The Q4 2024 benchmarking report for UK private healthcare companies has just been published. Learn how the top 8 UK private healthcare companies perform across the digital space.
The latest Q4 2024 benchmarking report for UK private healthcare companies has just been published. It covers the largest 8 national private healthcare companies, including Spire Healthcare, Nuffield Health, Aspen Healthcare, Ramsay Healthcare UK, Circle Health Group, The London Clinic, Benenden Health, and HCA Healthcare UK.
The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online, and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other private healthcare companies to win brand exposure, drive traffic, and generate online enquiries. The report highlights quick wins that will improve enquiries from your online strategy and identifies the barriers that may be reducing your site’s ability to optimise digital performance.
To see a preview and contents page of the Q4 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.
For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 8 private healthcare companies on, check out our quick-look table below;
Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's best and poorest-performing private healthcare companies, or request a copy of the report for the full review.
The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each site based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.
Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will underperform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing. Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long-term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.
Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. Private healthcare providers will want to ensure their sites are easy to navigate and that information is clear and readily available, as potential patients will want to find answers quickly.
The London Clinic received the highest 4xx errors (35), and this private healthcare company should monitor the links it uses and make any updates, when applicable, to ensure it’s directing consumers to the correct pages.
When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. As with ensuring their site is easy to navigate, private healthcare companies will want to convey a fast, convenient experience from every digital touchpoint, including mobile page speed.
In our previous report, Aspen Healthcare flagged the slowest mobile site speed (24), and it’s increased this score to 40 this quarter. Currently, the company to watch is HCA Healthcare UK, which flagged a mobile site speed score of 28. Upon closer inspection, this company should enable image compression, as a fast website can help increase conversions and enhance users’ web experience.
Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, i.e. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. Private healthcare providers can look to raising awareness of specific conditions to gain backlinks and authority in their sector - both digitally and through brand perception.
A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it’s generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. The DA rating for this quarter ranged between 77 and 36, with Aspen Healthcare scoring the lowest DA score. This UK private healthcare company also received the fewest backlinks and backlinks from the fewest domains, and it should focus on uploading content that other websites will want to link to (by writing valuable topics that will benefit its readership).
A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. Private healthcare providers may see themselves be hit in two contrasting ways by current consumer trends. Though many potential patients will be cutting back on non-essential treatments (or opting to pursue surgeries and treatment plans through the NHS), many others will be looking to beat NHS waiting times by opting for private treatment.
In our previous audit, Nuffield Health reported the biggest decline in organic traffic on desktop. This quarter, Nuffield Health reported a 98% increase on desktop. Currently, the company with the least organic traffic on desktop YoY is Benenden Health (a +4% increase). On the other hand, Ramsay Healthcare UK saw the biggest increase on desktop (+160%). For mobile, Benenden Health reported the biggest loss (-40%), while Aspen Healthcare saw a +611% increase.
Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a site can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. Private healthcare providers are likely to see the most benefit from 'people also ask' appearances - a chance to share information about procedures, pricing, and conditions directly from the SERP.
Nuffield Health remains at the top spot for the most Universal Search appearances (17,622), with the majority of these coming from ‘people also ask’ and ‘images’. Other companies can follow suit by optimising images with meta descriptions to ensure they’re ranking in SERPs.
Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for brand new search terms as they enter Google’s index. Private healthcare providers should look to optimise for high-enquiry intent terms, such as those including pricing details or potential recovery times.
Nuffield Health received the most longtail keyword appearances for position 3 (8,950) and positions 4–10 (18,441). On the other hand, Aspen Healthcare received the fewest appearances (33 for position 3 and 19 for positions 4–10), and it should assess its keyword strategy.
With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) hitting over 44 million users in 2023, it is not surprising that companies have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019.
We’ve included 3 examples of The London Clinic’s sponsored Facebook posts. This private healthcare company should reduce the amount of text it uses on social media posts to capture scrollers’ attention..
When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your brand engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. As with improving DA performance, and longtail keyword content, private healthcare providers can look to raising awareness of conditions, promoting healthy lifestyles, and answering common questions as a way to build brand awareness through engaging, shareable content.
Nuffield Health has the largest Facebook page (55,100 Likes) with Spire Healthcare close behind with 51,700 Facebook Likes. Nuffield Health also has the largest Instagram account (26,500 followers). All companies should regularly assess their social media strategy and track their engagement rate to ensure their followers are interacting with their posts.
20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, brands lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere. It goes without saying that any brand operating within the healthcare sector should have accessibility at the forefront of their concerns. Brands within the healthcare sector often trend towards light blue branding and imagery, due to its soothing nature, but this can often cause contrast issues and be difficult to read.
In our previous report, Nuffield Health flagged 163 accessibility alerts, and it hasn’t reduced this figure this quarter, making it the company to watch. This private healthcare company still should address underlined text.
To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Mike Movassaghi.
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