A Brief History of Company

HPOne, is a leading sales and marketing organization specializing in the Medicare and broader health insurance marketplaces. The company delivers outsourced sales, marketing, and contact services to both national and regional health plans. In addition, HPOne operates exchanges for individual consumers and employer-based group retirees, while managing highly targeted lead generation programs within the Medicare industry. With seven contact centers across the United States—including locations in Phoenix and Gilbert, Arizona; Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Orlando, Florida; Westford, Massachusetts; and Trumbull, Connecticut—HPOne is equipped to handle high-volume customer engagement and support nationwide.

 

 

Marketing History

The company’s digital marketing strategy had evolved significantly, largely due to their efforts in affiliate marketing—particularly PPC (pay-per-click) advertising. However, they were spending millions of dollars annually on PPC campaigns. I was brought on board to build an SEO acquisition channel from the ground up, but the project quickly expanded beyond that initial scope.

I ended up developing a 0-to-1 website that eventually generated millions of dollars in revenue and my role shifted towards product manager with running sprints. Under my umbrella I had developers, marketers, seo specialists.  The project was initially launched under the name MedicareUSA (MUSA) and later rebranded as CMM due to trademark issues. It operated as a startup within the enterprise organization, following a hybrid B2B and B2C ecommerce model designed to serve seniors aged 65 and older seeking to enroll in Medicare plans.

Traditionally, consumers enrolled in Medicare over the phone. However, with a new generation of seniors becoming more digitally savvy, the company made the strategic decision to build an ecommerce platform that would allow online enrollments. This not only streamlined the process but also improved conversion rates. The organization supported this initiative with a national broker network of over 5,000 licensed Medicare agents.

 

Business Goals

 

One of the most compelling indicators of success was the strong LTV-to-CAC (Lifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost) ratio. Because Medicare plans often renew automatically and brokers receive recurring commissions for each enrolled member, the lifetime value of a Medicare customer is exceptionally high—especially when retention rates are strong. They were confident in all the other aspects of their business and were ready to receive and manage an increase in organic traffic and the leads that would accompany it.

Up to this point, there had been minimal work carried out in terms of SEO or even building a new project from ground up. At some stage, they had realized that diverting investment & resources into organic traffic would allow them to decrease their CPA (cost per acquisition) medium & long term. Possibly even short-term.

Taking a closer look at the goals I had to achieve I figured the following:

• I would be able to decrease CPA via ranking for the ‘right’ keywords (discussed in detail later).
• The process of ranking for keywords would require quality content that delivers more value than the competitors and entices links from other sites.
• This high-quality content would need to educate buyers throughout the various stages of buyers’ life cycle.

I hypothesized the following.

Creating individual content aimed at new buyers and existing owners. This would lead to a greater LTV as buyers would clearly determine that MUSA was the authority. I also foresaw that we would be able to retarget seniors with articles about how to enroll into Medicare and different types of Medicare plans.

Another key performance metric was the payback period—how quickly we recovered our customer acquisition costs. In the Medicare space, brokers typically earn recurring commissions as long as a member remains enrolled in a plan. Because of this, even modest first-year commissions can lead to high long-term margins.

Thanks to the efficiency of the SEO channel and the cost-effective nature of organic lead generation, we were able to achieve a short payback period—often within the first 90 days of enrollment. In many cases, the full cost to acquire a customer was recouped with just the initial commission, with all renewals contributing directly to profit.

This short payback cycle, combined with high retention rates, reinforced the value of investing in long-term owned media channels over ongoing paid acquisition.

 

KPI’s – The Long Game

In the Medicare market, success isn’t just about short-term conversions—it’s about long-term value, trust, and compliance. Our approach to performance metrics reflected that long-game strategy.

We tracked traditional funnel KPIs like:

• Traffic-to-lead conversion rate

• Lead-to-enrollment rate

• Cost per acquisition (CPA)

• Payback period

• Call center close rates

• Organic vs. paid lead performance

But we also focused on longer-term KPIs critical to sustained growth in the Medicare space, including:

• Member retention rate – A key driver of recurring revenue, with most broker commissions paid annually

• Lifetime value (LTV) – Increased through cross-sell opportunities and high renewal rates

• Compliance and call quality scores – Ensuring agents adhered to CMS regulations while delivering a positive member experience

• Supplemental product attachment rate – Tracking how often we successfully sold ancillary coverage (dental, cancer, life insurance, etc.)

