Roundup: e-Marketing for Physicians
eMarketing for Physicians
This is the final article in our six-part series for M.D. News.
M.D. News
Greater Akron/Canton Edition
September/October 2008
Over the past five issues, we've explored what you need to know and do to have an effective website that helps you grow your medical practice. In the last of this six-part series on eMarketing for Physicians, we'll pull it all together into one "big picture" look. Just follow these guidelines, and you'll be on your way to having a website that helps you grow your practice while increasing efficiency and patient satisfaction.
Web Design/Development
eMarketing begins with good web design and development. Your website is a visitor's first impression of your practice, so be sure to give it the same attention you would any other aspect of your business. Use your website as a marketing opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors with a pleasing design and engaging content.
You probably know that patients use the web to search for physicians, but keep in mind they may also be using the Web to "weed out" physicians, too. They are hungry for information, so use your website as an opportunity to provide information about your practice and yourself.
When designing/developing your site, make sure it:
- Communicates your practice's mission and services
- Illustrates your brand and feel
- Anticipates and answers your visitors' questions
- Engages potential patients with persuasive conversion points like getting them to call for an appointment, inquire about a service, or ask for a referral
- Is search-engine "friendly", so the search engines can find and index your site in the Search Engine Results Pages
- Adheres to good programming standards like being able to load quickly, work in different browsers and operating systems, and integrate with existing databases.
Web Marketing
Even if you have the most gorgeous website in the world, it won't help you much if no one can find it. Web marketing helps get you out of Internet oblivion and into a position on the Web where patients can actually find you.
Web marketing, and in particular Search Engine Optimization (SEO), provides a new channel to market to potential clients. Plus, web marketing offers benefits like branding, pre-qualified lead generation, and an enormous savings when compared to yellow pages ads.With more and more Americans on the web (particularly seniors), web marketing deserves a prominent place in your overall marketing mix.
Keep these rules in mind when marketing your site:
- Submit your site to popular local sites like Google Local, Yahoo! Local, and superpages.com.
- Consider an SEO campaign. SEO is the art of increasing a website's ranking in the search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.
- Remember that there is a direct correlation between high rankings in the search engines and heavy traffic to your site.
- An SEO campaign can be varied in size and budget. It doesn't have to be a huge monthly expense, depending on what your objectives are.
Content Management
You may also want a site that is supported by a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS allows you to add, edit, or delete information on your site 24/7, without involving a programmer or designer. In other words, a CMS puts you in charge. A typical CMS is designed so that just about anyone can use it, regardless of their skill level. If you can operate Microsoft Word, you should be able to operate a CMS with ease.
Final Thoughts
Even though the medical community has been somewhat slow to embrace the power of the web, the expectation among users that you will have a helpful, informational, professional website is only increasing. Don't let the thought of a website be a negative: a well-designed, professional website can benefit you and your patients.
