about senior living key phrases, hiring copywriters, or need a copy of our chocolate-raspberry martini recipe for your holiday party. We’re happy to help with any of those…