On today’s episode of The Social Speak podcast, we’re going to be talking a little bit about website development and specifically our process for website development for your healthcare clinic.
We specialize in creating websites that capture your brand, your voice, your expertise and best position yourself in your medical practice to be found by prospects. Now, when we build a website, we don’t view it as a one-and-done sort of thing. It’s not a brochure that you print out and then you have thousands of copies to hand out.
Healthcare Website Design and Development
A website is an ever growing and changing, and shifting presence online, where we recommend you are continually adding blogposts, uploading videos, creating resources and interviews to engage your prospects and engage your current patients.
So the reason why I want to do this today, is we just finished up a website for one of our clients and our main contact, the office manager sent over such a fabulous note. She writes, “I am beyond thrilled with how everything has turned out so far, and want to thank you so much for all of the hard work. Prior to starting this project, I heard horror stories from some friends and colleagues who have been in charge of website redesigns and had been dreading the process. You and your team made it so easy on us and we could not be happier with the way things have gone. We really look forward to our continued partnership moving forward.”
So this is just one of the many testimonials that we have from a local clinic who had an old website that frankly, they just weren’t thrilled about. The pages were hard to update, they did not include current information, and it was hard to really adjust the functionality, so that it attracted the right people to their organization.
Listen to the Podcast
How we create websites for clients
Now, the process that we follow for creating websites for our clients tries to make it as fun and simple as possible. I got a kick out of designing these websites because really I’m able to visualize what that end goal is.
Analyze your current website
Oftentimes, you start with the website and potentially you just can’t stand the look and feel of it. However if we go into the backend and we look and we see that everything really is set up very strongly for Google and you are getting patients and prospects from the website, we might actually tell you, “You know what, there are better ways to spend your budget rather than doing the website redesign.”
Now, if we look in the back end and things are just as messy as they are on the front end, we’ll let you know and we will help you work through a process that we follow for creating the new websites.
Initial conversation
So the first thing that we do is we have an initial conversation, they’ll be with myself, potentially, my business partner will be on the call as well or one of our account managers, and we ask questions,
Do you currently have a website, what are websites you like the look and feel of and what are some that you don’t?
This allows us to see if there are similarities between the ones that you like and the ones that you don’t like so that we can replicate by using your own branding and values and purpose and goals, though with items that you do like compared to the ones that you don’t.
What are the top concerns about your current website, what are the top goals for your new website?
How will you measure if the site is performing, what is the main call to action?
So new consultations booked, appointments scheduled, email sign ups, increased traffic, things like that, so we can track all of that as well as where they’re coming from.
Additional functionality that you’d like to see in your new website
Let us know if there are functionalities you’d like to expand on and carry on from your old website.
Questions about your current brand standards
Oftentimes, our clients already do have their branding all set and solidified. They have their logos, their fonts, their colors. However, if you are a newer healthcare clinic or want to go through a complete rebranding of your healthcare clinic, we can definitely help with that as well.
We have a few partners that depending on your niche will make a great fit for that branding side. However, a lot of times our clients come to us, their website is just not performing as it should, they’re all set with their branding, all set with their value selection, things like that and we just take that and move it into the 21st century.
What is your target market?
So in order to create a website that attracts this target, we need to understand:
Who they are – so we wanna know who your ideal patient is and understand some of those success stories.
What were they struggling with beforehand and where did they come out the other side, once they were done working with your physicians, your doctors?
What about you, what about your brand?– We wanna know the values and the passions of the doctors, as well as the admin, the administration, so that we can really understand how to capture your unique voice through the website.
We have some websites that we work through where we are rewriting all of the copy on the website, and running it through your medical director to make sure it’s all approved, and then we have other clients who write the content, or already have the content written and they just wanna make sure that it’s displayed the best on a new website.
We find that branding and layout and content really have to all work together in order to have a seamless website. It can’t just have images, and then content built separately. You need to pull them together. We also love to talk about the benefits of working with you. So what are some of those most impactful transformations that your clients realize with working with you?
Plan website’s structure
So once we have all of this information and we have our website kick-off call, we get to work. And the first thing that our team does and I am actually going to hold up a workbook, right here.
So, if you’re listening to the podcast, you can kind of visualize this basically, it’s just very rough sketches of what pages could look like. And this one right here, it has a header. It has icons, events, kinda scrolling testimonials. And so what we do is we take elements that we see on other websites that you have noted that you like the look and feel of, and we see how we can then incorporate similar items into your website.
We typically have a page layout for the home page, then another page layout for the top level services pages, so let’s say you have one service page for all of the different… Oh goodness, thinking of too many different industries [chuckle] for all of the different dental care options that you have. So that page would have one layout, however all of the sub-pages, that go into dental cleaning surgeries, cavity extractions, and things like that, would have a different layout. So those are three layouts there, a layout for your contact page and probably a layout for your about page. And so each of these pages, they’re going to have a similar look and feel, however we’ve found by differentiating them by layout a little bit helps to make sure that somebody can move smoothly through the website.
As we’re building the site, we also make sure that we really understand your page hierarchy. So, this means how do all of your pages and services relate to one another? How should Google be ranking them and how can we link between the pages to get that best search engine optimization for you?
Search Engine Optimization
While we’re doing that and putting the content on the pages, we’re doing keyword research. Potentially the wording and the language that you use within your practice isn’t what people are actually looking for on Google.
So we wanna make sure that we are writing for search engines, writing to showcase your expertise and then also writing to best position your practice to be the one that clients and prospects then choose to become a patient.
Web design and content approval
Now this whole process, we like to move through it actually fairly quickly, at least that design element. We recognize that it does take time for content to be approved, messaging to be approved. However, our process is typically a one-month turnaround, for smaller website projects.
Turnaround time
Within the first two weeks, we wanna get you a working design, a working layout that you can poke around and see where we’re going for that look and feel. Typically, at this point, we’ll have that home page, about page, main services page, sub-services page and contact page. If I haven’t said that, contact page, all kind of set, ready to go.
Then, if you already have the content and you have minimal additional functionality, maybe a blog on potentially lead capture form and we utilize Influx MD for most of our healthcare clinic websites. If you need that, again, typically a month, we can get most of the site all set ready to go and then just that approval process might take another month.
So we like to have a website started and completed within that same quarter. If you want additional functionality, such as payment center, maybe a more robust directory listing for your physicians, scheduling tools and things like that, might take a little bit longer.
Integrating Influx MD
If we are integrating Influx MD in there, they do have an onboarding process as well to make sure that we are tapping into the systems and processes that you already have and really bringing those to help your administration through the whole process of that initial scheduling.
Influx MD is a HIPAA compliant form system so that it really taps into your current processes, keeps everything secure and allows us to then, moving forward after the website’s done, move into lead collection for your healthcare clinic. And that’s where our ongoing marketing really ties in with search engine optimization as well as running sponsored advertising, writing blog posts, doing doctor interviews and posting to social media, all of which tie into how people that interact and utilize your website to achieve their goals.
