The Challenge
- Attribution issues limiting strategic clarity:
- Member sign ups were not being accurately attributed, making it difficult to measure the true ROI of marketing and content activity.
- Strong competitor pressure from Doximity:
- Doximity’s strong directory listings dominated high-intent search terms, making it harder for Sermo to gain organic visibility where it mattered most.
- Untapped search opportunities among physicians:
- There was a clear disconnect in physician search demand. Capturing this meant developing better content, stronger SEO foundations, and a more sophisticated understanding of member intent.
Our Approach
- Strategic Planning & Persona Development
- Robust persona development uncovered 6 archetypes and 13 personas, shaping personalised content experiences.
- Content & SEO Innovation
- Built new content strategy to address physician pain points like burnout, working conditions, and financial concerns, moving beyond strictly clinical content
- Restructured the website content around a new Curated Hub and Spoke model to better organize specialisms and deliver personalized experiences for each physician archetype.
- Created a new intent-led hub, generating over 2,000 new physician registrations
- Monthly delivery of 10 editorial articles , aligned to search opportunity and member intent.
- “Live SEO” and assurance models to capture fast-moving trends within the physician community.
- New SEO features implemented across key pages (article highlights, FAQs, improved H1 structure).
- Ran comprehensive keyword universe benchmarking to challenge competitors at scale.
- Technical SEO & CX Review
- We improved meta data, recommended scalable site structure changes, and ran a full CX review to identify friction points and build trust across global markets.
- Content Assets & Lead Magnets
- We delivered content designed to convert from long-form editorial to specialist pillar pages, and integrated lead generating assets with existing paid activity.
The Impact
- Momentum Statement: Overall, the project is trending above target, with membership on track to double and unbranded organic traffic expected to grow by 300% by year-end.
- Registration Growth:
- Achieved a 52% month-over-month increase in physician registration (4,915 vs 3,235)
- Drove 183% year-over-year growth in organic registrations
- Branded Traffic & Market Growth:
- Generated a 49% month-over-month increase in branded searches
- Drove strong market growth, including +729% in Canada and +66% in Italy (as well as net growth across target 7 countries)
- SEO Delivery Outcomes:
- Pages optimised to SEO fundamentals, improving relevance and competitiveness.
- Stronger search foundations to challenge Doximity’s dominance in core categories.
- Clear pathways to seize untapped physician search demand.
- Brand & CX Improvements:
- Trust-building improvements across global physician content.
- Reduced friction for member onboarding and discovery.
- A unified approach to content, UX, and SEO for long-term scalability.