What would be the first thing you would do if you were a patient in urgent need of care? You would probably google the most relevant medical practice near you. You would then look at their reviews, the services they provide, and maybe a quick look through their website. If everything seems right, you would call the medical office to book an appointment, and once it's time to go, click on the directions and drive to the location.
Does that sound about right?
The need for medical practices to have an online presence
The world has moved online, and so has its way of working. If you are not discoverable, you are not reachable. That's the mantra in 2022 and applies to medical practices as well.
The competition is nigh, and you have to find a way to stand out among the crowd. There could be a dozen other doctors in your area with similar credentials. So, assuming everything else is equal, what will help set you apart when patients are looking for a new provider online? Your online presence must reflect the caliber of your practice if you want to serve patients and run a successful medical office in the contemporary healthcare landscape.
But how do you do it without an all-hands marketing team? Trust us when we say it's possible. All you have to do is follow simple steps and do that repeatedly and consistently. Let's start, shall we?
How to build an online presence for a medical practice?
Step 1: Check where you stand
Your first step should be to analyze where you stand, what you are doing well, and what you need to work on to start ranking higher on search engine result pages.
Do a quick Google search on your medical practice field to give yourself some context and a baseline. Ensure that you try the name of your practice, your name, and keywords related to your specialty in your city or region.
Observe what you uncover. Are the top outcomes for you? Do medical directories already list your practice? Do you come up in searches for your area and specialty?
Note the results and create a to-do list of the most important things. Now that you have analyzed not only your performance but, in doing so, also your competition, let's get on to the next step.
Step 2: Get into the directories
If you do a simple google search, you will find a gazillion online medical directories waiting to take your listing. List your medical practice in the top 5 or 10 to get started. These listings can help increase your web traffic and search engine ranking.
Unclaimed profiles may contain unconfirmed, incorrect business and contact information. These unoptimized profiles also lack images and business hours, giving potential patients little confidence. Hence, we urge you to update your profiles and provide all the details correctly. That will lead to an increase in trust among the directory viewers.
Step 3: Update your website and add informative content
Few healthcare professionals set up their websites, add some content and don't update it ever. They believe that as long as the information provided is correct, they don't need to keep updating the website with new designs and content. That is one of the biggest mistakes to make if you want to increase the presence of your medical practice online.
A well-designed website can help you establish an online presence. The appearance of your healthcare practice website dictates whether visitors stay or bounce from your webpage. Your website should have a modern design and a streamlined homepage that allows visitors to concentrate on significant areas.
Remember to optimize your website for mobile traffic as well.
Much of your online traffic will come from mobile, which drives us to the bonus tip of this blog.
Bonus step: Be present on Google My Business and try Paid search advertising
In an era ruled by hand-held devices, you must display your medical office on the google my business page. Linking your practice to Google Maps is essential because most patients look for doctors nearby. It ensures your practice's name and location are displayed on the map when someone searches for "doctor" or your specialty in conjunction with your city.
Our last tip is to try paid search advertising. Updating the website, adding informative content, and listing your medical practice on online directories are all part of organic efforts. Organic means free, but organic generally takes time to deliver results.
Use paid search advertising to grow your online presence quickly. Businesses can bid on advertising space in search results through search engines. These ads appear at the top of Google results. They are labeled "Ad."
We realize it might be too much for you at once. If you need to discuss paid ads for your practice or any other pointers mentioned in this blog in detail, then contact us at support@mymedicalpanel.com, and we would love to help you out.
You can also join our global online community here - https://bit.ly/2SXnwDo and reach us instantly. Also, you will start receiving paid healthcare surveys that pay you generously for your contribution after you join us.
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