Conclusion
So if you have any questions about how your website currently is working, I’d love to do an audit on your website, so we can talk about what your goals are and see if it’s actually accomplishing them. Or a small tweak might be able to better align your website with what you’re hoping to do.
If we find in that process that a new website is going to be the best course of action, I’ll send over that website onboarding form and we’ll schedule a call from there to really dive into what those goals are and that look and feel that you’re going for that website. So I can’t wait to talk with you about your medical marketing website, and I hope that this has been insightful about some of what that process looks like for working with our team.
If you like this episode, and you want to learn more about healthcare marketing, please subscribe to our podcast, subscribe to our YouTube channel and jump on over to our website to check out the additional blog posts that we have over there.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Website-Development-Blog.png1200800Caitlin McDonaldhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngCaitlin McDonald2020-02-26 10:46:272020-03-17 15:41:59Website Development For Medical Clinics
Not too long ago, patients relied on word-of-mouth referrals from family and friends when looking for a healthcare provider. Others would browse through the Yellow Pages and find a hospital or practice closest to their location. Today, however, the internet has become a major force in patient decisions.
With volumes of information available online, it has empowered prospective patients to find the care they need in the moments that matter most. Patients no longer have to rely on their gut instinct, guesswork or their friend’s advice.
If you want to reach new patients, then you need to know how patients are looking for providers online. Use them to your advantage to convert those searching prospects into patients.
Social media
More than 3.5 billion people are using social media. 54% of them use it to research products, services, and even healthcare providers.
Although word-of-mouth still ranks high as a method for finding healthcare providers, social media largely contributes to how patients choose one. Many prospective patients, millennials in particular, are apt to solicit input through social media. They put a lot of trust in unbiased opinions and recommendations from other patients.
According to a PwC Health Research Institute report, 41% of patients said that social media content impacted their choice of physician or hospital. Always bring value to your patients and give them a reason to follow you. This is one of the best ways to establish a trustworthy reputation for your medical practice on social media. It can be as simple as giving tips on how to stay healthy, reminding patients of essential vaccinations or sharing information about current illnesses.
Patients turn to Google
The internet is a fantastic source of medical information. When patients do not feel well, they don’t usually think about scheduling an appointment with their doctor. Rather, they would consult Dr. Google first and research their symptoms to learn more about their condition.
Once they have a good understanding of their condition, that’s the only time they would search for a medical practitioner. They would key in keywords such as “cardiologist near me” or “diabetologist in Miami”.
If you want to reach new patients, then you want your page to rank well on Google. That means, your name must land on the on the first page of Google search engine results page. Otherwise, prospective patients won’t find you.
Use SEO to rank higher on Google. Start by dominating long-tail keywords. Research keywords that are relevant to your practice and create content based on that keyword.
Long-tail keywords are easier to rank for as the competition is lower. That means, it will take less time and money to rank compared the big and popular ones.
They read online reviews
Majority of patients would conduct online research even after receiving a recommendation or referral. They want to know what being your patient is like before scheduling an appointment.
88% of patients use online reviews as a step towards finding a new doctor. This helps new patients make a more informed decision about who to choose. They will quickly eliminate providers with poor reviews.
In the age of internet, your reputation is whatever Google says it is. If prospective patients do not find reviews online, they’d think twice about making an appointment. As a healthcare provider, you want to have a positive online brand reputation that earns the trust of patients.
A great way to improve your reputation is to list your practice on doctor review sites such as Zocdoc, WebMD, RateMDs, Vitals, and Healthgrades. These sites that can help you improve your reputation, generate new patient leads, and gain trust.
More positive reviews will ensure that you are listed ahead of competitors in search results and will drive traffic to your website.
Location-based services
Convenience is a key factor in selecting a new doctor. In fact, according to Healthgrade’s data, location is a highly significant consideration when a patient chooses a doctor or a hospital. Majority of them prefer physicians and healthcare providers within their area who can assist them with their needs.
Building your local search presence will help you gain a significant step over the competition. Google My Business is a great tool that can do wonders for your local SEO. It puts your business on the map so potential patients can find you.
It is also a good idea to optimize your website for local search. To boost your local SEO, make sure that you include your location in keyword phrases across your website. Instead of using keywords such as dentist, use dentist in Phoenix.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/How-patients-blog.png10801080Kathlyn Angeles-Timbolhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngKathlyn Angeles-Timbol2020-02-19 09:11:472020-10-02 14:48:41How Patients Find and Select Healthcare Providers and How to Use it to Your Advantage
A question that we get asked a lot by our clients is, how do you create professional looking images for your social media posts and your blogs?
It can get a little pricey if you have a graphic designer that’s creating every single image for your digital marketing strategies. Every social media image, every Pinterest image, every Instagram, every blog. And so, we wanted to talk to you today about a tool that we use for our clients called Canva.
Reasons why you should use Canva
It’s affordable
The one thing I really like about Canva is, it’s really affordable. Now we’re talking about your social media posts and your blogs.
If you are needing images for your website, your branding materials, we highly recommend working with a graphic designer, and a branding expert to really pull in that voice. Once you’ve worked with a branding expert, you usually have a set of thoughts and brand colors that then you wanna be able to incorporate into your social media posts and your blogs.
With Canva, there is a free site and a paid site. I think the paid site is only, $14.95, and I highly recommend it.
Maintain brand consistency
One piece with social media is really to make sure that you have that brand consistency. So whether they’re looking at your website mobile-y, on the computer, they have a brochure, a business card, social media posts, they know that it is your practice from your brand’s colors.
If you look at any large company, they follow through with that. Their TV commercials to their promotional products, their social media, their website, everything has the same look and feel. And that’s exactly what you want to do with your social media marketing strategy.
You can also upload your brand kit, which is really cool, because like I said, we have those brand colors, those brand thoughts and we want to make sure we have the right logos. So, we can upload the logos in here. You can upload the exact brand colors and your brand thoughts.
In every image, our three brand fonts are gonna be this playlist correct? This one the playlist here and then Raleway. And so on each of our images for our blogs or our social media, you’re going to see one or all three, depending on the text of these fonts. You’re also going to see our brand colors.
Now, if you look on our website, you’re going to see more of these teals and the light mauve and beige. Sometimes what we have is aspect color, so we have a logo that is this yellow and this teal and that helps kinda just make up that image pop, but it’s still within our brand’s color, so we may not use this orange all the time, but we may use it as an aspect color on one of the images. So this is a great way to really stay true to that brand that your design team have put in place.
Create images for your digital marketing
The other thing with Canva is, if you click on Create A Design, they have every size you need. So this makes it really easy. You can do a poster, a logo, a card, you can do brochures, but most importantly, you have all of your digital marketing templates in here too. You have a YouTube cover. You have, if you need help making your Twitter header the right size, or your Facebook page, but most importantly social media.
