by Glenn Lombardi
To be efficient in your practice marketing efforts, it’s important to understand what will work and what marketing methods are being left by the wayside. In the last decade, there has undeniably been a shift in how podiatrists market and reach new patients. As the Internet becomes more and more central to our lives, a professional practice website is the best place to start in order to capture a growing number of Web-savvy patients.
Building the Foundation: Start with a website
Like building a house, creating a strong online presence requires the creation of a strong foundation. A website should function as the base of a practice’s Internet strategy, the core from which all other marketing initiatives and communications extend. Working with an experienced website and online marketing professional, podiatrists can create a truly customized website that works for their practices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to engage existing patients, increase treatment awareness, and generate new patient appointments. You create your own story with your website—the options are boundless!
Local Search: The new phone book
Approximately 70% of consumers say online search is their preferred method for finding information about local businesses and services online, so it’s critical for podiatrists to improve their local presence to attract the growing number of potential patients searching online for podiatrists.
What’s great about local search marketing is that it actually allows you to optimize your website so that you can enhance your visibility online for your local area. This involves an advanced search engine optimization plan, claimed local listings on the leading search engines, and a strategy to generate positive patient reviews. If you’re a podiatrist in West Orange, NJ for example, you want your website to show up when someone does a Google search for “podiatrist West Orange,” or some variant of those keywords. A first page ranking supported with great reviews will give you the upper hand in your local marketplace.
Local search marketing is an ongoing process, but with a first page presence, you can count on a steady pipeline of new patients for the long term.
Social Media: It’s not a fad, it’s the wave of the future
Social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, have transformed the way we connect and engage with people of common interests. No other platform allows for instant information sharing, enhanced social interaction between your practice and patients, and the opportunity to reach an exponential number of new patients through word-of-mouth.
Your social media strategy shouldn’t be a separate entity from your website. Instead, it should be integrated with your site, working seamlessly with your website and marketing goals to increase awareness for your practice and services. Adopting a social media plan as a part of your online marketing strategy can help you stay connected with existing patients and reach new patients who are spending a majority of their time on these popular social channels.
Mobile Platforms: Reach patients anytime, anywhere
More than 75 million people in the U.S. are using their cell phones for everything from making calls, checking e-mail and browsing the Internet. Fueled by high smartphone adoption, the Internet experience has extended beyond the personal computer to mobile devices. People are demanding more out of their online experience, including speed, accuracy and accessibility of information available at their fingertips. Building a website for viewing on mobile devices has become increasingly important as more and more people are using smartphones to stay connected on the go.
A mobile-friendly website will allow your visitors to easily and instantly navigate the content of your site on a cell phone, including mobile-specific features such as instant click-to-call, mapping functions, e-mail and appointment requesting. If your website doesn’t look and perform sufficiently on a smartphone, visitors will move on to one that does. Mobile phones are only gaining popularity, and if you’re not there, then you will be left behind.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
As patients become more Internet- savvy, it’s imperative that podiatrists take ownership of their Web presence. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all. Start with a website, and from there begin creating your personalized online marketing plan. An expert in medical website design and online marketing can help you build a professional practice website, improve your local ranking on the search engines, create your mobile-compatible Web page, and integrate your social media strategy.
About the Author
Glenn Lombardi is President of Officite, LLC, the number one provider of websites and Internet presence management strategies for the medical community. Officite has built more than 6,000 websites that have generated hundreds of thousands of appointment requests since 2002. To learn more visit www.officite.com or call 800-908-2483.
