Online medical marketing is often overlooked, but it can largely contribute to the growth of your medical facility or practice. The internet is a valuable resource for doctors and physicians to grow their practice and clientele, especially with the sudden changes the world has been forced to face. This is one of many reasons why your online marketing matters so greatly. It allows searchers to connect with doctors and facilities that may provide them with the medical services they need.
Searchers mindlessly scroll through websites, clicking and navigating their way, oblivious to the time and production that it took to assemble the website. How the website is constructed will determine how well the website will perform. Attracting searchers, generating leads, communicating with web users, converting them to clients— it is all driven by online marketing and how well your online medical marketing is. If you have a website for your medical practice and have realized it doesn’t play a vital role in marketing your facility, it is time to dedicate time to your online marketing strategies or consider an online marketing agency to enhance your marketing strategies and effectively increase website traffic. In this article, we will go over:
- What is online marketing?
- Tips for online healthcare and medical marketing
- The benefits of online marketing
- Online medical marketing agency
- Should I hire an online marketing agency?
What is Online Medical Marketing?
Online medical marketing is a strategy used by healthcare professionals where they focus on the overall appearance and data of a website to attract clientele, reach their targeted audience, and maintain a stable doctor-patient relationship. Online medical marketing consists of:
- A user-friendly website
- Relevant and informative content
- Search Engine Optimization
- Web creation and design
- Analytics
- Communication strategies
Tips for Online Medical Marketing
Online medical marketing requires constant revision and change. As medical professionals work a busy schedule, they often neglect their website and find it hard to make time for its constant need for improvement. This is where a marketing agency could benefit medical professionals who are interested in picking up the pace of their medical marketing. Though hiring an agency is not required to start online marketing for your medical practice, it can significantly improve your business if the right agency is chosen. Otherwise, follow these tips in an attempt to enhance your online marketing strategies:
- Video Marketing
- Create a user-friendly website
- Blog posts
- Search engine optimization
Include Video Marketing
More often than not, when patients are experiencing health-related concerns, they will turn to the internet, where different websites will pop up on their search engine. One website that grabs the attention of many internet users is YouTube. Think about how many times you have utilized YouTube to guide you through instructions, or to collect informational data about a specific product or concern.
Utilizing YouTube as a marketing strategy can introduce your practice to potential clients. Start publishing short videos about your expertise and consider common questions clients have when visiting your facility. Provide the public with informational videos that will leave them interested in your website and medical facility.
Create a User-friendly Website
Creating a user-friendly website is extremely important if you are trying to increase traffic. Your website is available every hour of the day and is essentially open to the public 24/7. Imagine you opened a help desk in the city of your medical facility to direct traffic and generate leads for your medical business. Your employee would be useless if they could not provide information regarding you, your practice, and its contact information to interested potential clients. Furthermore, patients would be persuaded to look elsewhere if the employee was unfriendly or unhelpful. You want a website that is eye-capturing, informational, and easy to navigate. A user-friendly website allows potential patients to easily explore your page and learn more about you and your practice and could lead to converted clients. Treat your website like it is your #1 marketing tool as it is one of the most effective marketing strategies you have.
Stay Consistent with Blog Posts
If you have yet to include blog posts on your medical practice website, it is time to hire a writer or find additional time to write blog posts that can potentially lead clients to your website. Posting quality, informational blogs that the public is likely to search, will allow your page to reach potential clients. When they find themselves on your blog, it is likely they will look further into you, your website, and your practice area. This is an effective way to get your website to generate traffic, which in turn leads to client conversions. This is also why it is important to ensure users have a good experience while browsing your website.
Search Engine Optimization
You have created a user-friendly website, quality content, and informational videos to generate more leads. What now? Although these tasks may be small steps towards increasing your marketing strategies, there is much more that can be done to reach your targeted audience. When searching the internet for physicians and practitioners in the same realm as yours, many facilities may appear within your area. You will begin to notice the same facilities appear, regardless of the search engine you used. This is because of their search engine optimization, which can significantly increase your website ranking, and traffic on your website. SEO achieves the following:
- Builds your practice
- Establishes credibility
- Reaches the top pages of search engines
- Increases traffic
- Organic results
- Reaches targeted audience
- Beats your competitors
- Allows you to measure statistics and analytics
Benefits of Online Medical Marketing
More than half of medical patients find their favored medical practice through online searches. Your online medical marketing is a doorway for users to find, meet, and stick with you through their healthcare journeys. Investing time in your online medical marketing will bring more clients and patients to your medical facility, expanding your business. Here are the benefits of medical and healthcare online marketing:
- Reach targeted audience
- Promote your services
- Generate leads
- Expand your clientele and grow your business
- Enhance patient experience
- Referral increase
Reach Your Targeted Audience
Using the right keywords on your website will allow your website to reach the pages of searchers. It will grab the attention of potential clients and reach your targeted audience.
Promote Your Services
Online marketing allows you to share what you and your medical facility do and is available to the public 24/7. Current and potential clients always have access to your website that contains informational content and videos. Your online marketing strategies inform potential clients about your expertise and guide them to make appointments with you. Your articles and videos result in satisfied clients, whether they are current clients or clients interested in your services.
Generate Leads
The world is always going to need healthcare and medical professionals. The public will always use the internet to research their medical concerns and doctors in their area. Your online marketing strategies can generate leads with its quality content and user-friendly capabilities. Each click that occurs has a chance of generating leads and converting them to clients.
Business and Clientele Expansion
The purpose of online marketing is to increase clientele and focus on the growth of your business. The internet is a source used by more than 60% of today’s population, leaving online marketing to be the most useful tool for potential clients to discover the medical facility they have been looking for.
Enhance Patient Experience
Providing the public with a website that markets your expertise and practice enhances the patient experience. Websites allow patients to make better use of their time, easily navigating their way through websites to find the information they are looking for with resources, contact information, and reviews right at their fingertips.
Referral Increase
As there are many different industries in the medical field, facilities often find themselves in need of a local facility they can trust for patients who need external help. Online marketing allows medical facilities to locate, network, and interact with physicians and doctors that they can partner with to provide clients with the care they need. It leads to unique partnerships with local facilities that can refer patients and participate in the growth of your business.
Online Medical Marketing Agency
There are online marketing strategies you and your medical facility can incorporate to increase clientele; however, it can be time-consuming and tricky to fit into your schedule. Medical facilities are busier now than ever, and recording a YouTube video, or writing a blog can turn into a 3-hour project, not to mention the constant need of monitoring Google’s algorithm. If you have tried to incorporate these tips for your website to enhance your online medical marketing, and have found it to be a challenge, an online marketing agency might be the best route for you. High Converting Media specializes in online medical marketing and can build your website and take care of your online marketing for you.
Should I Hire an Online Marketing Agency?
Building and recreating a website is time-consuming and is a project that should be observed, maintained, and modified often to reach your targeted audience and maintain its online presence. A successful website requires experienced individuals who are knowledgeable about website building and its technical components. Hiring an efficient marketing agency for your medical website can lead to:
- An increase in website traffic
- Call conversions
- An online presence on top search engine pages
- Increased clientele
- Analytic accessibility
- Search engine optimization
Recap
Healthcare and medical professionals work in a very competitive industry. Strategizing online marketing can increase website traffic, and convert potential clients into actual clients. There are marketing tips and tricks you and your medical staff can make use of, but it is only a matter of time before it becomes an exhausting experiment. You must work tirelessly to earn your way to the top of search engine pages or allow an online marketing team to do it all for you, leaving you with more time, and clients.