So, the social media template is what we use for Instagram and for Facebook, it also does work on LinkedIn. Canva does link to Pixabay. So there’s free images in here and there are paid images.
Resize images for you
The one thing that’s also really good about Canva is you can resize them.
So let’s say you want this image you’re doing and you did a video to go with it, but you want to resize it to the YouTube thumbnail. You can click resize and you can either create a custom size Pinterest, you can type in YouTube, so this can be the YouTube thumbnail. It will look just like this, but in the YouTube thumbnail size.
So it’s going to be easy to upload, keep that brand consistency, and not have to recreate that image. Like, okay, what size was this? What did I have here? It does all the hard work for you. So that is a great tool.
Free ready to use templates
So, with Canva it will tell you if something is free, or if you have to pay for it. And they have by categories too. So if there’s something that specific that you are looking for, so let’s just type medical and they have all these different templates already in here.
Now some of them are free and some of them are paid for. One thing that I recommend if you’re looking at, let’s say you love this template, but it is not free, you can purchase it. They’re usually between $1 and $5 and then you can re-use them, but you can also create that image by yourself without having to pay for that template.
How to use Canva
This is my favorite part of social media, creating the images. It’s also the most time-consuming because you want that image to be perfect.
And so, what I always recommend and what we do for our clients is we create different templates. So we may create 7 to 10 different templates for that client. Let’s say these are the recent ones I’ve used, and so, they’re all gonna be within these 7 to 10 templates with their branded colors, their brand fonts and we rotate that.
Choose a template
Start by choosing a template. So let’s say we want to use this one – It’s world day for safety and health at work today.
So sometimes, this is the National Nurses Day, happy National Nurses Day, so sometimes they already have templates in here, and you can come in here and just change the brand colors, so we can just change this to the colors that we would have for our client.
Make necessary changes
As I have said earlier, we can change the colors to suit our brand colors. Then, we can add our logo on to it. We would change the content here, so if we wanted to change this to an accent color, but then keep this message, we can do that, or we can take out this content all together and put in our own content.
Edit texts
Now, the fun part of the text. So February is National Heart Month, so let’s add in this. So we wanna make this larger, so they have obviously different sizes that we can have, maybe I wanna make this really big, and then do this. And then National Heart Awareness Month. And let’s make this larger. So I’m using my brand colors and I can move that content wherever I want it.
So we go back to that template that we liked, we have the content here, maybe we want this to align with that there, and then we wanna have, we want this to come up a little bit, and then we wanna have in our just like our website down here, www.heartplus.com whatever your website is. We want to bring this down here with maybe some contact information.
Pick an image
Now, we obviously need something here. So you can type in a keyword. It will show you that these are the paid ones. If you click on to here, it will say free, and then you can apply filters.
So you can pick any image that you want. And again, this is where it can get a little time consuming, so you do have to play around with this a lot because it’s important to know how to search for the different images.
Play around with templates, images, and texts
I also like using ones that have the image in the back with the text overlay. I think that those are very clean and you just want to make sure that whatever your brand message is, whatever that message is, you just make sure that this image is clean and easy to read.
So maybe you’re talking about healthy eating. So again, you can just drag this image over on top of the image that’s already there and it will automatically replace it.
So now, you can change out your content here, you can change the background color if you want it to be one of your brand colors, you can do that.
Save the image for future use
So all you have to do is come in here each month when you’re creating your content, and there’s two ways of doing this. If you come back to the main page here and you go to all your designs, you can copy this design for each week.
Let’s say February is National Heart Awareness Month. And so then now you have created this template. So then next month, all you have to do is come in, change February to March and put in whatever March’s National Awareness Month is.
Change out the logo if you need to, or move it down here, add more content, or contact information. So now we have two templates, so we’re going to do the same thing. We’re going go to add new page and go to templates again. Now, if you didn’t like any of these, you can use any of these that you want and change it around.
I always like to be able to look back at the images and especially if you need to make a change, you don’t have to re-create that image all over again. So you can come in to here and you- can, the templates that we have created right here, we can then just click this and do make a copy, and then you can label them every week.
So week of February third, week of February 10th, and then you have five or seven templates in here with the content, so you can just download them.
Canva has templates based on holidays
Again, I would take some time with this to really look at which templates you like. Are you doing a lot of testimonials? Testimonials are a great way to promote your practice. So maybe something along these lines, you can do something like this where you have the testimonial here with maybe pictures of the staff that, that patient is talking about, there’s a ton of different templates in here and the thing with Canva is they’re always adding new templates based on the holidays.
So if you wanted to put out a Happy Valentines Day, you’ll find some templates here. Even if you want to use this template, you can change these colors to your branded colors. And so that’s a really great way to still have that, those posts that are, Happy Holidays, Happy Valentines Day, Groundhog Day, whatever you wanna talk about, but still keeping that brand consistency.
So take some time scrolling through here to really figure out which templates you want, and you don’t have to always just use those 10, maybe you have a brand template of 20 of them.
Final thoughts
Canva is simple, it’s fun to use. It does take a little bit of time in the beginning, but really once you have those brand templates down, it’s just changing the content and being able to download those and implement them in your social media strategy.
If you need help on how to create your branded templates or if you would like help with the management of your social media marketing, we are here for you. You can head on over to socialspeaknetwork.com and schedule a free 30-minute consultation, and we would love to see how we can help you with your digital marketing strategy. Have a great day!
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Canva-blog.png315560Amber Irwinhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngAmber Irwin2020-02-12 08:00:212020-02-07 21:01:19How to Use Canva for Your Medical Practice
At this point, it’s no question whether or not your practice needs to be on social media. Almost everyone understands the importance of having a solid social media presence. However, most are overlooking the benefits of Instagram as a marketing platform.
Why Instagram?
Instagram is one of the most popular social networks on a global level. It has grown immensely over the years, with over 1 billion monthly active users.
Whether you’re a dentist, dermatologist, cosmetic surgeon, plastic surgeon or an oncologist, marketing your practice on Instagram is going to bring you the business you seek.
Here are some tips on how to make use of Instagram to promote your medical practice.
Plan out your grid
Instagram is a predominantly visual platform. If you’re looking to turn your viewers into followers, then you’ll need to put aside time to visually plan your feed.
Your Instagram feed is one of the first things a visitor sees when they land on your profile. You want to create a cohesive Instagram aesthetic while still showcasing content that aligns with your field of specialization. This will give visitors a feel of what your brand is about in a matter of seconds. Plus, they are more likely to follow you if they see a visually attractive and cohesive grid.
Share images people can connect with
As a medical practitioner, the last thing you want is to put off your audience with gory surgical images or pictures of intimidating medical equipment.