• Online self-enrollment share – Measuring the growth of our ecommerce Medicare platform as more seniors shifted to digital-first behavior

The long-game KPI model helped us stay focused on scalable, ethical growth while building a strong reputation among carriers, brokers, and seniors alike. It also gave us the framework to justify sustained investment in SEO, content strategy, and digital experience optimization—all of which contributed to compounding returns year over year.

Driving Local Leads and Conversions

Our second primary KPI was lead generation—specifically, understanding what percentage of our website traffic was converting into qualified Medicare leads.

We tracked key conversion actions such as:

• Inbound calls from interested seniors

• Appointments booked with licensed Medicare agents

• Lead-to-enrollment conversion rates across paid (PPC) and organic (SEO) traffic sources

Because Medicare plan selection is both a highly personal and regulated decision, many seniors still preferred to speak with a licensed agent before enrolling—particularly when navigating coverage details, provider networks, and prescription drug plans. However, our goal was to increase digital self-enrollment while still supporting those who preferred phone-based guidance.

To bridge the gap between marketing and sales, I had multiple conversations with agents to better understand consumers. Over a working session, we reviewed common call flows, objections, conversion bottlenecks, and key emotional triggers that influenced decisions.

That conversation proved invaluable. I was shared detailed insights about the types of customers they handled daily—ranging from confident, tech-savvy retirees ready to self-enroll online, to caregivers researching options for a parent, to seniors overwhelmed by Medicare Part A, B, C, and D options.

Armed with this intelligence, we refined our lead forms and on-site messaging to better match user intent and readiness. We also used this feedback loop to shape landing page content, improve trust signals, and support a seamless transition between digital interest and live agent enrollment—whether via inbound call or filled form.

Identifying Who to Target

With our primary and secondary KPIs clearly defined, I began by building a deep understanding of the personas most likely to enroll in Medicare plans online.

This process was made more efficient by the data assets already available. HPOne had robust first-party data from past enrollments and a wealth of insights from Google PPC campaigns, including age, gender, location, and online behavior. This allowed us to segment and profile our audience with confidence.

Unlike one-time luxury purchases, Medicare enrollment is a required and time-sensitive decision that every American makes around age 65. While the choice is universal, the path to enrollment varies widely depending on the individual’s health status, retirement plans, digital literacy, and income.

Our data revealed a few key persona groups:

• Tech-savvy retirees comfortable with online transactions.

• Caregivers or adult children assisting a parent through the enrollment process.

• Seniors actively researching healthcare options as they approach retirement.

Despite demographic diversity, many shared core behaviors—such as seeking trusted educational content, avoiding phone calls where possible, and wanting clear side-by-side plan comparisons. These insights became the foundation for our content strategy and guided the UX decisions behind the ecommerce enrollment platform.

Ultimately, understanding our audience allowed us to personalize the user journey, reduce friction in the enrollment process, and support a seamless transition from intent to action—all tailored for the modern Medicare consumer.

Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategy

Once a customer enrolled in a Medicare Advantage or Supplement plan, we implemented a structured upselling and cross-selling framework to increase customer value and improve overall plan coverage. This was particularly effective in our call center operations, where licensed agents were trained not only to assist with core Medicare enrollment but also to identify additional needs based on each beneficiary’s health profile, lifestyle, and budget.

Common cross-sell products included:

• Cancer insurance – to cover high out-of-pocket costs associated with a cancer diagnosis

• Hospital indemnity plans – to bridge gaps in Medicare Advantage coverage

• Final expense life insurance – offering peace of mind to seniors and their families

• Dental, vision, and hearing plans – often not fully covered under standard Medicare Advantage

• Prescription discount programs – for customers with high drug utilization

Agents used compliant needs-assessment frameworks to guide these conversations, ensuring every product recommendation aligned with CMS regulations and served a legitimate member need. In the ecommerce funnel, we also incorporated intent signals and follow-up automations to present supplemental coverage options post-enrollment.

This multi-product approach not only increased customer lifetime value (CLV) but also helped establish deeper trust and longer retention by addressing more of the customer’s needs in one seamless experience.

0- 1 and 1 to end

When I joined the company, I was the first and only full-time team member dedicated to SEO that later become product owner. That didn’t intimidate me—in fact, I thrived in that environment. Having come from a startup background, I was used to rolling up my sleeves, wearing multiple hats, and doing whatever it took to get traction.

