Many doctor’s offices, and those in the medical profession in general, have ignored internet marketing – they simply do not feel it is something that applies to them, or is relevant in their long term business model.
We believe this is a big mistake!
Simultaneously, this also means there is a huge opportunity for the doctor’s office who decides to embrace the web as means for building their brand, reaching new patients, and setting up a long term successful internet marketing strategy.
A doctor’s office is a business like any other and it is important to have a web presence.
Many people look for new doctors in the same way they look for other businesses. For example, they use Google to search for a family doctor or a specialist in their area. When a new patient turns to Google to find a specialist, if you aren’t found then more than likely your competitors are, and that means your new patient roster will suffer.
There are some very simple ways that you can ensure new patients find your doctor’s office on the internet. Leveraging internet marketing will bring new patients into your practice and give current patients a way to keep up on the latest news. It is very easy to do.
Local Online Marketing For Your Doctor’s Office
The first thing any doctor’s office should do is create Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local pages.
This will put your practice into the search engines for your local area automatically, and make you easy to find on the internet. You should also build a website for your practice that is both professional and inviting in design and aesthetics, and highly optimized for targeted keyword phrases.
The new website for your doctor’s office can list news about your practice or specialty, your contact information, and tell new patients what sets your practice apart from the rest of the other choices in your area. A more robust website for your doctor’s office could offer scheduling integration which would add even more convenience for your patients.
Website Promotion For Your Doctor’s Office
The next thing you need to do is promote your website.
An easy way to do this is by producing content on a blog. This means you’ll need to integrate a blog into your new medical practice website, but it would add a dynamic element to your web presence that your patients would appreciate.
Your blog posts should link back to homepage of your website or to key pages within your website such as services, office hours, etc…
You can also implement what’s called “article marketing” for promoting your doctor’s office. Article marketing is the process where you’ll create informative articles about medical advice or other related information that would be valuable to a prospective patient. Through the use of your content, you promote your doctor’s office and your brand as a doctor.
Social Media For Your Doctor’s Office
Finally, every small and local business, including doctor’s offices, should be engaged with their customers in social media. Having a social media profile on Facebook, for example, will dramatically improve the overall brand of your medical practice. For regular patients, it will allow you to stay connected with them in a more personable way – something that is typically lacking in most medical practices.
If your posts are meaningful, interesting, engaging, people will be more likely to share them with their friends which builds your network of exposure to future patients.
In today’s society of the internet and social media, it is more important than ever that a doctor’s office leverage things like a robust website, and strategic social media exposure, in order to remain relevant with new and existing patients. And with so few medical practices engaging and leveraging these tools, now is a great opportunity for your doctor’s office to take advantage of these tools.