There are 3 things you want to accomplish when planning your Instagram content:
Engage your audience
Provide content that is informative, interesting, and inspiring to potential patients
Highlight a service you offer.
The goal is to share images people can connect with. If you’re a plastic surgeon, you may use your Instagram feed to show before and after photos. Consistently post photos of your best cases to keep people coming back for more.
With patient approval, you may also post about your patient’s success stories. This can go a long way toward alleviating fears and finding inspiration through a life-changing illness.
Use your captions to prompt discussion
While we agree that photos matter most on Instagram, that doesn’t mean that the caption should be treated as an afterthought.
People like to know that you value their thoughts and opinions. Ask them questions, tell a story or ask for their opinions. It shows you care about them and you’re interested to connect with them. Really get in there and converse with your audience.
It may seem awkward at first but go for it. You’ll be surprised at how many of your Instagram pals will be chatting and engaging with you.
Add video to your content
A picture paints a thousand words, they say. But videos can convey even more. Video has been found to drive more interactions and provides more opportunities for you to stand out. It gives you an opportunity to reach a much larger audience, show your personality, and educate your audience.
Videos can be shared in stories, in the newsfeed, and can be used to create a high-converting ad campaign. To maximize your use of video, make sure that the first few seconds of your video is attention-grabbing.
Find something that will set yourself apart
With one billion monthly active users, Instagram has become an integral part of every brand’s marketing activities. If you’re looking to amplify your presence on Instagram, then you need to up your Insta game to cut through the noise.
For instance, Dr. Sandra Lee (aka Dr. Pimple Popper) is a big hit on social media. She has more than 5 million subscribers on Youtube and over 3 million followers on Instagram. She has both entranced and grossed out her followers with her knack for popping.
Find something that will set yourself apart and give your audience a reason to keep coming back.
Hashtag strategically
Hashtags are a great way to categorize your content. It makes it easier for users to find you and reach out to your prospective audience.
Use trending hashtags to get in front of more people. Make sure, though, that these hashtags are related to your niche. You may also consider using a branded hashtag. It could be something as simple as your name or your tag line.
Prompt your followers to use your custom hashtag, and you’ll soon learn just who your superfans are.
Collaborate with influencers
These days, social media influencers are like modern-day celebrities. Consider reaching out to other influential Instagram users if you’re looking to increase your visibility.
When looking for influencers, look beyond the follower count. You want to find an influencer who will resonate with your audience and drive engagement amongst the community.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Instagram-for-Blog.png800800Kathlyn Angeles-Timbolhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngKathlyn Angeles-Timbol2020-02-05 08:00:262020-10-02 14:49:45How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Medical Practice
Today, we’re going to be talking about search engine optimization for healthcare clinics, for medical practices, and why this is so important.
In our blog post, we also have a video that specifically is about how to do keyword research, and the ins and outs of search engine optimization so that you can actually do it, but this podcast is mostly geared towards why you need search engine optimization and the benefits of it.
To start off, why is Search Engine Optimization for Medical Practices important?
One-third of patients today are using their telephones or tablets to research and to book appointments. You need to make sure that you’re being found online.
58% of healthcare marketers are using blogs and that’s compared to 74% of all marketers. This means that there is room for you to grow in that space.
And 62% of smartphone owners use their phones to search for health information. So it gives you a chance to actually answer those questions.
What Does Search Engine Optimization Do for Health Care Practice?
Search engine optimization does more that just get your website ranking higher on Google and other search engines. SEO has other ways that it is useful. SEO as a piece of medical marketing allows you to:
Build trust with prospects
Share valuable and education content
Make sure you are appearing in Mobile search results
Additionally, there are different types of search engine optimization that you can pursue in your digital marketing strategy. SEO is not a one-and-done thing. There are tactics you can implement to make sure you continually are increasing your SEO. Search Engine Optimization is made of two main strategies – On-site and Off-site. Below is a list of the Social Speak recommendations for how to boost website traffic and grow your network of prospects online.
Types of SEO for Medical Practices
Off-Site SEO for Medical Practices: This includes building links from referring domains, backlinks, directory listings, and submitting your website and blog posts to syndication websites. Typical 1st-page listings on Google have exponentially more backlinks than those on the 2nd or 3rd page of search listings. These referring in-bound links need to be high-quality, as well. 10,000 links from websites with a low domain authority can be less valuable than 1 link from a well-established domain. Activities we recommend are:
Research your competition at NeilPatel.com. This is a free keyword research tool that allows you to see what websites are ranking for select keywords, their domain authority, and how many backlinks they have into their website.
Write high-quality blog posts (see on-page SEO below) and reach out to webmasters of websites in your industry to pitch adding a link to your resources.
Find websites in your niche that accept Guest Blog Posts. Write an article with a link back to your website.
Add your website to directories and optimize the content.
Comment with a link back to a resource on your website in forums and on other blogs
On-Site SEO for your Health care website: On-site SEO includes making sure your website is both up to date and that you are consistently producing keyworded content.
Website Security: Old PHP versions, outdated WordPress files, and expired SSL certificates are all key indicators that have harmful consequences for your SEO. We recommend backing up your website at least monthly and updating all theme, plugin, and WordPress files. There also are services that scan your website daily for malware or security vulnerabilities.
Blogging and Article writing: Gaining inbound backlinks and your ability to show up in search results for specific keywords are driven by high-quality, keyworded content on your website. The highest-ranking websites across industries produce blogs and articles on their websites multiple times per month and many take to blogging daily. These blogs aren’t just 500 word articles – they are well-researched pieces of content that could be 1,000 to 10,000 words long.
To find what topics to write about, we recommend:
Steps for Research
Your own brainstorm
Google related search results and ‘smart’ search results or ‘featured snippets’
How to find topics and keywords to use in Medical Marketing?
Why your medical practice, why as a doctor, you need to be focusing on search engine optimization.
In the video above, I show some of the tools that we utilize to find what keywords to focus on for your medical practice to build up that search engine optimization. So I’m going to share my screen and the first thing that you are going to see here is a tool Ubersuggest. Now Ubersuggest is Neil Patel’s tool, and it is a free tool that you can utilize. I am signed in right now, but this is free. It’s something that you just sign in with your Google account. And then by doing that, you can hook it up to your website so that you can measure things like traffic and the number of backlinks you have, any new backlinks that are showing up and things like that. It takes all of Google’s tools and compresses them into reports that you should be taking a look at for search engine optimization.
We utilize Ubersuggest as a way to find really specific content that you can include on your website and then also to get a sense of how many things like backlinks or the page rank of your competition. So I did a search already for pediatrician. We worked with a lot of pediatrics offices, and so I thought this might be a great thing to start with. So as you can see, when we do a search for “pediatrician,” we have a list of keywords over here and these are just suggested keywords that are similar to “pediatrician.”
