Marketing your medical practice is no longer just about putting an ad in the phone book or local newspaper. The internet has become an incredibly important marketing tool in medicine because it allows you to reach your target audience easily. However, competition is fierce in online medical marketing so having a great website alone is not sufficient in attracting a steady flow of new clients to your practice.
Google indexes over a trillion pages of content so the chances of your patients finding your practice’s website via search engines is slim to none. Having an effective, appealing website to share your contact information as well as more information about your practice is a great start. But unless you take the necessary action to optimize your website and apply online medical marketing strategies, your website will sink into oblivion.
How to Make Your Website Stand Out
The first step you must take in order to boost your online presence is to optimize your website for the search engines. Search engine optimization involves on-site and off-site strategies. By optimizing your website through search marketing, you will be able to attract a steady flow of traffic from the search engines. Ideally you would target search terms for your geographical area. The goal is to have it so that your website comes up on the top page of search results when people are searching for the medical services you offer.
The next step you must take is to spread good information about your practice around the internet and build a strong online reputation. The best way to do this is through encouraging satisfied patients to write positive reviews detailing their experiences at your practice and then posting them on your website. You should also create separate websites that feature positive reviews of your practice. Most potential patients are craving to read firsthand reviews from past patients to get a better idea of what to expect at your practice. Don’t encourage your patients to write reviews on sites like Citysearch or Yelp because by doing so, you are bound to receive the occasional negative review on those sites and taint your reputation.
Tips for Using Attraction Marketing
Another way you can attract attention to your website and build awareness of your practice online is through attraction marketing techniques. Attraction marketing involves the use of websites, blogs, and social media websites to build awareness of your “brand” as a medical practitioner. Doctors obviously have very busy schedules so it’s best to outsource this work to an experienced marketing company. Writing blogs and website content that establishes you as an authority in your medical field can be helpful in building trust with potential clients and spreading your name around the web.
Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are an effective way to network with current customers and potential clients. For example, on Twitter, you can share information about the latest happenings in your practice and post tweets that include links to relevant articles. When people search for your name on the internet and come across these tweets and blog posts you have written, you become an expert in their eyes and they come to trust you more.
Doctors who have their own websites featuring Q&A about their medical field and other advice tend to do very well because people look up to them as experts in their field. Giving away free information is a very effective way to build authority and boost your online presence because as they say, “teaching sells.” People feel more eager to become the patients of a doctor whom they trust. You can build that trust by syndicating articles about your medical field, answering frequently asked questions, and networking with your patients online.
One of your goals should be to dominate the top ten search engine results for your name with your blogs, social media profiles, and websites. That way when people search for your name, they will only find positive reviews and information about your business. If you do occasionally find a negative review in the search results for your name, don’t retaliate. Simply work hard to market the content on your websites and blogs. You can also hire someone to participate in relevant forums to talk favorably about your practice. As long as you remain persistent, the negative reviews will eventually get bumped off the first page of search results.
Build your online presence strategically for the best results. The most effective way to manage your medical marketing campaign is with the assistance of an online marketing company that has a proven track record in this field. The more widespread your online presence is the better. If you have blogs, social media profiles, forum posting accounts, and review sites all pointing back to your main website, it will help you achieve a higher search engine ranking as well as attract a steady flow of traffic from a variety of sources.
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