Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Long gone are the days when you can design and build a website to function as an online brochure for your practice. Today, the investment you make in your practice’s website should be generating a return in the form of new patients and increased revenue.
In order to accomplish these returns, there are essential elements and strategies you need to be implementing into your website and Internet Marketing Strategy. The way people use the internet and their expectations are drastically different than in the past. Today people are doing more research before contacting a practice. They are less patient and are destination-driven when looking for a local dentist.
The following are six essential items that will help you and your practice generate more leads, increasing the number of new patients and new revenue for your practice.
Strong Content
When a visitor comes to your website, you must make sure that you are delivering something unique. It’s important to deliver original and relevant content that empathizes with your visitors by talking about the problem they are looking to solve. Describe issues that you've helped other patients solve.
Clean Website Design and Site Structure
Ensure that your website has clear direction. In addition to people being more knowledgeable, they are now destination-driven. Make sure they can find the key pages they are looking for in your website. Pages such as “About the Doctor” and your “Before and After Gallery” are typically going to have the most traffic, so make them easy to find. Enable visitors to find their way around your website by implementing rollover navigation elements.
Relevant Linking
Make sure you are using links in your content. Direct your visitors to relevant pages in your website to set up proper funneling to get them to the information that converts new patients. For example, link to a before and after photo of a dental implant case on your dental implants page.
Promoting Your Specials - Hook Visitors with Calls-To-Action and Special Promotions
Have strong calls-to-action that engage your visitors and compel them to contact your practice. If you are running a special on teeth whitening, make sure you have a call-to-action button on your website that takes a visitor to a landing page that will strategically lead to a phone call, email or live chat.
Promote Your Strengths
Do you offer free consultations? Financing? Other unique services? Create pages that separate you from other dentists in your market. Explain your process for evaluating the issues your patients are experiencing and the options they will have. Write about your experience and ongoing education to build credibility.
Build a Loyal Community
Most established practices should be driving a majority of their new patients through word of mouth and referrals. Using social media and blogs are now an essential way to help build and develop your referral network. Consistently produce relevant blogs, post them on your website and promote them through your social media profiles. Participation and engagement through social media will help establish your practice in your community and build credibility.
What You Need To Do Now
Internet marketing changes at a rapid pace. Technology and how people are using technology are constantly taking giant leaps forward. It is not enough to implement the above six items to your internet marketing strategy and “set it and forget it.” It is vital to review your website and internet marketing efforts at least once a year to ensure that you are keeping up with changes in technology and behaviors.