Case Study - Improving discoverability of health insurance for Michigan residents in need by ~100% YoY

Overview

Priority Health aimed to ensure comprehensive health insurance coverage for those in need while navigating significant challenges: a tight timeframe, restricted resources, and fierce competition.

Open Enrollment (Nov 1 - Dec 15) and Annual Enrollment (Oct 15 - Dec 7) are pivotal periods in the healthcare industry. These windows began just 3-4 months after our initial engagement, necessitating swift optimization to see tangible results before these crucial times. Additionally, I had to complete all optimizations before Priority Health's annual "site freeze"—a period during which no changes can be made to avoid disrupting users during high traffic periods.

Resource limitations posed another challenge, with various layers of approval required from both Priority Health’s Hong Kong team and multiple internal departments. This bureaucratic process meant that executing any strategy could take weeks due to the extensive "red tape."

To establish a strong presence in their industry, we faced competition against authoritative, well-established domains like healthinsurance.org, michigan.gov, and ehealthinsurance.com. Our goal was not only to increase organic traffic and brand awareness but also to become more discoverable for those seeking healthcare solutions.

My strategy focused on optimizing Priority Health's site for the upcoming Open Enrollment, Annual Enrollment, and Special Enrollment Periods. This involved enhancing their Individual market, Medicare, Small Business employers pages, as well as Medicaid and Large Group plans pages—critical areas affecting most of our target audience.

To lay a solid foundation, I first set up goal tracking to monitor performance metrics accurately. I collaborated with Priority Health’s internal team to ensure all goals were correctly configured, identified existing keywords, and pinpointed relevant ones we hadn’t yet targeted. This groundwork was crucial for reaching more Michigan residents effectively.

I optimized existing content by assessing current keyword rankings against user search intent using tools like SEMrush, AHREFs, and Google Search Console. Content that aligned with popular yet relevant keywords underwent rewrites to improve ranking potential. I provided detailed content briefs ensuring the inclusion of targeted keywords in URLs, meta titles, descriptions, headers, alt text, and heading structures. This approach not only enhanced keyword targeting but also boosted overall traffic and click-through rates.

To drive Michigan residents toward the site, we crafted localized, new content focusing on top-of-funnel awareness-style topics that addressed crucial queries in the user’s insurance-buying journey. These 16 new content pieces were designed to be informative and included internal links and CTAs leading users towards purchase pages.

I optimized existing core pages by refining metadata (meta titles and descriptions) to increase click-through rates, ensuring they targeted local Michigan residents. This resulted in ranking improvements for both new and existing keywords.

Lastly, I addressed technical issues impacting site speed and ranking potential. Through audits and fixes, I enhanced the overall performance of the site, facilitating better user experiences and search engine visibility.

By implementing these strategies, Priority Health not only improved its online presence but also positioned itself more effectively in a competitive market to serve those in need of healthcare solutions.

What we did