The volume of the searches, cost per click if you were to bid on this using Google ads, page difficulty and then the SEO difficulty. So for most websites, if you’re seeing competition having a SEO difficulty here of 62, 65, 46, these are going to be pretty difficult for you to rank for, especially if you haven’t built that foundation of keywords that Google is already ranking you for. So we recommend scrolling down on the list until you find that SEO difficulty that’s a little bit lower.
Using Filters to Narrow Keywords
Now, you can use this filters technique. And so here, you can set what you want the search volume to be as well as the SEO difficulty. And so we actually utilize that, but for the purpose of this video, I want to show you kind of all the keywords that show up here. Then, over on the right hand side of the screen, you’re going to see the actual results that show up in Google. So for “pediatrician” for example, we only see a lot of WebMD, HealthyChildren.org, Verywell Health etcetera, pediatrics – a lot of very highly ranked websites with high domain scores. The domain score is how positively Google sees you. Most likely, trying to rank for the word “pediatrician” probably isn’t going to be good for you to start.
Build a foundation of keywords to then rank for more difficult keywords
However, as you build up that foundation of keywords below that, you can slowly work up over time for a top keyword like pediatrician. So let’s see what keywords we should be focusing on. So if you scroll down, there are quite a few for pediatric urgent care or for specialties that you might have.
“Pediatric urgent care near me,” for example, that has 20. And so this is the type of search that people do when they’re on their phones, so they’ll rather than typing in, they’ll actually say, “Pediatrician,” or “Pediatric urgent care near me.” So you want to make sure that you’re including language like that on a blog post or on a page on your website. Here we’ve got “urologist.” So that’s a different one. Even “pediatric clinic” has a lower SEO difficulty score. So rather than just going after pediatrician, you could have “pediatric clinic near me,” “pediatric urologist.” So again those specialties are good to highlight as well. I saw it down here on… Let’s see. Pediatrician for kids.
These are called long term keyword phrases. And so as you’re writing content, again, don’t just focus on that top keyword. Think about those secondary and third keywords that make up phrases for you to write content around.
Here we go, “pediatrician near me that accepts Medicaid.”
So if you accept Medicaid, this could be something to make sure to put in a blog post or on your website at somewhere just because it is absolutely something that is getting quite a few searches.
And yes, these are national numbers. But still, it ranks up here and that has that lower SEO difficulty. Now, one of the things that I like about this table here is the tool Ubersuggest also allows you to look at related keywords, questions, propositions and comparisons all of these make fantastic blog posts because they are really answering the questions that people have.
Specific Keywords for Pediatricians:
“pediatrician when you are pregnant” – you could have a blog post specifically about how to find a pediatrician when you’re pregnant or when to start talking to a pediatrician. Even answering things like, “Will a pediatrician prescribe birth control?” I am assuming that you probably aren’t, however, this is a question that people are asking and it’s something that you’d be able to rank in the eyes of Google for and start building up that foundation. So over time, you can start focusing on those keywords that 100% you need to be ranking for.
“Pediatrician accept Medicaid” – if you do accept Medicaid, this may be a great topic to rank for and write about. Describe the process, have a doctor interview, etc.
“Pediatrition for ADHD” – you could have a post that’s specifically on why your pediatrics office, the pediatrician office near them, is the right fit if your child has ADHD and you’d want to make sure to include this exact phrase right here.
Let’s say you do end up writing a blog post on Pediatrician for ADHD. You would then be able to come over here to see who else is ranking for that keyword. Now, if we take a look here, these domain scores all also do have… They are all fairly high as well. So what you can do is you can reach out to the author of, let’s see what’s this, everyday health protocol is, ‘Find the right ADHD specialist,’ and you could email the webmaster or the editor of this article and see if your article, if it is educational and provides great information you can actually email them to see if they wouldn’t mind adding you as a resource that they link to within their blog post. Now, getting these high-quality links back to your site are incredibly important for search engine optimization. We do see, for example, right here. So this person eastbaypediatrics.com. They don’t have any links. They are on the second page, so you can see the number of visits does go down, but their domain score is seven. So if you have the right content that’s related to Pediatrician for ADHD and you start building backlinks from these higher articles here in higher websites, you’re going to be showing Google that your content is very well written and it’s relevant and that people want to read it.
Pediatrician for ADHD could be a great topic to talk about.
Another option on Ubbersuggest Keyword Tool is comparisons. I love writing articles with comparisons. I think that this is a great way to stand apart from your competition, to provide great value.
A recommendation here could be for pediatrician writing one about “pediatrician or family doctor.”
What’s the difference? Why would you choose one versus the other? If you are a family doctor, this is a great topic to talk about as well. Other examples are: family medicine versus family doctor. With pediatrician or family doctor, for example, it only has 90 searches. However, that means combined with this page difficulty of five and the SEO difficulty seven, most likely you’re going to make an impact by writing about this topic or having one of your doctors answering this question, and you would be more likely to be able to place on the top pages of Google fairly quickly for this, especially if you then go out and get those backlinks.
Read the rest of the transcript for the video on How to Do Keyword Research with Ubersuggest for Healthcare SEO
11:26 CM: So one thing, once you have a topic or a handful of questions that you’ve found that people are asking about your specialty, you can then write up an interview for your doctor. And we love doing this just because it allows you to get multiple media at one time. So you have the audio if you ever want to start a podcast. You have the visual component through the video. And then you also easily get a transcript of this keyworded content of questions that people are actually asking that then you can put on your website. We have a full blog post. I’ll link to it down here that is about how to utilize interviews or videos in order to make transcripts that can then be turned into a blog post. You’ll see even with this video, we had that podcast. The podcast is the intro to this blog post and then this tutorial is really the bulk of that blog post. So we’ve talked about Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool. This is a free tool. There are plenty of paid tools that are very similar. Keyword Finder is one that we’ve talked about in the past and that is just kwfinder.com. The problem with this is they now are… And you’ll see it’s a very similar layout to Neil Patel’s.
12:46 CM: However they restrict the number of searches that you can do on the free account whereas Neil Patel’s tool really is a free tool. Yes, if you are linking up your website, they are probably collecting data on the number of visitors and the backlinks and everything. However this is a great free option.
13:27 CM: So, there is that Keyword Finder. Moz has a SEO tool, I think. HubSpot has a website grader. That’s always good to look at. But this again, the Neil Patel one, it is a great way to dive into how well the backbones of your website are even performing. Are there pages that don’t have Header 1 tags? Are their pages that are missing Alt tags on images? Can you improve the number of pages that are linking together kind of things like that? Neil Patel’s tool really showcases that very well. The last thing that we do, however, when we are doing keyword research is we actually turn over to Google and we take a look to see what other people are actually writing and to see if Google has any other recommended search results. So I’m going to do this. The pediatrician or family doctor, and I just go right over here to Google. Now oftentimes, I will be in the incognito mode, and that’s just so that I can really see everything that they have. But you can take a look to see what other people are talking about. So, you’ll notice a lot of these folks are using that keyword that we just searched for, “pediatrician” or “family doctor” in the title of the website or of the article.