Initially, I handled everything myself, but I knew that in order to hit the aggressive growth targets set for the Medicare ecommerce platform, I couldn’t do it alone.

I had been given a clear mandate:

• Lower customer acquisition costs (CPA)

• Increase customer lifetime value (LTV)

• Scale organic acquisition efficiently in line with the company’s P&L

With buy-in from leadership and budget allocated, I set out to build and lead a team. My goal was to move from ground-level execution to a strategic vantage point—able to drive long-term growth while mentoring others to own their roles.

Building the website from the ground up—then scaling it into a high-performing growth engine—wasn’t just about tactics. It was about leadership, discipline, and shared belief in creating a trusted digital experience for seniors across the country.

Challenges to Overcome 

Building a high-performing marketing channel in the Medicare space came with its own set of unique challenges. From technical limitations to content structure issues, there were multiple gaps we had to close in order to gain visibility, trust, and conversions. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most important obstacles—and how we overcame them.

Local Search Optimization

One of the first gaps I identified was the complete lack of optimization for local search. For a business supporting a nationwide network of Medicare agents, showing up in local results—such as “Medicare advisor near me” or “Medicare help in Phoenix”—was essential. These local searches represented high-intent, low-competition opportunities, yet the company had not optimized for Google Business Profiles, local citations, or geo-targeted landing pages.

This allowed us to capture high-converting local leads from users actively seeking Medicare help in their area.

Keyword Gaps and Unoptimized Content

When I joined, the site wasn’t ranking for any Medicare-relevant keywords—not even for branded terms or long-tail opportunities. This wasn’t surprising, as the content had not been created with SEO in mind. Keyword research was either rushed or completely ignored.

To reverse this, I conducted comprehensive keyword research that included:

• Competitive gap analysis using top Medicare aggregator sites

• Keyword clustering around user intent (enrollment, comparisons, deadlines, etc.)

• Trend and seasonal analysis (e.g., AEP spikes, turning 65 milestones)

• Forum scraping and People Also Ask mining for voice-of-customer queries

This gave us a clear roadmap for content production, page structure, and internal linking.

Content Cannibalization:

Another issue was content cannibalization—multiple pages competing for the same keywords, leading to confusion for both users and search engines. For example, there were several scattered articles covering Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap with minor variations.

We streamlined and consolidated these into authoritative, high-performing pillar pages, each addressing a specific Medicare topic in depth. This reduced internal competition and significantly improved our rankings for key terms.

Becoming a Trusted Medicare Authority

We broke down our execution into two major areas:

• On-Page SEO: Site structure, content optimization, speed improvements, schema markup

• Off-Page SEO: Authority-building through link outreach, PR, and digital partnerships

Though this only scratches the surface, here are some of the high-impact initiatives:

Site Speed and Technical SEO

Google prioritizes performance—and so do seniors. Slow-loading pages can tank conversions, especially for users 65+ who may not have the patience or tech fluency for laggy experiences.

We improved speed by:

• Enabling browser caching

• Using a CDN for faster load times

• Removing bloated JavaScript

• Compressing large images

• Minifying CSS and JS files

• Consolidating files using sprites and cleaner code practices

The result: a faster, more accessible site that improved both UX and search engine rankings.

Strategic Site Architecture

We restructured the site with a pyramidal architecture that made it easier for both users and search engines to navigate. This structure:

• Improved crawl efficiency

• Enhanced internal linking between educational content and product pages

• Funneled SEO authority (“link juice”) toward high-value conversion pages such as Medicare Advantage, Supplement, and Part D plan pages

We also cleaned up the information hierarchy for clearer analytics reporting and conversion tracking.

Scaling On-Page Execution

While I managed strategy, team leadership, and budget oversight, I also knew the scope was too large for one person. I brought on additional SEO specialists to help execute the evolving list of on-page and off-page initiatives, including content optimization, link-building, and compliance reviews.

Together, we laid the foundation for what would become a top-performing organic acquisition channel in one of the most competitive, regulated industries in digital marketing.

‌EAT‌  (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

 

Establishing Authority and Trust

To ensure that Google—and our prospective customers—recognized us as a trusted authority in the Medicare space, we took deliberate steps to showcase our expertise, experience, and credibility both on-site and in our content strategy.

