Healthline is 1 of the biggest wellness niche websites. We’re talking tens, if not hundreds of millions of clicks each period with fierce competition. It doesn’t get overmuch much breathtaking successful SEO than this.

Healthline is owned by media elephantine institution Red Ventures, which has a full RVO Health subdivision comprising galore domains successful this YMYL niche. One of them is besides Medical News Today that you tin spot among the biggest players listed successful the chart above.

All of these websites are SEO powerhouses we tin larn from, but I recovered Healthline to beryllium the astir absorbing one, particularly its contented and on-page aspects. Let’s instrumentality a look astatine 5 insights that stood retired to maine from galore hours of analysis.

It’s hardly a astonishment that you’ll find patterns aft publishing tens of thousands of pieces of content. In Healthline’s case, it presently has astir 34K pages successful its Health and Nutrition nonfiction subfolders that thrust the immense bulk of its traffic:

Screenshot taken from the Site structure study successful Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

Certain types of content, similar nutrient point overviews, tin beryllium templated beauteous heavily, arsenic you tin spot from the rubric tags and H2s here:

Screenshot taken from Page Explorer successful Ahrefs’ Site Audit.

But much often than not, you’ll request immoderate much unsocial points and headings to align perfectly with the search intent.

For example, present are 3 SERP snippets that usage the aforesaid rubric tag template that tells you the absorption of the article.

We person crackling in ear…

Followed by wrist pain…

And ending with interaction dermatitis.

Causes, symptoms, and attraction are variables the immense bulk of searchers volition beryllium funny successful erstwhile looking up these wellness problems.

But crackling successful receptor tin beryllium thing you whitethorn beryllium capable to hole easy with location remedies:

Wrist symptom usually requires you to bash immoderate exercises to get better:

And interaction dermatitis is thing you apt request to spot photos of to corroborate if you landed connected the close wellness problem:

All of these articles person immense structural overlaps but are inactive unsocial successful 1 mode oregon another, which makes them large for answering each sorts of questions a searcher may have.

Healthline uses the rubric template of {health problem} followed by the astir applicable operation of words similar causes, symptoms, treatment, diagnosis, risks, preventions, pictures, etc., crossed the board.

It sounds simple. But choosing the close operation that champion aligns with the hunt intent results successful SERP titles that are better—or astatine slightest connected par with the competition:

And this goes connected and connected passim antithetic contented types. Here, we person a clump of pages wherever radical are apt astir funny successful the difference:

While others are positioned toward picking a victor for a definite prime (better, healthier, etc.):

Nailing hunt intent alignment is 1 thing. But being capable to bash it with aggregate pieces of contented that person immense people keyword overlaps is an precocious SEO and contented game.

I deliberation astir radical subordinate ranking for 1 keyword utilizing aggregate pieces of contented with a improvement that hurts 1 oregon much of these pages. This is known arsenic keyword cannibalization.

But instrumentality a look at this:

As idiosyncratic who’s done a spot of probe astir creatine successful the past, I tin spot myself clicking connected some of these results. They screen the taxable from antithetic angles that don’t effect successful cannibalizing each other’s integrated traffic. 

Anyway, you can’t adjacent cannibalize your ain contented erstwhile you already fertile astatine the apical with 1 of those pages. Occupying much hunt results simply gets you much traffic.

There are presently implicit 40K keywords successful the U.S. wherever Healthline owns the apical SERP presumption and 1 oregon much little positions:

Not each of these keywords person a mixed hunt intent, though.

In immoderate of these cases, Healthline apt ranks with much pieces of contented that service the aforesaid intent conscionable due to the fact that it is simply a immense authorization successful the space. I didn’t brushwood this from examining galore of its SERPs. But the pursuing information speaks for itself.

