Online Marketing: Tips for Getting Started
eMarketing for Physicians
This is the fifth article in a six-part series for M.D. News.
M.D. News
Greater Akron/Canton Edition
July/August 2008
You've probably realized by now that big benefits are to be gained from marketing your medical practice online. But with so many aspects to web marketing, it's hard to know where to start. That's why we've compiled a Web Marketing Essentials list to get you going in the right direction.Follow these simple guidelines, and your web presence should be helping you generate new patients and referrals in no time.
If you haven't done so already, get a website.While physicians have been slow to jump on the Internet bandwagon, there's no denying that the Internet is here to stay. Make sure your website has all the basics - practice information, hours, biography information including a photo, specialties, etc.
Try to differentiate yourself from your competition. If you can, go beyond the basics (listed above) on your website.Provide an online contact form and online scheduling. Consider allowing access to medical information online through a portal like MyChart.
Optimize your website for the search engines to give your site a web presence in the search engines like Google and Yahoo!. Search engine optimization allows the search engines to find, index, and rank your site, exposing it to many, many search engine users.
Make sure your practice is showing up in the local search engines results. For many users, especially those 65 and under, the search engines have taken the place of the print yellow pages. There are a few popular sites where you'll want to make sure you have your practice information listed:
- superpages.com
- Yahoo! Local
- Google Local/Google Maps
- yellowpages.com
- local.com
- ;citysearch.com
Set up online profiles on popular sites that review physicians. While some physicians find these sites irksome, they are getting more - not less - popular with patients. In fact, Zagat, the longtime source for consumer-rated restaurant information, announced in late 2007 that they are teaming up with WellPoint to collect and compile physician information. Consider setting up profiles and even inviting your patients to review you on these sites:
Manage your reputation online. Set up a Google News Alert to notify you via email when Google indexes your name in an online article, blog post, etc. If a problem comes up on the Internet related to you or your practice, you will be able to deal with it quickly.
Consider this example: a patient goes to Dr. Smith and has a bad experience. The patient writes a blog post about the bad experience. Before you know it, someone else types in Dr. Smith's name, and the site with the bad review comes up. If Dr. Smith had known about the blog post right away, he might have been able to make the patient happy and curtail the problem.
Consider writing a blog, especially if you enjoy writing and sharing information. Wordpress is an easy and flexible blogging platform; you can literally have your blog up and running within minutes. Whether you are a specialist or a family practice physician, patients are hungry for authoritative information. If you are an ophthalmologist, your blog topics might include "Candidates for Lasik Surgery" or "Coping with Glaucoma". A family practice physician could write about the benefits of flu shots, including when they're being offered and to whom. If you're too busy to write a blog by yourself, consider making it a group blog and invite other medical professionals in your office to help.
Leverage the largest online networking tool for professionals, LinkedIn. Set up a profile and connect with other physicians and medical professionals.