15:00 CM: And here, if you don’t see that happening then make sure 100% that you are writing on that topic, ’cause you would, by having keywords, that phrase, in the title of the page as well as in the URL, it can be a great way to show Google right away, “Hey look, I’m actually talking about this whereas my competition isn’t necessarily talking about it.” But you can get a sense of what other people are writing about. So, how to decide, how to decide? So this one is “choosing a pediatrician for your new baby.” I’m sure in here, in this kid’s health article somewhere in there, it has “pediatrician versus family doctor.” Oh, this a… This looks like a forum. So forums can be great places to then get more backlinks into your website. So if you write an article “Pediatrician versus Family Doctor,” absolutely post it. This from 2011. So it’s not too current, but post it as, “Hey, we just wrote this great resource that it might be helpful for you as you’re deciding whether to utilize a pediatrician or a family doctor,” and add the link into a forum. Quora is another great place, Q-U-O-R-A, for you to do things like that as well.
16:26 CM: So if you see somebody asking a question “pediatrician versus family doctor” there, you can add your content and a link there as well, and that counts as a good backlink too. Let’s see, Revere Health, so they have “pediatrician versus family care doctor.” So they have just, “Pediatricians, family physicians, how to search?” So this is a very short article. Imagine if you had this article and then three videos of different doctors answering specific questions about when to utilize a pediatrician when family physicians are appropriate and then comparing the two of them. So by having that multi-media, it allows you to have much more content very easily on your website. Additionally, right here, we’re not seeing any videos popping up. However, there would be a chance that your video would be able to show up. Let’s see, so there are some folks who have talked a little bit about “pediatrician, family doctor, pediatrician,” “the difference between family medicine and internal medicine.” So, no one specifically, at least on this first page, has answered the pediatrician versus family care doctor or family doctor.
17:48 CM: This’s one, like another forum. So this could be a great one to talk about. Just going to keep on going down this rabbit hole. [laughter] People are asking their peers for their insights about whether they should utilize a pediatrician or a family doctor or go to one specialist or another. This is an excellent opportunity to jump in and see if you can also write content or have your doctors film content about the topic. So it’s important to have your website again ranked on Google, just because most folks, most prospects that you have are looking for your specialty online or they’re researching the referrals that they get. They want to make sure that you are the correct choice for them and for their family. And by doing keyword research, you can start to understand what language they’re actually utilizing and what questions they actually have as they’re going through this decision-making process? Search engine optimization has the ability to drastically increase the ROI that you get from digital marketing, just because it gets you shown more frequently on Google as well as increases the brand recognition and quickly increases the fact that people will know, like and trust you and that you’ll become more of a household name.
19:22 CM: So, we highly recommend utilizing search engine optimization. And when you’re going through and first starting out, please take a look at Neil Patel’s tool. You can do a Google search for Ubersuggest or its app, neilpatel.com/ubersuggest. And you’ll be able to get there. From here, type in that top-level keyword that ultimately you do want to make sure that your website ranks for and then take a look at the related, the questions, prepositions and comparisons to see if there are any sub-topics that are going to be more likely that you will rank for quickly. And as you start growing that baseline, you’ll be able to target those higher and higher-difficulty keywords in the future
Read the Medical Marketing Podcast Transcript on Why SEO should be a part of your Digital Marketing for Healthcare Strategy
00:00 Caitlin McDonald: Hello everybody, my name is Caitlin McDonald, and I’m here with the Social Speak Network on the Social Speak Network podcast. Today, we’re gonna be talking about search engine optimization for healthcare clinics, for medical practices and why this is so important in our blog post, we also have a video that specifically is about how to do keyword research, and the ins and outs of search engine optimization so that you can actually do it, but this blog post is, or excuse this podcast is mostly geared towards why you need search engine optimization and the benefits of it so to start off, why is it important? So, one-third of patients today are using their telephones or tablets to research and to book appointments. So you need to make sure that you’re being found online. 58% of healthcare marketers are using blogs and that’s compared to 74% of all marketers. So, this means that there is room for you to grow in that space. And 62% of smartphone owners use their phones to search for health information. So it gives you a chance to actually answer those questions.
01:30 CM: Additionally, 75% of patients use search engines prior to scheduling a visit. So we view search engine optimization as being incredibly important for your medical practice. Number one, it increase your online visibility. So, blogging is a huge part of search engine optimization, it’s your ability to create content but then is answering questions that folks are looking for online so increases your online visibility, you wanna make sure that you are actually found online. So without that content, let’s say your page just has doctor Profiles on it, information about some of the services that you offer your specialties, and then has the scheduling people are wanting more information. And so again, that second part of this, we’re actually gonna be diving into how to do that research, but for now, just know that if you weren’t found on the first page of Google most likely you’re not going to be found online. Search engine optimization, and being found organically online allows you to bring in more valuable visitors. So the reason why this is, is because of, being found first on Google, and having a presence on Google on Facebook, on LinkedIn and really on all of these other directories helps to boost consumer confidence in your facility in your clinic.
03:09 CM: And so you want to make sure that people know, like, and trust you, let’s say it’s the first time that they’ve dealt with the symptom they’re looking for answers about it. And you come up time and time again, they’re already going to start trusting you before they give you a call for that initial consultation. The third thing is that being optimized online helps to reduce your other digital marketing cost. So typically when we’re working with a healthcare center, we are running ads for them. This is a great way to reach people talking about top-of-funnel right when they’re searching for your specialty however, when you rank online as well, they’re more likely to click your listing down below, rather than the ad so it allows you to transfer some of that budget that you would be spending on clicks to people who are clicking on your free listing anyways, so it allows you to transfer some of those clicks as well as reach people who are just searching for lots of different things and they are wanting to make sure that you are legitimate and also to be able to find you and also positioned you above your competition if you’re showing up higher than them online as well.
04:35 CM: We have seen this to have a great return on investment and so traffic that you are getting from organic searches tends to be a little bit easier to convert. They aren’t seeing an ad and then wanting to do more research. You are the research that they are finding. So it’s a very cost-effective solution that has a high return on investment, and there are a few things to keep in mind as you are doing search engine optimization.
05:12 CM: One is you wanna make sure that you are thinking about mobile users. So about 62% of folks who are doing these searches are on their mobile phones. Often times, we even see search traffic up in the 80% for some of our clinics that we’re working for. And so you want to make sure if somebody’s doing a mobile search for your clinic, you’re also showing up there. Typically, people are starting to use voice searches. So rather than typing in a keyword, or two or service that they want, they are literally searching for a orthodontist near me or a pediatric office near me. And so you wanna make sure that you’re showing up for mobile users, and most importantly, for local mobile users, so put your clinic name, your location, and information like that in there so that people know that you are the one to visit.
