Only one out of five doctors and dentists believe that patients are actually looking for them online, according to the 2012 National Physicians’ Survey. The reality is that more than 150 million American adults are searching for health information and practitioners on the Internet. And their numbers are increasing rapidly. Given that reality, merely having a basic website is no longer enough for your practice. And not having a website at all is like not having a business card or a sign on your front door. You need a website that is user-friendly for patients, easy to navigate, informative and branded to your practice.
Once you have such a website up and running, you have to get the right patients to visit it. You need effective search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) to make it work for you. To have a truly integrated Internet presence, you’ll also need an email campaign, an e-newsletter, social media, online video and perhaps even a blog – all synchronized for maximum effect. Otherwise, you’re resting on one leg of a three-legged stool. And that’s not very comfortable. Today’s healthcare practice has been besieged by monumental changes in America’s economic landscape, and now, by sweeping healthcare reforms in the Affordable Care Act affecting medical practices (dentists get to avoid this one). Despite the uncertainties of managing a medical or dental practice in this new world of change, you can take steps to ensure that your practice remains healthy and viable no matter what the future brings.
A critical step to grabbing a strong online presence is search engine optimization, or SEO. Your site should be properly and thoroughly optimized to appear high up (preferably the first page or two) in search engine results if you really want to generate traffic. When your website is found, it will be read. When readers find it interesting enough, they will share it. That’s why it’s
important to have sharing capabilities on your website. Sharing capabilities should include email-to-a-friend and links to FaceBook®,
LinkedIn® and Twitter® at the least.
The two main conduits to your website from various search engines are organic SEO and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). If you are investing in a website for the first time, you owe it to yourself to ensure your return on investment through one or both of these conduits. SEO catalogs your web pages so that your site will appear high on the search engine results page (SERP) every time a prospective patient makes a query. Search engines like Google®, Yahoo!®, Bing™ or MSN® index billions of web pages every day to return relevant data to their search patrons. Your current website could have structural “walls” and “bumps” you’re unaware of that prevent search engines from finding it at all.
Keep in mind that 92 percent of search engine users review no more than the first three pages, or SERPS, prior to clicking on a result. Don’t get buried too deep or remain invisible on the web. Get professional help to make your Internet presence known. When your website is optimized, your practice will benefit from a level of web presence that can generate a steady stream of new patients.
For maximum visibility, make your practice accessible from all points of the search engine – whether from the natural search results list or from Google’s sponsored links. When a potential patient types in a keyword related to your practice, your practice ad will appear
at the top or right next to the returned list of search results. This will be quite visible as a standalone ad, or together with only one or two competitor links.
With pay-per-click, or PPC, you pay only when a user clicks your ad, not every time it is displayed. And you can customize your ad to reflect your practice/product branding. You decide how much you want to spend on your ad. You can apply your own fixed spending limit and keep costs to a minimum. You can ensure the effectiveness of your PPC ad further by choosing only certain adwords aimed at your preferred target audience (TA). You can also restrict your ad’s visibility to a five, 10-, 25-mile (or more) radius of your practice location. This will narrow “click-throughs” to your specific market area. With PPC, you have control of when and where you will be visible, thereby yielding the best returns at the lowest costs.
The third step to achieving a strong presence and position online involves investing time in “social media” Social media includes all the major social networking platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube®, LinkedIn, Google+) that facilitate talking to your patients and prospects directly. Social media allows you to increase your online presence, answer questions and build trust over time. Here are some tips for getting the most out of Facebook engagement, for example:
Having a strong Internet presence boils down to doing four things well:
If you’d like to know more about developing and maintaining a strong Internet presence, or if you need help getting your practice online, call Practice Builders at 800.679.1200.
"I've worked with Practice Builders for more than 15 years now, coming to them with great worry about the success of my clinic and trusting them to help grow my business. With their strategic growth plan, marketing materials and digital marketing/social media support, I was able to grow, increasing referrals, revenue and staff, but found myself with limited free time as a result. With continued efforts on their end and mine, I now have two full-time therapists on my team. I am now able to enjoy my practice more, as well as to have the freedom to be away from the clinics when I want to have a day off or go on an extended vacation..."
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— Nilesh Mehta, MD
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— Drs. Ramin Tabibzadeh, DDS and Elisa Mello, DDS
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— John Michalski, MD
"I hired Practice Builders to enhance my online presence and they have done a terrific job with revamping my old website and getting just the right look for our practice. Their social media package has been really cutting edge, with facebook, twitter, linked-in and others all working to get us new patients. I always recommend Practice Builders to anyone who asks."
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— Joseph DiFazio, DMD
"Before Practice Builders, I had an ineffective Internet presence and was experiencing a huge decrease in new patients.... With Practice Builders' assistance, I am thrilled to report that my new patient numbers have increased by 50%, with gross production up 20% this year alone. Thanks to their trainer's guidance, my team is fully committed to the practice's success. I am enjoying dentistry again..."
— James M. Austin, DDS, PS
"I had launched a new practice model, requiring branding and unique marketing materials that would differentiate us in the market. We were introduced to Practice Builders to assist and just a few months later, I am extremely pleased with the end result of the branding, stationary, business cards, brochures and inserts, as well as the website they created. Everyone at Practice Builders was professional, insightful, creative and able to incorporate my specific needs and direction for the project."
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— Bret C. Lewis, MD and E.J. Aspuru, MD
"Practice Builders created a professional consistent image for my practice that reflected its unique character and helped increase practice growth 16.1% the first year I used their material and advice. And since that time, we've now doubled our revenues!"
— Grace Kerr, DMD
"Having been through other dental consulting programs, what I appreciated most about Practice Builders is they took the time to learn about our practice's strengths, and essentially our "personality". By utilizing our attributes, we were able to market our practice in a genuine way. By being comfortable in our approach, we were all the more effective. We learned how to work smarter, not harder and how to tap into an unused resource to promote our practice – our happy, satisfied patients. We are also now better utilizing the internet and social media to build our practice in a professional and positive manner."
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— Lee Stenzler, MD