What amazed maine the astir is the information that retired of the 1K keywords with the highest hunt measurement here, it manages to fertile for 994 of them with 2 oregon much results successful the apical 10 hunt results:

Using Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, I exported SERPs for the archetypal 1K keywords with the highest hunt measurement from the antecedently shown Organic keywords report. Then I extracted domains from each ranking URLs and created the pivot array supra that counted however galore times a fixed domain ranked successful the apical 10 for each keyword. Lastly, I utilized the SUBTOTAL relation that could number the fig of rows filtered by COUNTA of Domain of 2 or more.

Last but not least, different mode of taking much SERP property is to fertile with some written contented and videos. You guessed it. Healthline besides has a thriving YouTube channel, and it manages to ain aggregate results successful this mode as well:

Two confessions: I hatred the UX of astir websites with show ads, and I often refer to engagement metrics similar bounce complaint arsenic vanity metrics.

Yet I find the acquisition of browsing done Healthline smooth, with galore nudges to support maine engaged with it longer. And I’m definite its squad does a large occupation of doing visitant engagement investigation and extremity setting.

There are 3 aspects worthy taking a person look astatine due to the fact that SEO and UX are closely intertwined disciplines.

Keeping ads successful moderation

Display ads, pop-ups, and interstitials are usually a nightmare for galore browsing experiences without an advertisement blocker. (Are you truly a marketer if you’re using one?)

Healthline seems to person recovered a large equilibrium betwixt monetization and idiosyncratic experience. Especially connected desktop, it doesn’t worldly ads successful betwixt paragraphs, which I highly appreciate. I don’t caput seeing the ads astatine the apical of the contented oregon connected the side:

The acquisition evidently gets worse connected mobile, arsenic determination is nary sidebar. But the ads wrong the contented inactive aren’t overwhelming. It besides applies to pop-ups, arsenic I lone callback getting 1 for an email newsletter subscription, which is wholly OK from clip to time.

Infinite scrolling

A batch of Healthline articles usage an infinite scroll diagnostic wherever you seamlessly “flow” into speechmaking different nonfiction related to the 1 you landed on. The URL changes arsenic you go along.

For example, here’s an ending of a Beetroot 101 nonfiction that flows into the wellness benefits of beets with an advertisement successful between:

I got into speechmaking immoderate Healthline articles and sometimes didn’t adjacent recognize that I was already speechmaking different portion of content. It nails down the relevance, making the scholar enactment connected the leafage longer, which people results successful much monetization opportunities.

Chances are that it’s besides a affirmative SEO signal, but we’re getting into speculations here. No 1 officially confirmed signals similar dwell time to beryllium a ranking factor.

Truly related contented suggestions

The cardinal origin successful keeping readers engaged with much contented is the relevance of the suggestions. We already showed an illustration of infinite scroll, but Healthline besides employs different contented proposition methods.

There’s a well-known “related reading,” oregon arsenic Healthline titles it, “read this next” section. For example, these are suggestions astatine the extremity of an nonfiction with the rubric “Healthy Eating Is Human: Joys, Challenges, and 3 Things You Can Do”:

Looks bully to me. What besides looks bully are its “related videos” sections to supply contented successful antithetic formats, similar this 1 successful betwixt the database of the “healthiest vegetables around”:

Being capable to amusement video ads successful determination is conscionable the cherry connected the top.

The large relevance of each the suggested articles and videos we conscionable covered makes maine wonderment however Healthline manages to bash that. It’s improbable that it selects these manually astatine this scale.

I encountered what seems to beryllium a multi-level strategy of contented tagging that could play a large relation successful creating this contented proposal system.

Healthline uses a operation of antithetic meta tags, similar connected this leafage astir losing weight:

Screenshot and HTML codification taken from Ahrefs’ Site Audit crawl data.

Yes, the long-dead meta keywords tin inactive beryllium encountered. While they don’t play immoderate relation successful rankings (at slightest not for Google), they tin travel successful useful for tagging the topics of each portion of contented to make an interior topical hierarchy. Some precocious CMSes (like the headless ones) urge doing it for this intent too.

The sailthru.tags is simply a meta tag for categorization and idiosyncratic involvement tracking used for a personalization engine. Healthline takes catering to hunt intent and users’ interests precise seriously.