06:13 CM: Let’s see, there are a few different ways that you can make your website stand out for search engines in 2020. And the first alluded to this with the blogging and how there is the gap for healthcare with blogging and a gap that you can fill by creating content that people are looking for. And so this is called on-page SEO, this is creating new content with keywords in it. Another thing that’s very valuable is building backlinks, so this is getting other websites, other directories to link into your website and having backlinks is one of the key indicators that Google is currently, looking for because it’s showing that other people want to link to your site. There’s a whole strategy behind this.
07:12 CM: I’m gonna be talking more about keyword research in the second part of this and how you can utilize that blog post, however if you are interested in the backlinking strategy, please just reach out to us schedule a consultation, we would love to chat with you in more detail about how to pursue backlinking for your healthcare center. However, this blog post is focused more on the front end of keyword research, creating content, things like that, then there is building links between pages. This is very easy to do if you are creating new content for your website basically on a blog post, if you mention a doctor’s name, link to their profile on your website if you are mentioning a service or a specialty, link to that specialty page. And so, just to wrap things up, in this part it is just very important to have search engine optimization as one of the key elements to your digital marketing strategy for your medical center because people are searching for medical practices and for specialists online if you want to meet them. Yes, you can create a referring partner relationships. However, a lot of folks are doing research themselves, and trying to figure out who’s gonna be the best person or best medical center to that they can trust to help heal them.
08:52 CM: So if you have any questions, please again jump over to that blog post, you’ll be able to read the full tutorial over there as well as watch our tutorial video and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions on how your practice can utilize Search Engine Optimization and keyword research and backlinking to boost the number of new appointments that you are seeing. Thanks so much for tuning in and I will see you next time on The Social Speak Network podcast.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Why-Medical-Practices-Need-to-Invest-in-SEO-and-How-to-do-Keyword-Research.png800800Caitlin McDonaldhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngCaitlin McDonald2020-01-29 10:54:412020-03-17 15:42:08Why Medical Practices Need to Invest in SEO and How to do Keyword Research
January marks a time for new beginnings. Now that 2020 is just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions.
For busy physicians and other healthcare professionals, resolutions to improve medical practice and maintain work-life balance are ideal. But it is also a good idea to include some marketing-related resolutions to your list. After all, the start of the year is the perfect time to set ambitious goals to ensure that your practice is more successful than the last.
Here are 7 digital marketing resolutions you should make this year. Keep these resolutions in mind, and you could be well on your way towards making 2020 the best year for your practice.
Plan ahead
Content marketing is a powerful and cost-effective way to reach your audience and establish authority for your brand. Unfortunately, doctors and other healthcare professionals fail to set aside time to create content.
We know you’re busy. But planning everything at the last moment is the worst possible strategy. If you aim to build an online following, then it’s vitally important that you publish content regularly.
Creating a content marketing calendar will make your life easier. It will not only help you save time, but it will also keep you on schedule and ensure that your content marketing doesn’t end up on the back burner.
Tap into social media
Who said doctors can’t be social? Social media provides a way to reach a new audience, promote your practice, and stay in touch with patients outside the office.
People have all kinds of questions about diseases – symptoms, treatments, prognosis, etc. Many of them turn to the internet for answers. Social media allows you to lend your insights to a larger audience and get a sense of what they want from their doctors.
By staying active on social media, you’ll be able to reach a wider audience, build a relationship with them, and ensure greater loyalty among existing patients. Remember, your practice is built on a good relationship.
Create high-quality content
Today, people, young and old, get the majority of their news and information from social media.
Social media provides a great platform to teach the public about important health matters. By consistently sharing quality content and relevant medical information, you can combat misinformation, educate your audience, and position yourself as an expert in your field.
While people may not run off and book an appointment with you, you’ll be on top of mind the next time they may be in need of your service. Plus, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to make an impact on the lives of potential patients.
Creating new content takes time. Make the most of your old content by turning them into videos, infographics or podcasts.
Invest in video
We’ve said this plenty of times before, but it bears repeating. Video marketing is the future. It absolutely needs to be a part of your marketing strategy.
As visual species, humans are addicted to video content at the moment. Studies suggest that 85% of internet users watch online videos. 95% of them claim that they are more likely to learn and remember the information after watching a video as compared to reading it in text format.
With the increasing demand for video content, it is worth putting your time and money into video marketing.
Monitor and improve your online reputation
Reputation management is critical to the success of your medical practice. With the sheer amount of information online, patients are no longer limited to the physicians in their area. In fact, most people turn to the internet when looking for physicians. Many of them would read reviews before booking an appointment.
Online reviews are a great way to get more patients through the door. Negative reviews, on the other hand, can tarnish your online reputation. A lot can go wrong if you don’t address the problem head-on.
Focus on activities that bring more results
Track the time you spend on different activities as well as the results. Based on these results, you will know which ones have generated high results. Spend more time on the ones that bring in more engagements and conversion.
Call on professional help
A strong online presence takes time to develop. Plus, you need a detailed and comprehensive strategy in order to drive results. A professional digital marketer will know the best methods for obtaining them.
As a professional with a vast array of responsibilities, marketing your practice online may not be high on your priority list. That’s what we’re here for. We’ll help you put together a marketing strategy and execute them on your behalf. This way, you’ll have more time to focus on your patients and your practice.
Having a team of healthcare marketing professionals by your side will do more than just guarantee better leads and engagement, it can provide long-term success for your medical practice.
We can help you take your practice to the next level. Fill out this form to schedule your free consultation.
Online marketing for doctors is essential in the digital age. It provides a way to reach new patients, create a stronger connection with the ones you have, and promote your practice. Unfortunately, many doctors are still unsure about how to make social media work for their practices.
Here are 5 doctors who are rocking the social media game. Read on to find out how they used social media to their advantage.
Dr. Sandra Lee
Website: https://slmdskincare.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrPimplePopper/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSandraLee/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drpimplepopper/Dr. Sandra Lee is a board-certified dermatologist. She uses social media to showcase her expertise – popping pimples and extracting cysts. Many of you have probably watched or scrolled past her videos on your feed. Dr. Pimple Popper posted a video of herself doing a blackhead extraction 4 years ago, and it took off from there. Although not for the easily nauseated, people seem to enjoy her content. In fact, she has amassed a large following on her social media channels. Her devoted set of fans call themselves “popaholics”. Dr. Lee has over 5.8 million subscribers on Youtube and 2.4 million Facebook likes. Her Youtube videos have been viewed more than 2.6 billion times. Now, she is a guru of skincare with her own TV show and skincare line.