While our internal teams already knew we had the experience—working with thousands of licensed Medicare agents nationwide and supporting enrollments across all 50 states—it was my responsibility to make that expertise visible to both users and search engines.

We emphasized credibility by highlighting key trust signals across the site, such as:

• Our nationwide broker network of over 5,000 licensed Medicare agents

• Decades of combined experience in health insurance and Medicare enrollment

• CMS-approved educational content and tools

• Verified customer testimonials and satisfaction ratings

But surface-level content wasn’t enough. To solidify our technical SEO foundation, I directed my team to implement comprehensive schema markup throughout the site. We structured data around:

• Medicare plan types (Advantage, Supplement, Part D)

• Enrollment periods

• Insurance providers

• FAQs and contact centers

• Licensed agents and office locations

This allowed search engines to better understand our site’s content, which increased our chances of earning rich snippets and featured placements in Medicare-related search results.

These technical improvements—combined with content strategy and trust-building elements—reinforced our positioning as a go-to destination for Medicare education and online enrollment. And that was just the beginning of the deep on-page SEO work that helped us scale organic traffic and lower acquisition costs in a competitive, compliance-driven industry.

Content Planning for Medicare Keywords

With keyword research complete and a robust list of high-intent search terms—both commercial (e.g., “enroll in Medicare Advantage online”) and informational (e.g., “what’s the difference between Medicare Part A and B”)—I set out to build a content strategy that would both support user education and improve organic visibility.

I scheduled collaborative planning sessions with our content team to brainstorm article formats and landing page structures that addressed real questions seniors were asking. The goal was to create content that not only answered those queries clearly and accurately, but also aligned with CMS compliance standards and user search intent.

One major gap I identified early on was that while users were searching for specific plan types, enrollment timelines, and supplemental benefit details, the site lacked dedicated pages for many of these topics. Instead, content was too general or buried within broader articles.

To fix this, we introduced new content categories and standalone landing pages targeting specific Medicare-related topics—such as Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap, plan options by state, dental coverage under Medicare, and enrollment deadlines. This structure allowed us to capture more keyword variations, answer more user questions, and significantly expand our organic reach.

Over time, these efforts drove a measurable increase in qualified traffic and positioned our site as a trusted authority in the Medicare space.

 

 

Email Capture and Lead Nurturing Strategy

To grow our pipeline of qualified Medicare prospects, we implemented strategic and compliant email capture initiatives across the ecommerce platform.

Rather than relying on passive opt-ins, we developed high-value lead magnets tailored to our audience—such as Medicare enrollment checklists, plan comparison guides, and “What to Know Turning 65” toolkits. These resources provided clear, immediate value and encouraged visitors to exchange their email in return for helpful, trustworthy information.

Once captured, prospects were entered into segmented email nurture flows based on their stage in the enrollment journey—whether they were just beginning to research Medicare, evaluating plan options, or ready to enroll. Each email sequence was designed to educate, build trust, and move users closer to conversion, all while ensuring compliance with CMS regulations.

The result was a growing, engaged, and well-segmented email list that supported both our B2C marketing goals and outbound campaigns from our licensed agents.

Content-Led Link Building

With a growing content hub filled with helpful, engaging resources—ranging from Medicare enrollment guides and plan comparison articles to explainer videos simplifying complex healthcare terms—we were well-positioned to launch a targeted link-building outreach campaign.

We focused our efforts on identifying high-authority websites in the health, aging, and senior lifestyle niches. Using personalized, value-driven messaging, we reached out to webmasters and editors, demonstrating how linking to our platform meant directing their readers to a trusted source for Medicare education and enrollment—built by licensed professionals with deep industry expertise.

In parallel, we actively pursued PR opportunities by connecting with journalists, healthcare bloggers, and industry publications. We pitched thought leadership content, offered expert commentary on Medicare trends, and positioned our brand as a go-to voice on topics affecting Americans turning 65.

This content-led outreach not only boosted our domain authority and organic visibility, but also helped establish trust with a wider audience—critical in a space where credibility and compliance are non-negotiable.

 

Thank You

For reading my story at medicare ecommerce platform and for putting up with my sneakily inserted puns.

I hope I have triggered some ideas for you to act upon within your own business or a business you help. If you have any questions at all. Please feel free to reach out to me.