Simple steps to turn website visitors into patients
The Internet has changed the way people buy products and services. While people still passively receive information via TV, radio, magazines, direct mail, etc., consumers actively consult the Internet to make key decisions about where to stay, what airline to fly, movie to see and, with ever increasing frequency, what dentist to visit.
Even analysts who work for the Yellow Pages reported in early 2006 that individuals used the Internet 70 percent of the time vs. only 30 percent who turned to the Yellow Pages directory when searching for a local service.* And by far, the greatest growth in Internet usage is in the area of local search:people searching for products and services that are within driving distance of their home or office.
Simply put, if these people aren’t finding you through online local search to be their dentist, they’re finding someone else. It is, therefore, imperative your Web-based marketing system be structured and managed so that, when qualified prospective patients are looking for a dentist, it’s you they find.
There are three things your website needs to be a true patient generating system. It must:
- Attract the visitor
- Impress the visitor
- Motivate the visitor
Attracting the visitor
Before you can encourage patients to visit your office, they first must find your website. For this to happen, you need to position yourself at or near the top of search engine rankings so that, when people and businesses in your community are searching for dental care, they find you. This may be accomplished in one of two general ways.
One way is via conventional marketing, that is, by placing your website address anywhere a prospective patient or referral source might hear or see it: on all stationery, signage, and marketing tools such as direct mail, radio, TV, billboards, and your on hold message system.
Tip: be sure to always capitalize the first letter of each word comprising your website address (some people think that website home page addresses are case sensitive - they are not). This makes it easier for people to recognize, and thereby remember you practice name and associated website e.g. use www.MyDentalPractice.com not www.mydentalpractice.com.
The other way is through internet search. This method is sub-classified into natural and paid search strategies.
Your website gets listed on search engines through natural search when it is structured (or optimized) such that the search engine ‘bots’ (automated systems that continuously scour the cyber landscape to identify websites that are relevant to a given search word or phrase) identify your site as worthy of inclusion in the results a surfer sees upon entering a given word or phrase. A major consideration in natural search is that — notwithstanding the fact the bots move at nearly the speed of light — it takes time for a website to establish a track record of relevance for the search engines to recognize and place it near the top of its results rankings.
Paid search (also called pay-per-click) is a method by which you agree to pay a certain maximum price for keywords and phrases to both appear on the search engine’s results page and be clicked on by the Web surfer. Because the search engines earn their income by these so called ‘click-throughs,’ a practice can achieve higher rankings far more quickly than by relying on natural search alone. This is why most practices, especially those just beginning their Internet presence, will benefit from a well managed pay per click campaign.
Paid vs. Natural Search Results
Links in the blue box near top and those along right side of page are Paid Placements
Whether you choose organic search alone or organic and paid search in concert, the goal is to maximize your qualified site visits. Implemented correctly, local individuals, families, and businesses searching for dental care are directed to your practice website. Clearly, this represents a powerful marketing advantage.
Some Quick Hints To Get Your Site Noticed Both By Bots and People
- The Title Bar (top-most highlighted in yellow) is most important in that the bots use it to recognize yours as a local business.
- Have your telephone number, including area code, on every page of your site.
- Because convenience is so important to the prospective patient, be sure to have all communities you serve on every page of your site. If a visitor can’t quickly determine where you are located, they might return to the search engine and continue their search.
- Having your address on your Web pages indicates yours is a local business.
- Be sure the above is all printed in text format, as search engine bots cannot read graphics.
- Use this free website analysis template to review your site’s effectiveness.
Remember: a good looking site and qualified visitors are necessary, but insufficient to guarantee success. In other words, even if objective analysis of your site confirms it is doing a good job of attracting and impressing the visitor with its content, it must also motivate the first time website visitor to take action, and the action taken, in turn, depends upon where the website visitor happens to be, in terms of urgency, in their search for a dentist.
Tire kickers and trigger pullers
Studies have shown that first-time website inquiries may be classified as follows:
- 20 percent will take action immediately (we call these the ‘Trigger Pullers.’)
- 20 percent will not buy at all (the DNRs for do not resuscitate.)
- The remaining 60 percent will buy from someone within 12 months. We call this group the ‘Tire Kickers.’
Many people are surprised to learn that this third category is every bit as important as the first, because, if they are treated correctly, they represent a highly profitable source of new patients. The key is to run the race at the patient’s pace.
To capitalize on this segment of your market, your site must offer opportunities for the visitor to learn about your practice without having to commit to a visit. Offer them special content with a high perception of value for your site visitors. In so doing, you convert anonymous surfers on your website into valuable QPLs. Below are some examples of how to achieve this:
Encourage visitors to complete a Form to receive information of interest and value
Immediately deliver the promised Report to Them
This represents an especially fertile opportunity for practice growth because hardly anyone ever bothers to keep in touch with the Tire Kickers. Therefore, by simply capturing visitor information and communicating with them over time, you have the potential to dominate this all-important segment of your market. Remember: Today’s Tire Kickers and tomorrow’s Trigger Pullers!
Next steps
Now that you have delivered on your first promise to the QPL, that is, the Special Report, continue to deliver timely, valuable, and frequent (but not too frequent!) communications. Here’s a sample Schedule:
Day One – E-mail Special Report
Day Five – Audio Post Card
Day Fourteen – Email Smile Secret #1
Day Twenty-Eight – Mail Postcard
Day Forty-Two – E-mail Smile Secret #2
Day Fifty-Six – Email Smile Secret #3
Day Seventy – Mail Invitation for Free Consultation
Day Eighty-Four – Email Smile Secret #4
Day Ninety-Eight – Email Smile Secret #5
Day One Hundred Twelve – Mail Postcard
And so on for the rest of the year…
And here are examples of possible communications:
Direct Mail Sample
We recommend a combination of invitation and post card style mailings. The design should be similar, so you reinforce your practice brand in the mind of the QPL. The key to success with this is memorable simplicity.
Email Sample
Emails should include links to your photo gallery, testimonial pages, and other compelling reasons to keep in contact with you, such as attractive Special Offers.
Audio Postcard Sample
Audio postcards are colorful emails that also include a recording of your or a staff member’s voice. This is another way to subtly create a sense of familiarity and comfort in the mind (and emotions) of your QPL.
Communications should continue for up to a year, which is what our research shows can be the ‘gestation period’ during which the Tire Kicker metamorphoses into a Trigger Puller.
By regularly and professionally following up with your website visitors, you have positioned yourself as a trusted expert in the field so, when they do decide the time is right, it’s you they’ll call.
Summary
Success at web-based marketing means implementing strategies, both conventional and Internet-based, which direct qualified prospective patients to your website. It also means having a website that encourages visitors to relinquish their anonymity, that is, willingly provide you with their contact information. Finally, it means giving the market segment we call Tire Kickers the means and motivation to remain in communication with your practice so that, when they are ready, you’ll be waiting.
*Source: ConStat, Yellow-Page industry analysts (www.Constat.com).