Medical Marketing Enterprises, L.L.C.
Website Optimization, SEO, Reputation Management for Medical Practices
There are several ways to generate traffic to your website. The best source of traffic is free. The best source of traffic is organic traffic.
Organic traffic is the result of the patience and hard work you have put in to generate rankings through content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
Paid traffic on the other hand may some merit, especially if your website is up and running and you are already generating your organic traffic.
There are three types of paid traffic:
The image shows a typical search engine results page (SERP). A SERP is generated when using particular keywords to generate a search.
Organic search are the webpages which appear in area C and are the result of content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). Results in area C are the most credible and trusted.
Pay per click advertising includes clickthrough ads (area B) and banner ads (area A). There is no difference between ads in A or B except the price paid by the advertiser (i.e. you).
Paid ads appear based upon the original keywords used to generate this particular search. The advertiser chooses the keywords for which the ads should be displayed.
Using similar techniques, YouTube presents video ads to the viewer based upon the keyword used to find video content and based upon the subject of viewed videos.
Pay per click and YouTube ads use very similar methods of presenting ads.
Facebook boosts may provide the best method for “laser targeting” an audience, that is, your ability to display your ads based upon your exact criteria (age, zip code, preferences, etc.). Facebook uses a combination of demographic information, behaviors (what you and your contacts do on FB) and contact information (your friends) to give the best targeted attention compared to other platforms.
In short, Facebook advertising gives you better methods to target your audience.
Without out a doubt, consider paid advertising, or paid search, only after your website is already generating organic traffic (you are writing articles and using SEO). Also, paid advertising may be better for advertising goods compared to services.
If you head over to “RussandRandy.com” you’ll see that this weeks podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Rob Melendez, a comprehensive ophthalmologist and refractive surgeon at Eye Associates of New Mexico.
Rob and I have known each other for several years, crossing paths at the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting as we have common interests in social media and marketing.
Rob loves Facebook and social media to promote himself, his brand and his practice.
Rob advocates that doctors must take control of their own marketing. If you are not actively promoting yourself and your practice, patients looking for your goods and services must rely on information for secondary and tertiary sources.
Dr. Melendez “takes charge” and contributes his own information to the Internet via his website, but especially through social media platforms such as Facebook.
He takes a multi-faceted approach.
As an example of “taking control,” Dr. Melendez recommends you claim as many of the review sites as you can. There are probably dozens of aggregator sites (business sites which ask for reviews of the businesses or doctors listed on the site) which list you and your practice.
Examples are Healthgrades, RateMd, Yelp, etc.
Claim these accounts and upload pertinent data and information. What services to you provide? What hours of operation? What are your practice goals?
Be bold and upload a headshot! Not only are you providing accurate information about you and your practice, but you have the opportunity to outshine your competition who likely ignore such opportunities.
Patients naturally want to find out information about their doctor. Most doctors are uncomfortable about sharing information about themselves. Patients are interested in finding out “who you are” in addition to “what you are.”
Dr. Melendez points out that social media is simply an extension of what we are already doing face to face in the office. How are you? How was your vacation? I’ve got a graduation in the family.
“Facebook advertising is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Rob has 4 tips to improving your ROI with Facebook.
By keeping track of money spent in the fashion outlined above, you should easily be able to track new patients to your practice…giving you your ROI (return on investment).
This week, my podcast partner (Russell Faust, M.D.) and I talk about the 3 most important pages of your website. The Home, About and Contact page are fundamental in turning a casual reader into your next patient. It’s the first step in patient engagement.
How good are your 3 pages?
This post mirrors this week’s podcast on Russ and Randy where we discuss The 3 Most Important Page of Your Website.
In real estate, realtors want your front door to be representative and inviting. So true is your home page. The Home page must quickly convey your essential message about the goods and services that you provide.
The average person landing on a site decides in fewer than 3 seconds whether or not to click away or in Internet terms, “bounce” to another site.
A great home page should use a combination of graphics, images and text to quickly convey your main message and should do so “above the fold,” that is, your reader should not have to scroll down the page to realize your main message.
As a doctor, I know the temptation is to “wow” your reader with all your expertise, knowledge and experience, but this can really clutter a Home page and blur your message. Try to be concise.
If your reader (your next patient) likes what is on your Home page, the next logical step is to find out more about you and your practice. The About page is your opportunity to describe who you are as a physician, as a person and perhaps your practice philosophy. Great questions to answer here are;
You may also choose to introduce some of the key staff members who are likely to spend time with your next patient at their appointment. This is a great opportunity to start a relationship between your potential next patient and your staff – nothing bonds faster than seeing a “familiar” face when a new patient arrives in a new office.
The About page is not to be limited to just “you,” in fact, the About page should be “About the Practice.”
“Contact Us” gives your next patient the opportunity to schedule an appointment. The Home page attracts attention, the About page informs about the practice and the Contact page is the call to action (CTA).
It is common to list a phone, fax, address and email. Do not list an email if you do not use email or no one checks the office email regularly. Just list the contact information with which you are comfortable.
The Home, About and Contact page, if used successfully should enable you to convert casual readers into your next patient!
There are only 3 types of websites and they differ by their content, ability to rank and market your practice, and the ability to engage or interact with readers. Which is yours?
Your website is one of these 3;
These are simply resource sites. Content is old and there has not been any new content in months or years. This type of website has no ability to rank as the content is static – not changing. Search engines will not rank stale sites with static content.
The only visitors which arrive on this site are your existing patients. They might be looking for insurance participation or your fax number… that’s about it.
Because this site will not rank, patients unknown to you will never land on your website because it doesn’t rank.
This is at least better than not having a website at all.
Remember the 3 Rs of SEO?
Websites with relevant content published on a website which regularly refreshes the content rank the best. These sites have marketing value because they get high Google rankings.
Because they are able to rank, potential new patients are able to find these sites.
Regularly publishing articles is the best way to achieve website rankings and market your practice.
The best sites for converting readers to patients are interactive sites. These sites have dynamic content and invite comments to be left by the readers. Answering these comments starts a dialogue, or conversation, and serves as a very simple form of social media.
These conversations are visible on your site and are hugely attractive to future readers…improving and optimizing your site to engage readers. Engaged readers become patients.