Turning this Moment Into Momentum

Why Now Is a Good Time to Focus on Marketing

Even though we are a long way from “normal” many practices are beginning to scale up as communities start to reopen.  Although there are no manuals to reopen your practice in these unprecedented times this post serves to highlight a few things you should consider doing today to get ready for tomorrow.

A Great Website is an Even Better Start

New patients come from many places, all of which may lead to your website. This journey may include online reviews, healthcare directories, search engines, or search advertising. These lead to the online foundation of your practice — your website.

As the web has evolved, so have patients’ expectations. 75% of consumers admit to judging a company’s credibility based on their website design.

Your practice’s online presence should be built on modern mobile-responsive design, follow best practices for visual design, and contain engaging content with a clear call to action. Building your website on secure technologies and ensuring your content is relevant and optimized will likely increase your practice’s search engine rankings.

Every Patient Journey Begins with a Search

Patients take to the internet to find the services they need – this includes healthcare practices. To make the difference between gaining or losing a new patient, practices have been implementing search engine optimization (SEO) into their marketing strategies.

SEO refers to a variety of strategies that are used to boost a web page’s placement in search engine results, like Google.

These strategies are especially important for local small businesses because 50% of all searches are for local businesses and result in a visit to that business within a day.

Once you implement SEO, you will generally see results in four to six months. SEO is designed to secure long-time results. So be sure to implement this solution into your marketing plan sooner than later to ensure that you’re ready for the future.

For more immediate results Search Engine Marketing (or pay-per-click advertising) instantly places an ad for your practice on the front page of Google search results.

SEM is powerful because it drives traffic to your website when patients are already looking for you, which is the best time to reach them.

SEM is very effective when combined with SEO because it allows you to get immediate results while your SEO strategy is gaining momentum.

Don’t Ignore What Patients Are Saying About You

Word of mouth referrals are still the number one way people will learn about your practice, but that word of mouth now lives online in the form of online reviews and healthcare directory listings.

85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. In fact, healthcare practices rank #3 in a list of businesses where online reviews matter the most.

Online reviews are often one of the final pieces of information that prospective patients use before deciding that a practice is right for them. Your practice’s success or failure to treat future patients could very likely be directly tied to its online reputation.

Online reputation management solutions allow you to take control of your online reviews and use automated tools to collect positive reviews for your online presence.

Treating Patients Virtually Is Not Going to Change

Studies show that 66% of Americans are willing to have online appointments with providers using secure messaging and video platforms.

Telehealth platforms are HIPAA- and HITECH-compliant and allow healthcare professionals to conduct virtual appointments over video. This optimizes how you serve patients and improves the continuity of care, expands access, and creates better outcomes.

When patients can no longer come to your physical practice, Telehealth allows you to continue providing service. Being able to access care in a timely and flexible way makes a positive difference in client outcomes.

Telehealth allows you to improve patient outcomes, oversee treatment plans, manage medications, review lab results, and increase postoperative care quality.

To make sure your practice is set up to succeed as communities reopen schedule a free consultation with one of our Web Presence Advisors today.

Want to download the full infographic? Click here.