Dr. Kevin Pho
Website: https://www.kevinmd.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevinmdblog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinmd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinphomd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmdDr. Kevin Pho, best known as KevinMD on social media, is one of the most prominent healthcare influencers. He is a board-certified internal medicine physician, an acclaimed keynote speaker, and author. Dr. Kevin Pho is the founder of the blog KevinMD.com, the web’s leading platform where physicians, nurses, and other medical practitioners tell their stories and share their insights. He also shares some social media tips for doctors in his blog. The site receives more than 3 million monthly page views and is regularly cited in major media. Aside from his blog and website, he also has successful social media profiles. He uses these platforms to share articles published on his blog, share the voices of other physicians, and promote events. His largest presences are on Twitter, with 160,000 followers. His Facebook page has over 123,000 likes.
Dr. Mike Varshavski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realdoctormike/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctor.mike
Twitter: https://twitter.com/realdoctormike
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0QHWhjbe5fGJEPz3sVb6nwDr. Mike is a board-certified family medicine physician. With an impressive 3.4 million Instagram followers, it is clear that Dr. Mike knows a thing or two about social media. Doctor Mike uses his Instagram account to give people an opportunity to connect with him on a personal level. He regularly posts photos of his daily life – at work, at the gym, sponsored events, and even with his dog. He may be known for his dashing looks and fashion sense, but he also routinely disseminates health and fitness advice to his followers.
Supporting her goal of keeping your family healthy and safe, her content centers on the latest health news, general illness prevention tips, and helpful tips for parents. Her posts are personal and conversational. Hence, she was able to build a close relationship with her patients, in and out of the office. Swanson recently ended a stint as chief of digital innovation for Seattle’s Children. Over the past decade, she gained over 40,000 Twitter followers with her SeattleMamaDoc brand.
Dr. Josh Axe
Website: https://draxe.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJoshAxe/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjoshaxe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drjoshaxe
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/doctorjoshaxeDr. Josh Axe is a doctor of chiropractic, a certified doctor of natural medicine, and a clinical nutritionist. His goal is to help people eat healthily and live a healthy lifestyle. In his website, DrAxe.com, he shares content about topics like natural remedies, weight loss, nutrition, healthy recipes, and essential oils. Following Dr. Axe’s Facebook page is like following your friend online. Here, he shares a sneak peek of his personal life – enjoying time with his wife or cooking in his kitchen. He also uses his social media accounts to share health information, promote events, his book and other products.
With over 2 million Facebook likes, 540,000 Instagram followers, and 43,000 Twitter followers, it is clear that Dr. Axe has cracked the code to building a powerful digital brand that people recognize.
Your practice needs social media One tweet won’t necessarily bring in new patients. Creating a Facebook page isn’t going to help you fill a waiting room. But with valuable content and consistent effort, you’ll be able to create trust with the community, solidify your reputation, and be a helpful resource to patients.
If you’re new at this game and you feel that achieving online success is well above your head, we are here to help. Schedule a free consultation today and we’ll bring you and your practice into the age of social media.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/5-Doctors-Who-Are-Rocking-the-Social-Media-Game-1.png800800Amber Irwinhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngAmber Irwin2019-12-10 18:54:242019-12-10 22:02:335 Doctors Who Are Rocking the Social Media Game
As socially inclined creatures, humans have embraced technology that allowed us to connect with our family and friends. Today, social has become a prominent part of people’s lives.
With over half of the world’s population now active on social media, it’s not surprising that more and more businesses are using social media to reach their audience. Healthcare is no exception.
As a healthcare professional or organization, you need to step up your social media strategy in order to reach your target audience, boost patient engagement, and improve health outcomes.
Here are 5 tips to get you started.
Choose the right platform
There are lots of social media platforms out there other than Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn. While social media can help you drive new patient leads and grow your practice, you can’t be active on all of them all the time. You need to be strategic where you spend your resources.
A great way to plan and begin your social media campaign is to identify your ideal outlets. To do that, you need to focus on your core target audience. Find out where they spend most of their time online. Build your primary social media presence around your audience’s platforms of choice. It only makes sense to fish where the fishes are.
Narrowing down your choice to just a select few platforms will not only save you time, but it will also help you get the best return on your investment.
Jump into existing conversations
Take the initiative to be a part of a social media conversation. Join existing chats and groups that offer relevant discussions. See what you can add to the conversation and what you can learn about the current topics. Inspire discussions, ask questions, and air your opinion.
In addition to taking part in the discussions, it is important to track conversations relevant to your field. This raw and unfiltered conversation can provide you with insights from your audience. You may even get new ideas that you can use on your social media marketing campaign.
Don’t make it all about you
Social media is a great place to promote your practice and get more patients through the door. But if that’s the only reason why you signed up, then it won’t be beneficial.
People hate ads. They are turned off by businesses that throw ads but do not engage with their clients. If you want to build a solid social media presence, then you need to really get on there and interact with your audience.
Go back to your core audience. Learn as much as you can about them: demographics, what they are interested in, what they need, what their pain points are, etc. Getting to know your audience will help you interact with them on a more intimate level. Once you start conversing with them, you’ll know how you can help them.
Show them that you care about them and they will feel more connected with you.
Raise awareness and counter misinformation
Social media has become an important health resource. Studies suggest that more and more people are seeking health information on social media. With the amount of information we are bombarded with each day, it is not surprising to find a lot of medical misinformation out there. As a healthcare professional, you can capitalize on social media by providing your audience with accurate, science-backed facts.
Give people a reason to follow and engage with you. Pull from your unique expertise and share relevant, valuable information about your field. Don’t get stuck sharing links to blog posts. Share infographics, videos, interactive pieces, podcasts, and other types of content.
Provide your audience with content they can’t find elsewhere. Sharing fresh and unique content will not only keep your audience engaged, but they’ll also see you as a thought leader or industry expert.
Automate social media posts
You reap what you sow is a well-known idiom. While the phrase is biblical in origin, it also applies to social media marketing.
You can’t expect great results if your page is inactive. The key is to stay active on social media and consistently provide your followers with high-quality content. How can you do that when you spend the majority of your working hours seeing patients? Social media automation holds the solution to this problem.
Automating your social media posts allows you to schedule and optimize posts for maximum engagement. Scheduling several posts in advance helps you save time while achieving consistency in your marketing efforts. Plus, it gives you control over the content you share and how you share it.
Ultimately, it also helps you get more results with less effort. Keep in mind, though, that automation can only help you save time and effort, it is not meant to make social media marketing a completely hands-off process.
Automation tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, AgoraPulse, and CoSchedule will make things easier for you. Whether you’re looking to find new patients or engage existing ones, you need to employ social media strategies that will help you sustain and grow your practice. Contact us today and let us put together a social media plan for you and your practice.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/5-Social-Media-Marketing-Tips-for-Healthcare-Professionals.png800800Amber Irwinhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngAmber Irwin2019-11-19 08:00:362019-11-18 18:55:575 Social Media Marketing Tips for Healthcare Professionals