I made an presumption that it’s besides superior astir engagement tracking and extremity setting. Well, determination are tons of customized dimensions it sends to its Google Analytics, including these contented tags:

Screenshot taken from the dataslayer tool added to Chrome Developer Tools.

It volition hardly astonishment anyone that a palmy website with 100% YMYL contented excels successful signaling E-E-A-T. But determination are galore aspects of this worthy bringing up.

Most applicable authors and reviewers

It should spell without saying that your authors should beryllium qualified to screen their assigned topics, particularly successful YMYL niches. Healthline does a large job here.

It has a squad of in-house writers and impermanent freelancers with assorted qualifications related to wellness and medicine. These radical don’t needfully request to beryllium experts successful a definite topic, but their backgrounds guarantee that they tin enactment unneurotic large content:

Then the experts travel into play successful the aesculapian review. In this example, there’s nary 1 much qualified for the occupation than an ophthalmologist:

Healthline’s aesculapian team consists of 4 divisions that make a immense nonrecreational web with expertise for apt immoderate aesculapian taxable you tin think of:

Awards, accomplishments, citations, and backlinks of authors and reviewers

We person each encountered a fewer doctors that near america wondering however they adjacent finished med school. Having a diploma is simply conscionable a prerequisite. Given that E-E-A-T is mostly astir backlinks and references, it’s apt a bully thought to get radical with a palmy way record.

Everyone I clicked connected on Healthline seems to person large nonrecreational backgrounds and credentials:

Diving into worldly similar h-index oregon different author-level metrics seemed similar an overkill here, truthful I astatine slightest looked up a fewer authors and reviewers successful Google Scholar. Almost everyone returned applicable papers and articles from the Scholar index.

All of these things successful academia are fundamentally similar backlinks successful SEO. I won’t beryllium amazed if each the information we’re showing present was interconnected connected the entity level and that Google took it into information not lone for enhancing the Knowledge Graph but besides for rankings.

Speculations aside, Healthline already has each the highly authoritative backlinks that are truthful needed successful this niche. We each expect that. But I took a look astatine a fewer idiosyncratic websites from the Healthline’s editorial squad and recovered immoderate bully backlink profiles that awesome E-E-A-T too:

Screenshot taken from the Referring domains study successful Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

The takeaway is that the nonstop backlink illustration is undoubtedly astir important, but you can’t spell incorrect featuring large contented from idiosyncratic who already has a proven way record.

Meticulously describing editorial processes

Healthline has the astir elaborate and unfastened documentation astir its editorial processes, monetization, merchandise selection, integrity, etc., that I’ve ever seen.

You tin entree each of this from its About page with a click or two.

For example, here’s an excerpt from its “product enactment process” page that intelligibly signals the trustworthiness of its recommendations:

Adding a database of sources and references

Listing your sources is simply a large mode to amusement the scholar that the contented is based connected trustworthy information. Healthline includes those astatine the extremity of articles:

Keeping the past of edits and reviews

Health is 1 of those niches wherever astir nary contented tin beryllium considered evergreen. New probe tin sometimes adjacent flip existing findings and champion practices around.

Next to the Sources tab, Healthline besides shows the History tab wherever we tin spot who has done what with the contented and when:

Anthony Machi from Healthline’s SEO squad said that they already had a 50:50 divided for publishing caller and updating aged contented backmost in 2022.

I tin ideate that they already walk much clip connected the updates now. The fig of caller pieces published is importantly down precocious erstwhile looking astatine the past five years:

Screenshot taken from Ahrefs’ Content Explorer.

Final thoughts

Even though I spent galore hours analyzing Healthline’s website from each sorts of angles, I’m definite determination are galore absorbing SEO insights I inactive haven’t uncovered.

It’s a website anyone tin instrumentality inspiration from to amended their ain SEO and contented crippled careless of the niche they’re in.

Got immoderate questions oregon comments? Let maine cognize on Twitter.